Bolivian Voices

Virginio Sandy writes about the tradition and the meaning of All Saints Day, and also comments about the feast of Halloween is replacing our culture in the cities, something that doesn’t happen in the rural communities. There, the tradition of All Saints remains stronger than ever. He posts photos of the feast in the Bombo Allyu in the Province of Dalence of Oruro.

Each year that passes, more abrupt changes can be seen, in the feast of All Saints Day, which according to our traditions marks the arrival on November 1 of our Ajayus (ancestral spirits), tired and thirsty after going around the world arriving from beyond.

To read and comment on the original article please visit: All Saints Day and Halloween in the Andes [es]

The magazine “Américas” of the Organization of American States (OAS) recently published a short article about Voces Bolivianas in its October 2008 issue. Reporter Chris Hardman interviewed Eduardo Ávila about the project’s goals and about its plans for the future. The article also provided examples of some of the new bloggers such as Marisol Medina.

On a Saturday morning in El Alto, Bolivia, a group of men and women intensely watch the computer screens at the Internet Café Scorpio. Some of the users have never had access to the internet and now they are learning to write mesages, digital photograhy and video techniques, tools necessary to have a voice within the global online conversation that is the Internet.

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“I think the internet can be a great equalizer, as it can connect people that may not normally interact offline,” says Eduardo Ávila, the director of the program.

To see a scan of the article please click here.

Virginio Sandy of the blog Nación Suyu Suras Parcialidad Aransaya [es], one of the most active bloggers in the Province of Dalence, writes about the history of Tupaj Katari, one of the indigenous leaders during Spanish colonial rule, who made the following premonition:

Before being executed, Tupaj Katari predicted: “I die, but later will come millions and millions”

Virginio participated in the historic march that took place during October 13-20, 2008 from the town of Caracollo in the department of Oruro to downtown La Paz. In addition, Virginio talks about his wishes and thoughts regarding the march:

It took 516 years since the Spanish invastion and 183 since Independence to break the shackles of injustice, marginalization and exclusion for the indigenous nations and peoples of Bolivia. During colonization, for more than 300 years they were brutally treated like beasts for their role as slaves, thousands and thousants died in the mines while extracting riches for the Spanish, and in exchange they beaten because they were not considered men, but animals.

To read the entire post, please see: his original post