Entrada Universitaria

La Paz, 26 July 2008. Students and teachers from the Faculty of Arts at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UMSA) dance the Challwa at the 21st Entrada Universitaria, an annual celebration of Bolivia’s folk dance traditions.

Originating from student protest marches mocking the university authorities, the Entrada Universitaria procession is now one of the most important events in the La Paz cultural calendar, with over 9,000 dancers in more than 70 dance groups participating in this year’s parade. The festival is notable for the variety of dances performed. This year featured 31 different dances from all over Bolivia, including several little known dances such as the Challwa (pictured), a pre-hispanic dance from the shores of Lake Titicaca, in which dancers wear fish masks made out of totora reeds.

La Paz, 26 de julio de 2008. Estudiantes y profesores de la Facultad de Artes de la Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) bailan la Challwa en la 21a Entrada Universitaria, celebración anual de bailes folclóricos de Bolivia.

Comenzó como una marcha protesta para burlarse de las autoridades universitarias, ahora el desfile de la Entrada Universitaria es uno de los eventos más importantes del calendario cultural de La Paz, con más de 9.000 bailarines en más de los 70 grupos que han participado este año. El festival es reconocido por la variedad de danzas que presenta. Este año se han presentado 31 danzas diferentes de todas partes de Bolivia, incluyendo algunas muy poco conocidas como la Challwa (fotografía), una danza prehispánica de las orillas del Lago Titicaca, donde los bailarines llevan mascaras de peces hechas de Totora.

Radio Yungas reaches 30 / Radio Yungas llega a los 30

Pinche aquí para escuchar: Radio Yungas Audio

For English text, please see below.

En muchas partes del mundo, la radio es un medio vital de comunicación. En Las Yungas de Bolivia, una región de pobres carreteras y valles inaccesibles donde las montañas de Los Andes descienden a la selva, Radio Yungas provee un servicio esencial para la comunidad.

The region of The Yungas, in the department of La Paz, is in festive mood. Its radio station, Radio Yungas, celebrates 30 years. Founded by Augustine Fathers as a means of envangelising, Radio Yungas has become part of the family for the residents of this land of deep valleys, as Sabino Gomez, station director, comments:

Sabino: “A few years ago, during the rule of the right-wing governments, there was repression, there were threats to eradicate the coca leaf, and other things like that. So there were marches, from Asunta (a town in The Yungas) to La Paz, and Radio Yungas was there with the marchers. During this period of struggle, there were also threats that the Radio would be taken, so they (the listeners) got organised… there were lots of people surrounding the radio station, acullicando, picchando (chewing coca), looking after the radio station. It was an emotional time… I sometimes felt like crying.”

Those of us who love the radio might feel we can’t live without the magic of the waves, but for Yungeños, the radio is a necessity. In this region of isolated rural villages, Radio Yungas is the way to receive and communicate news of one’s community, union or family. The station fulfills this social service through a network of more than 60 community correspondents.

Olga Maldonado, “people’s reporter” of the village of Irupana, tells us how she works:

Olga: “People come here to broadcast their news, such as appointments, meetings, messages. I note them down and then call to Chulumani (the town where Radio Yungas’ headquarters is based), and they record them and broadcast them. A lot of the time we broadcast directly from here, live. Community leaders come to give their news… mostly about their union meetings, and also events and things like that.”

Radio: “Chulumani, Chulumani … Freddy, isn’t it? There’s a leader here from the community of Matikuni. He wants to let people know about their events, through the radio….”

Radio Yungas features an informative, educational and entertaining schedule that caters for all ages. Huacho Comunicaciones is one of the most popular programmes. Maria Chambi Mamani, its feminine voice, tells us about her programme:

Maria: “I’m the one, let’s say, who wakes the people up. We do it from 4 to 7 in the morning… a programme in the Aymara language. We give information of all types, also music, orientation, education.”

When Radio Yungas started it was the only station in the area. The last 30 years have seen the arrival of the television, internet and mobile phone, and today it competes with various other local radio stations. However, there is still a big demand for Radio Yungas’ services, as Edgar Quispe, radio administrator, explains:

Edgar: We still have the same politics that we had when Radio Yungas was founded. Maybe our service will change, because the technology of the mobile phone has arrived, along with other things, but despite this, we are still cost effective; communication via telephone only reaches one person at a time. In a typical community here in the Yungas there are usually at least 20 members. Reaching this amount of people (by telephone), is very difficult. Someone who wants to communicate by mobile would have to spend three times as much at least, and then there’s also the time.”

Radio: “Tell young Silvero Nunia please that he has to come home… his father says he’s not going to be able to pick him up, it’s going to be impossible, so…”

Edgar: “We’ve won the trust of the people over the last 30 years. The audience is part of the radio… they feel that Radio Yungas is part of them.”

Photodiary June 2008 / Fotodiario Junio 2008

Lauca Eñe, Cochabamba, Bolivia, 03 June 2008

Villa Tunari, Cochabamba, Bolivia, 04 June 2008

Villa Tunari, Cochabamba, 05 June 2008

San Mateo, Cochabamba, 06 June 2008

San Mateo, Cochabamba, 06 June 2008

Sacaba, Cochabamba, Bolivia, 20 June 2008

Cochabamba, Bolivia, 20 June 2008

Huanuni, Oruro, Bolivia, 26 June 2008

Huanuni, Oruro, Bolivia, 26 June 2008

INTIWATANA: WINTER SOLSTICE / SOLSTICIO DE INVIERNO

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English translation of the Spanish audio below:

While Europe enjoys the longest day of the year, Bolivia observes the Southern Hemisphere winter solstice with Intiwatana, an ancient ceremony to mark the arrival of the Andean New Year.

This year, for the second year running, shamans and indigenous farmers have joined forces with archaeologists to celebrate the most important festival in the Andean calendar at the Inca ruins of Qollcas of Cotopachi, on the outskirts of the city of Cochabamba.

David Pereira, the Director of the Museum of Archaeology at the University of San Simon, explains why this site has been chosen.

“Qollca is the Inca word for a maize storage deposit, or silo. The archaeological site at Cotopatchi is the biggest example in the world, with the remains of around 3,000 circular silos.”

“The ritual celebrates the initiation of a new agricultural year, not just in the sense of the cultivation of crops, but also in the sense of fertility; the start of a new cycle of life.”

At dawn across the country, shamans and worshippers honour Pachamama (Earth Mother) and Inti (Sun), two of the principal deities of the Andean world, in order to ensure health and productivity in the year ahead, as Carlos Prado, an Andean ritualist, comments,

“The ritual always starts with the first rays of sun. It’s a homage to the divinity of the sun, to show our gratitude for the past year… we’ve eaten, we’re still alive… and to wish for a better new year. But for this we have to pay, with the table.”

David Pereira: “The ritual tables consist of a paper base, on top of which is a preparation of different herbs, different symbolic elements… houses, money, elements representing health etc… accompanied by cotton, wool, and a strongly aromatic herb called kh’oa. Coca leaves are also added, and in many cases so is a llama fetus.

Carlos Prado: “The coca leaf has a fundamental place. The ritual table shouldn’t be without it.”

Female voice: “The people who want to make a wish can do this through the coca leaf. You may wish for health, or work, for example. Do this through the coca leaves and put them on the table so your wishes and good intentions can become reality in this New Year.”

The ritual ‘table’ is put on the fire and left to burn, and the ritualist can predict the fortune the new year will bring by reading the ashes.

Carlos Prado: “If the ashes are white, we always say that’s a good sign… it means it will be a good year, without major problems. If there happens to be a dark patch, a black part that hasn’t burnt, and a white part, that suggests there will be problems.”

As the ritualist chants to Pachamama and the table burns, worshippers stretch out their hands to receive the first light of the ‘reborn’ sun, and reflect on their personal hopes for the new year.

El Gran Cabildo Popular

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English text below…

El Gran Cabildo Popular. El Alto, Bolivia, 20 April 2008

El Alto es la ciudad ‘rebelde’ de Bolivia. Anteriormente un barrio pobre a las afueras de la ciudad de La Paz, que fue olvidado por consecutivos gobiernos hasta que se hizo demasiado grande para ser ignorado. Su población, inmigrantes Aymaras en su mayoría procedentes del Altiplano, depende de fuertes redes comunitarias en ausencia del apoyo del gobierno. El Alto es ahora una de las ciudades más grandes de Bolivia y un importante centro económico, pero su gente no ha olvidado la importancia de ser solidarios.

El 20 de abril de 2008, organizaciones comunitarias del Distrito Cuarto de El Alto convocó un Gran Cabildo Popular en protesta a los Estatutos de Autonomía propuestos por Rubén Costas, Prefecto del Departamento de Santa Cruz – parte de la ‘Media Luna’ – un grupo de departamentos orientales dirigidos por prefectos opuestos al Presidente Evo Morales. Estos Estatutos fueron vistos por muchos en El Alto y el occidente como un intento para formar un estado independiente.

El Cabildo, una mezcla entre manifestación y un mitin político, es una demostración de la solidaridad comunitaria por la que El Alto es famoso. A pesar del discurso agresivo por parte de los líderes políticos locales, quienes gritan amenazas de ‘muerte a los separatistas’ desde la pasarela, el grupo formado por 2-3.000 personas se muestra tranquilo. Los manifestantes agitan la bandera nacional boliviana y la Wipala, la bandera de las Naciones Andinas, o sostienen orgullosos los estandartes con el nombre de la vecindad a la que pertenecen, mientras niños juegan y ancianas hacen punto. Cabildos en El Alto no han sido siempre tan pacíficos; en octubre de 2003, bajo un gobierno menos tolerante a las protestas, la milicia abrió fuego a unos doscientos metros a una reunión similar. La masacre del ‘Octubre Negro’ sigue fresca en la memoria comunitaria de El Alto, y varios participantes llevan pancartas demandando que Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, presidente en aquel momento y que actualmente vive en los Estados Unidos, sea entregado a la justicia boliviana.

Entre gritos de ‘El Alto de pie, nunca de rodillas’, muñecos representando a Costas y Branko Marinkovich, el líder derechista del Comité Cívico de Santa Cruz, cuelgan de la pasarela. Los manifestantes aplauden, y luego silenciosa y espontáneamente se dispersan, volviendo orgullosos a sus vecindarios. Un grupo más ruidoso permanece. Una vez descolgados ‘Costas’ y ‘Marinkovich’ son golpeados, pateados y finalmente quemados; una forma de recordar que los Alteños se revelaron en el pasado, y que se sublevarán otra vez si las circunstancias lo requieren.

El Alto is Bolivia’s ‘rebel’ city. Formerly a slum suburb of La Paz, it was forgotten by consecutive governments until it became too big to be ignored. Its people, the vast majority Aymara migrants from the surrounding altiplano, relied on strong community networks in the absence of government support. El Alto is now Bolivia’s third largest city and an important economic centre, but its people have not forgotten the importance of solidarity.

On the 20th April 2008, community organisations in the 4th District of El Alto held a Gran Cabildo Popular in protest against the Autonomous Statutes proposed by Ruben Costas, Prefect of the eastern department of Santa Cruz – one of the ‘Media Luna’ (Half Moon) of eastern departments lead by prefects opposed to President Evo Morales. These Statutes were seen by many in El Alto and throughout the western highlands as an attempt to form a fledgling independent state.

The cabildo, a cross between a march and a grassroots political rally, is a demonstration of the community solidarity for which El Alto is renowned. Despite fighting talk from local political leaders, who shout threats of ‘death to the separatists’ from a footbridge, the 2-3,000 strong crowd is reserved. Demonstrators wave the Bolivian national flag and the checkered Wipala, the flag of Andean Nations, or stand staunchly behind banners announcing their neighbourhood association, while children play and elderly women sit knitting. Cabildos in El Alto have not always passed so peacefully; in October 2003, under a government less tolerant of protest, the military opened fire on a similar gathering a couple hundred metres down the road. The massacre of ‘Black October’ is still fresh in El Alto’s communal memory, and several demonstrators carry banners demanding that Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, president at the time and currently living in the USA, be brought to justice in Bolivia.

Amid cries of ‘El Alto de pie, nunca de rodillas’ (El Alto on its feet, never on its knees), figures representing Costas and Branko Marinkovich, the leader of Santa Cruz’s right-wing Civic Committee, are hanged from the footbridge. The crowd applauds, and then silently and spontaneously disperses, neighbours marching proudly back to their barrios. A more boisterous group remains. Costas and Marinkovich are cut down, kicked and beaten, and set on fire; a physical reminder that Alteños have risen up in the past, and will rise up again should the circumstances require.