Edgar Andrés Yana tells about the contest and election of the “Cholita Carabuqeña” (Miss Carabuco) where his friend Beatriz Mery came in first place. Five women participated in the event that took place in Canton Ambana, Third Section in the Camacho Province in the Department of La Paz. The women participated in two events:

1. Demonstration of a typical folkloric dance.

2. Showing of a formal cholita dress.

Following that they asked each of the participants a question regarding national culture, and from that they selected 3 semi-finalists, and they also asked a second question in which the Cholita Beatriz Mery Choque Bellido correctly answered the question, “how many communities make up Canton Ambana?” and she correctly answered 48 communities, and upon that the jury announced that she had won, the Cholita Beatriz Mery Choque Bellido representing her community of Comaptia.

To read and comment on the original article, please visit: Brand New Cholita Carabuqueña

Rock Boliviano is one of the most active blogs within the family of Voces Bolivianas. What makes it one of the most active is that it is related to a radio program that has been on the air quite some time.  Maintained by the bloggers Omar Ali and Yelmo Vasquez, the site is maintained in El Alto, but they also cover events and activities in the nearby city of La Paz.

The program Resistence has been supporting Bolivian rocks of all genres for the past 5 years. This blog is dedicated to promote new bands and allow that more people hear them because we believe that exclusivity is dead. The program is transmitted on the FM Radio Wayna Tambo 101.7 FM, Tarija 100.7 FM on Wednesdays at 14:30

In addition to supporting Bolivian rock bands, the site hosts many unedited songs, and writes reports on bands from abroad, record and concert reviews. Please visit the blog at http://resistencia.blogspot.com

Mónica Ticona writes about activities in the municipality of San Andrés de Machaca in Ingavi Province. During the dates around Worker Day (May 1), a football tournament is held in the community of Laquinamaya. Mónica describes a bit about the Altiplano town:

This community sits on the border with the Republic of Peru between the markers 23 and 28. The climate is frigid and the residents raise cattle. There are vast pamapas, but with very little vegetation. The people work from sunrise until sunset. For the residents fo the community there are no Sundays or holidays.

To read and comment on the complete article, click here.

When we launched the campaign, “Voces Bolivianas in Your Community,” one of the most enthusiastic responses came from one of the new bloggers and participante in the project Voces Bolivianas – El Alto 2, Santos Huanca. He works in the radio station “Pachamama” in the city of El Alto and he has been a big supporter of our project. On many occasions, one of us has been interviewed and he has given us a space to talk to about the project.

In his free time, he works with a youth group called, “Young Communicators,” which is comprised of youth, who primarily study at night because they work during the day to support their families. Each weekend, they participate in the radio station to share their experiences with stories, interviews and commentary, but now they have the interest in transferring the same information to cyberspace and to open their own blogs. The group wrote in their proposal:

We arrived at the conclusion that the media is an important instrument for the development of a more just society, free of discrimination. We think that one of the best options in this communicative process, free of filters, possibilities of reciprocity or “feedback” and one that can help with this interculturality is the blog. It is easy to use and it is relatively inexpensive. We would like to write about our daily lives, our neighborhoods, our problems, our joys and our loves.

They live in semi-urban ares of the city of El Alto, such as in the neighborhoods of Alto Lima, Rosas Pampa, Zenkata, Santiago I, Villa Tunari, etc, where hte majority of their streets are of dirt, and the houses lack basic services.

Santos will share his experiences and his knowledge about blogs with the youth. He has been one of the most active bloggers ad he provides commentary on his blog “The Power of the Word” and writes about culture, his experiences in school, and of children that must work in order to make a living. These are just some of the examples of some of the topics that he writes about.

In addition, the workshop will also receive support from Wara Yampara, who also formed part of the project of Voces Bolivianas – El Alto 2. Her blog called Productive El Alto, writes about agriculture, but also about the traditions such as the Alasitas Fair and about the commercial movement of the markets.

Many thanks to these two participantes from El Alto 2, who have committed to teaching what they have learned in the workshops. This ripple effect is very powerful, and will allow for even more people to learn about this tool. This workshop of approximately 15 people will take place in El Alto on April 19, “Bolivian Voices Day.”

Bolivia invests in highways through the prefectures. This is good. But due to the natural disasters in the recent years, the government should think about creating an organism able to act during these disasters. Bolivia not only needs roads, but it needs to provide security to the entire population.

In my opinion, helicopters are a good investment and we need a special group, something like the SAR (Volunteer Rescue Group). Natural disasters are irreversible and if we do not take future action, then the natural disasters will absorb us like a funnel.

Mrs. Segundina Inca participates in the literacy program, and I had the chance to speak with her about her experiences. She is from Los Andes Province in the Department of La Paz. She was left orphaned as a child, has four brothers, and as she is the eldest sister she became responsible for the household, because her father found another partner. Later, she had to suffer through the flooding of the Katari River, which washed her house and animals away. Because of that she had to migrate to the city, and here she talks a little bit about her experience in learning to read and write.

I started school for a few months, which they referred to during those time as the preparatory cycle, and one of my teachers asked me what the drawing of a house was, and I responded UTA. The teacher told me that it was not UTA, but it was a house. As I did not know Spanish, I had a lot of problems. However, in spite of that, I had every intention to learn how to read and write. Sometimes when I was with the cattle in the plains, I would draw some letters in the dirt, which were erased very easily. I also drew some figures and numbers on some flat rocks. When I was younger, I looked for people that could teach me to read and write, even offering to pay money. Now with this literacy program, I am learning and I hope to read and write some day because even for something like getting on a mini-bus, one must read the letters of its destination…

Segundina is a very strong person that fights on a daily basis to move forward.

You can now feel that it is Carnaval in Bolivia. Neither the climate, nor the social conflicts stop people, especially young people to begin to play with water, as they do during these holidays. In the entire country, everyone plays with water (especially boys that throw water on girls), but this does not stop with one drenching. It goes much further, for example in Santa Cruz, they throw them in puddles, something that I don’t like at all, but what can one do?

Here in El Alto, the boys from the UPEA (Public University of El Alto), are already playing with water, and you know who are paying the consequences of this cruel game? Yes, you guessed correctly it is the girls, including me. When I say that it is a cruel game, I say so for the following reasons:

1 – Isn’t it cruel when you fix yourself up and dress nicely to go to the university in order to flirt with a boy that you like or look your best and all of a sudden they drench you and they leave you a disaster?

2 – Isn’t it cruel when you are walking to class and all of sudden you feel a horrible slap on your back or another part of your body, thanks to those deadly water balloons that in addition to getting you wet, even breaks your skin?

3 – Isn’t it cruel when you are walking to the university to fulfill our obligations as a student and all of a sudden one of those water balloons hit directly on your notebooks and textbooks leaving them soaking wet and ruined?

For these and other reasons, I say that these games of water balloons are cruel. On the other hand, I must admit that on the last day of classes before the Carnaval holiday, I enjoy this cruel game because it is not cruel anymore, when you are ready to play with water and ready to exact our revenge on all those boys that made suffer during class.

In El Alto, there are a large diversity of fairs that are a grand attraction for foreigners. The difference between these fairs and markets are that they are annual, montly, and also the majority offer agricultural products, arts and crafts, and weavngs. Markets usually offer manufactured products. Another big difference is that the markets are open during office hours, meaning 8 hours per day. Fairs begin at daybreak and are in operation on an annual basis, except for the Fair 16 de Julio, which takes place two days a week on Thursdays and S undays.

There are also fairs in different zones, which take place on a weekly basis such as the SenKata, Ventilla and Pacajes Fairs.

In these fairs, we can find everythng from a simple needle to cattle. Among the most important annual fairs is the Alasitas Fair, where we remember the God of Abundance. This fair takes place every 24 of Enero and the tradition is that people purchase miniatures at 12 noon, so that they receive everything they want. They can buy houses, cars, stores, food, tools, pastries, dolls, clothing, land, and even miniature currency bills. Another larger fair is the Ramos Fair, which take place in April. The photos are from last year´s fair.

El Alto is a city filled with traditions. On the 24th of this month, Alasitas is celebrated with a lot of faith and hope for the new year. Alasitas is a fair with vendors who sell miniature articles. The story is that if you purchase on January 24th at 12:00, then all of the things you wanted to acquire during the year that the god Ekeko will provide it to you in abundance.

The Ekeko is a small chubby character with a mustache. He is holding anything that you can imagine and for that reason he is the god of abundance. Countless number of legends surround the Ekeko.

My grandfather told me one of these stories, and it goes like this: On the eve of January 24, a couple along with their son and his wife were hurried. For one, they were manufacturers of miniature objects to see at Alasitas. In addition, the son had suffered an accident and his wife was due to give birth precisely on those days. For those reason, they could not finish the order of the miniatures. One night an older, chubby man named Pancho knocked on their door. He asked if he could stay the night at the family’s home. The family had always been very generous with others and let the man stay the night. During conversation, the they talked about their work and the problem that they were facing. The guest offered to help. While the daughter-in-law gave birth, Pancho had finished all of the orders for Alasitas. When the family arrived home, they were surprised of what had happened and reaffirmed their belief in Alasitas. Ekeko really existed and was the visitor.

Harvested in fertile land, ready to grow, waiting for someone to appreciate and cultivate their abilities, skills and virtues, with their innocent smile lacking in any hint of evil in their soul, so adorable and as John Fitzgerald said, “children are the most important resource in the world and the best hope for the future.” So that they have a better future, we should treat children with much care so that a seed can be harvested for the future, with fundamental values such as respect, reciprocity and humanity.

In the city of El Alto, many children stay at home by themselves because the father and mother work all day in order to provide a daily income. They leave them sleeping in the morning and find them sleeping at night. They cannot spend the necessary time with them to give them support. For that reason, some children are raised by the media, which some of the time does not contain educational programs and often shows them a reality that does not exist. That reality for some families can only be changed by education. It is the responsibility of the entire society, the parents and teachers.