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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.

(…)

“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.

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

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

Wikipedia, the open encyclopedia with content that anybody can edit and contribute to has three versions with native languages of Bolivia: Quechua, Aymara and Guaraní. This page from the Spanish version shows how those interested can contribute.

Quechua (qu): Contains 8,096 articles

Aymara (ay): Contains 681 articles

Guaraní (gn): Contains 1,014 articles.

With the help of two of our bloggers in El Alto, Voces Bolivianas is pleased to offer the sale of laptop sleeves made from the traditional aguayo textile with a fleece lining. The sleeve is held by velcro. If this is successful, we will continue to manufacture more in different sizes. For now, the exact size is made for the dimensions of a Macbook (laptop measures 12.78 x 8.92 x 1.08 inches (WxDxH). Numbers are very limited.

There is a choice of two style (#1 and #2) and the cost is $25 USD and includes shipping within the US only (for now). Payment may be made via Paypal. 100% of proceeds goes towards Voces Bolivianas activities.

For more information please write: info [at] vocesbolivianas [dot] org or eduardo [at] vocesbolivianas [dot] org Please specify style #1 or #2.

To purchase:

Sorry, we are sold out. Please check back for future sales.

Note: We are trying this to see if there might be future interest in other sizes.  If you have a laptop that is not a Macbook, but would be interested in helping support Voces Bolivianas through the purchase of a laptop bag, please indicate what size you would be interested in (Survey Monkey)

Voces Bolivianas is an organization that seeks to create spaces where Bolivian voices from underrepresented groups or regions can be heard. Using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as blogs, digital photography, video and audio, Voces Bolivianas continuall looks for ways to promote this mission.

Through the use of workshops, Voces Bolivianas teaches the use of participatory and citizen’s media to underrepresented groups. In order to support and promote greater representation from other regions, cities and other sectors of societies, Voces Bolivainas is offering travel scholarships for bloggers from these groups to attend the national bloggers conference on August 29-30.

Travel Grants

In the spirt of supporting persons from these underrepresented groups, so that there is constant participation and dialogue, Voces Bolivianas will offer travel grants to bloggers or others who are using these participatory media tools (photos, videos, audio) in Bolivia so that they can attend and participate in Bloguivianos 2008 in the city of El Alto and La Paz on August 29 and 30.

The number and amount of each scholarship will depend on the amount of requests received and amount requested.

In order to be considered:

Write in your blog an entry responding to the following question (300-400 words)

How can blogs help create bridges between regions, social classes, ethnicities or cultures in Bolivia? Do you have an example from your personal experience?

Once you have completed the essay, please send the link to: becas (at) vocesbolivianas (dot) org with the following information:

1. City where you will be traveling from/where you live
2. Full name / e-mail / telephone / cell phone
3. Blog address or of the site where you use citizen’s media (videos, photos, podcasts, etc.)
4. How much funds will you need? (please only ask for the amount that you really need so that more people can receive assistance – we cannot cover plane tickets).
5. Deadline: August 10 at 17:00

Scholarship winners must be able to commit to attending both days of the gathering (August 29 and 30).

We will contact winners by August 15 via email and we will announce winners on the websites: vocesbolivianas.org and 2008.bloguivianos.org

The scholarship will be reimbursed upon presentation of a receipt of the transport or housing company. The scholarship can also be used for accommodations.

For more information, please write to Eduardo [at] vocesbolivianas [dot] org.

Our friend Rosa Jiménez Cano from the Spanish newspaper El País was present at the Global Voices Summit in Budapest, Hungary. She wrote an article called, “Listen to the World to Improve it,” about the presentation by the Rising Voices projects and where blogger and Voces Bolivianas participant Cristina Quisbert shared her experiences.

Cristina Quisbert shared her experience with Voces Bolivianas, a network of blogs and citizen news based in El Alto, a city near La Paz, but located at an even higher latitude. In her opinion, a project like this was more than necessary, “The indigenous represent 63% of the residents, but they never received the necessary attention.”

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.