Up on the Puna

Today was a busy day. I started out from the hotel at 7.15 am and by 8.30 was up in San Benito. Then we met the driver and set out for Chaki Q'ocha. After an hour and a half, more or less, of driving over a rough stony track we left the car to continue the last leg on foot. Climbing uphill at 3.300m of altitude is quite a tiring experience as the air is thin with reduced oxygen content which means that breathing is more difficult and the heart beats much faster than normal. However, we made it.

The school was open but no teacher was to be seen. The children were doing their own thing: some doing a jigsaw puzzle, others reading or writing and still others running around outside. when the teacher finally came we had a chat with him. There are 17 children in the school at the moment and only one teacher to teach from Primary 1 to Primary 6. He confessed that he concentrated on basic language and mathematics and that there was little time for other social subjects. There are no facilities for science either as the school is a single room.

Before Evo Morales became president of Bolivia there were 2-3 teachers at that school. Last time I visited there were 2. Another unknown quantity is how such schools are going to be able to fulfil the requirements of the new Education Law which calls for every school to "educate for productivity". The only productive activities they will be able to do up on the puna are related to agriculture and, as the teacher said, "These children will have to teach me because they have been watching this since they were born and take part in agricultural activities of one kind or another as soon as they are physically able". The schools are to make money from their productive activities which should be ploughed back into the school.

The teacher was able to indicate the children he felt were the most needy in that community so we took their photos and hopefully some new sponsors will turn up.

Naturally there is no place to eat up there so we had taken some fruit and something to drink. However, as we were about to leave one of the mothers appeared with a plate of boiled potatoes, farfalle and some charque, a kind of dried meat similar to South African biltong. Potatoes here are delicious - much better than all the "improved" varieties we get in Europe. After all this is where they originated.

On the way up I saw mile upon mile of chain-link fencing. It turns out that Evo Morales expropriated 380 hectares of land for the UNASUR (The United Nations of South America) where Michelle Bachelet, when she was president of Chile, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Hugo Chaves of Venezuela and the president of Ecuador will all have HQs. To do what is another question. Some people protested against this scheme but they have ended up on prison for 3 months for their pains!

Another interesting development is a project to build 522 houses for Aymara miners. Evo Morales does not have so much support in that area so this is clearly a politically motivated scheme. If there are 4 adults per household this means 2,000 captive votes when the Quechua community is around 1,700. That is one way of getting what you want!