Brickworks
The brickworks lies on the outskirts of San Benito in the high valley of Cochabamba. Most of the families who live and work there are migrants from the area around Potosí, traditionally a mining area. In centuries past silver and tin were mined there (these two metals tend to occur together) and it was such a wealthy area that in Spanish there is an expression to the effect that something valuable is worth "a Potosí". Nowadays, however, it is a poor region and many people migrate to other areas of the country.
A number of the children from the family we went to see have been in the project for some years. The oldest girl is due to finish her secondary education this year. She is 21 years old but due to economic difficulties missed years and got left behind. Since she has been receiving the project's help she has managed to stay in school and she thinks she would like to study business management. If she does go on to higher education she will be the first girl from the brickworks to do so, so we are encouraging her as much as possible.
This family is quite typical of the social fragility of families from the Potosí area. Families are very unstable. The mother of this family has had three different husbands and there are children from each marriage. The son of the oldest son has now just joined the project. I was able to speak to both father and son. Children from both later marriages are also beneficiaries.
One of the children was at home when we called as she goes to school in the afternoon (Schools run morning and afternoon sessions as the premises are not big enough ad there are not enough teachers to accommodate all the children at once). Her grandmother was complaining that she did not help out enough at home and was not always respectful, so we had a little chat with her about that.
Among the young men working making bricks was a relative of this family. He had come from Potosí recently and as the eldest son in a family of 8 he had brought along his youngest brother and was acting as his guardian. We went to see where they lived and seeing the conditions we decided to take on the young brother as soon as another sponsor becomes available.
One of the main problems which contributes to the fragile family structure is drinking. At the weekends people drink chicha (fermented maize beer) and when they drink they lose control. This leads to fights and is one of the main causes of separations and divorces.
Our hope is that by giving some of these children a better education they will have a better start in life and thus break the chain. The girl I mentioned earlier has herself recognised that if it were not for the help given by the project she would probably have 2 or 3 children by now.
A number of the children from the family we went to see have been in the project for some years. The oldest girl is due to finish her secondary education this year. She is 21 years old but due to economic difficulties missed years and got left behind. Since she has been receiving the project's help she has managed to stay in school and she thinks she would like to study business management. If she does go on to higher education she will be the first girl from the brickworks to do so, so we are encouraging her as much as possible.
This family is quite typical of the social fragility of families from the Potosí area. Families are very unstable. The mother of this family has had three different husbands and there are children from each marriage. The son of the oldest son has now just joined the project. I was able to speak to both father and son. Children from both later marriages are also beneficiaries.
One of the children was at home when we called as she goes to school in the afternoon (Schools run morning and afternoon sessions as the premises are not big enough ad there are not enough teachers to accommodate all the children at once). Her grandmother was complaining that she did not help out enough at home and was not always respectful, so we had a little chat with her about that.
Among the young men working making bricks was a relative of this family. He had come from Potosí recently and as the eldest son in a family of 8 he had brought along his youngest brother and was acting as his guardian. We went to see where they lived and seeing the conditions we decided to take on the young brother as soon as another sponsor becomes available.
One of the main problems which contributes to the fragile family structure is drinking. At the weekends people drink chicha (fermented maize beer) and when they drink they lose control. This leads to fights and is one of the main causes of separations and divorces.
Our hope is that by giving some of these children a better education they will have a better start in life and thus break the chain. The girl I mentioned earlier has herself recognised that if it were not for the help given by the project she would probably have 2 or 3 children by now.
Labels: Bolivia, Brickworks, La Esperanza Bolivia, San Benito
posted by Mary | 9:24 PM
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