La Paz

This is the group Bob and Julie Dunsmore had worked with for three and a half years. They were our hosts when we visited here with a delegation from our partnership presbytery, Cascades, last April, and never imagined we´d be continuing the excellent work they did.

Ernest Hemingway once commented that the coldest winter he’d ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. This clearly indicates he’d never spent a summer in La Paz. The city did not give us a warm welcome, but after three months, we’ve almost adjusted to the altitude (12,600 feet above sea level) and the wintry summer weather. Also, the warmth of the people has more than compensated for the chill of the climate.

The Promise of a "New Bolivia"

Bolivia is going through a remarkable transition. When President Barak Obama took office in January he promised “a new day” for the United States. On almost the same day, President Evo Morales signed into law the New Constitution proclaiming not just a “new day” but a “new Bolivia" for its people. With the adoption of the new constitution, he told them, 500 years of “colonial domination” has finally ended. Having read the document and countless commentaries on it from differing perspectives, we are aware that if and when the new Constitution is fully implemented, Bolivia will be a very different country from what it is now. Morales, like Moses, is leading his people to a hoped for Promised Land.

Three important provisions of the New Constitution, which differ dramatically from the previous neo-colonial, neo-liberal charter include:

1. Strengthening the rights and power of Bolivia's indigenous majority, who have long lacked meaningful participation in politics. This is one of the central aims of the New Constitution. The text designates the Bolivian state as "pluri-national" (a nation composed of many nations) in recognition of the country's 36 pre-Columbian indigenous nations and Afro-Bolivians.
2. Myriad new responsibilities of the State to the Bolivian people. Citizens now have the right to water, food, education, health care, housing, retirement, electricity, telecommunications, and other basic services. The State will have the obligation to insure access to such basic services in an efficient and equitable manner. Education must be free, and health insurance must be universal.
3. A strong environmentalist emphasis. The New Constitution requires that "all forms of economic organization have the obligation to protect the environment" and that “the state and population conserve and protect natural resources and biodiversity" in order to maintain equilibrium with the environment." "Natural resources are the inalienable and indivisible property of the Bolivian people and will be administrated, in the collective interest, by the State."
   

"Pure Water Is More Valuable than Gold" Campaign

Like Bolivia itself, UMAVIDA is also going through transition. A new “Directorio” has been elected, and a new co-coordinator hired. They have renewed their commitment to the Joining Hands campaign “Agua Dulce Vale Mas que Oro” (Pure Water Is More Valuable than Gold.).

Like so many other parts of the world, Bolivia has a deepening water crisis. The effects of global warming are evident in the Andes’ rapidly melting glaciers and snow pack. The reservoirs that supply La Paz are at about a third capacity. Some are already empty. Many deep wells are in danger of going dry. Unfortunately, there is little that Bolivia can do about this on its own other than encourage conservation.

Bolivia can do something about a second aspect of its water problem – contamination. This contamination is due to the mining operations that have been part of the country for five hundred years. Profits from these operations have not benefited most Bolivians. They have gone into the pockets of multi-national companies and a few enormously wealthy families.

Potosi, for over 500 years a site of gold mining activity

The mining companies have shown minimal concern for the damage they are doing to the environment. This is especially true with regard to water. Separating the gold and silver from the ore requires an enormous amount of water. The separation process also requires the use of heavy metals like lead and zinc. These remain in the water as it is discharged into lakes, streams and reservoirs. Having no resources to purfiy this water, the campesinos in surrounding communities must drink this water and irrigate their crops with it. Brain damaged children and diseased crops are evidence of the consequences of this.

UMAVIDA’s response through the “Agua Dulce” campaign is not so much to raise awareness of the problem as to equip people to do something about it. The ultimate goal will be to effectively lobby the government to enforce the regulations that already exist and enact new, tougher regulations on the mining industry.

A church is more than its building

Moving from the political to the more personal, we have become regular participants in the life of Luz y Verdad (Light and Truth) Presbyterian Church. This is a poor congregation in a poor part of La Paz. A month ago we waltched buldozers level what was left standing of the church building. Due to torrential rains, a mud slide had destroyed 30 homes in the area – thirteen belonging to church members.

Worship at the ruins of Luz y Verdad Presbyterian Church

Two Sundays after the “derrumbo,” the congregation was permitted to return to the site and hold a service celebrating their ministry on this spot and commiting themselves to continued service to their neighbors. As evidence of this, the offering that Sunday had been designated to help those who had lost almost everything but their lives. There was singing and weeping along with he assurance that the church was more that its building. St. Paul once counselled that adversity would make God’s people stronger. We see that in this congregation.

 

Abundant grace, abiding peace y abrazos a todos!

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