Translation in Aymara: Coming Soon
By: Cristina Quisbert

“16 de Julio, Plaza Ballivian, Alto Lima….!”, “Tarapaca, cruce Taquiña, Senkata….!”, are some of the routes announced by the announcers, those who sometimes torment us with their yelling, but who have also become part of daily life.

But, what is an announcer?

It is a child or teenager that is in charge of announcing the routes of the different mini-bus, bus or collective taxi lines. In one of the mini-bus stops, I took the opportunity to ask an 18-year-old announcer a couple of questions.

How many hours a day do you work?

He says, “I begin work at 8 a.m., earlier sometimes and I work until 8 p.m.”

What will you do when you are no longer an announcer?

He responds, “I am learning to drive a mini-bus, later I would like to drive.”

Later, we talked about the work day of the announcers, because many of them end up working 10 hours or more per day. But this desvanecio somewhere and the routine continues. The legal regulations says that children cannot work, but there are 8, 9, and 10 year old children working as announcers for long hours for little pay. There is an economic necessity in the homes and there is no other choice than to go out and find daily work. A few years ago, José, a neighbor’s son, left school when he was 13 years old. I saw him working as an announcer on a bus line in the area.

Time went by fast and now he is driving a bus on the 531 line. In reality, the future of an announcer is as salaried driver and if he is lucky he can become an owner of a mini-bus or bus.

Why are announcers necessary in El Alto?

It is a region of migration from rural areas, and there are persons that do not know how to read, and the announcers become very useful to the community. The blind also benefit from this service, as well as the elderly that cannot hear or see very well.

What do announcers do?

In addition to announcing the routes, they collect fares, open and close the mini-bus doors, and help load and unload our “q’ipis” (all types of bags) when we ask.