Joining Hands Against Hunger
NEWSLETTER
Tenth Edition, June 2009

Bolivia

They came! They saw! They connected!

by Brad and Ali Kent, Interim Companionship Facilitators

In mid-May a delegation from UMAVIDA´s companion presbyteries in the U.S., Cascades and San Francisco, came to Bolivia. Their purpose was to join hands with the UMAVIDA people here in the El Agua Dulce Vale Mas Que El Oro campaign.

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They came –
• a delegation of eight people from Cascades and San Francisco Presbyteries

• younger and older, black and white, curious and committed, single and married -- and just married
• to Bolivia, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere struggling to be reborn through the midwifery of Evo Morales its first indigenous president and by means of its new constitution..
• seeking to join hands with the UMAVIDA Network in their campaign “El Agua Dulce Vale Mas Que El Oro.” (“Clean Water Is More Valuable than Gold”)

The delegation members with the Kents: Ralph Delamarter, Donna Russell, Judy Setzer, Don Shaw and Gretchen Williver from Cascades Presbytery, and Jay Gregory, Linda Jackson Shaw, and Rachel Medema from San Francisco Presbytery.

They saw --
• La Paz, the world’s highest capital city; like a hastily folded napkin on the lap of the High Desert
• A barren, bladed hillside where the Luz y Verdad Presbyterian Church had stood until a landslide in February
• El Alto, Bolivia’s poorest city teaming with immigrants from the countryside desperately hoping but rarely finding a better life on the outskirts of La Paz
• the Inti Raymi Mine at Kori Kollo near Oruro, UMAVIDA’s case study of the environmental impact created by mining practices throughout the country.

The delegation meets with an official of the Kori Kollo mine

• Fields surrounding Kori Kollo so encrusted with salt that nothing can grow or graze there.
• The Desaguaderro River, Lake Titicaca’s only outlet, where fish and fowl flourished before it was polluted.
• The pueblo of Toma-Toma dying because its water supply is so contaminated crops are stunted, animals are stillborn or born deformed and women must walk miles to fetch water
• The ancient ruins of Tiwanacu where Andean civilization may have begun

They connected –
• with the congregation of Luz y Verdad now meeting in a member´s home and shared the Lord’s Table with them.
• with CEFOT, a grass roots organization enabling workers and women to find their voices and call the shots in their own lives

Berta(l) and Judy(r) get acquainted

• with “Gregoria Apaza,” a multi-faceted organization defending the rights of women and children, promoting fair trade, as well as making beautiful traditional clothes.
• with CISTEM, which trains under-advantaged youth in the technology they must have to assume leadership in their community and country
• with CEPA and its extensive environmental programs
• with operators of the Inti Raymi Mine who sincerely feel they are good stewards of the environment and a good neighbor to surrounding communities.
• with a protocol officer who introduced them to Parliament and helped them understand some of the complex issues facing the legislators.
• with Ayni Armonia, internationally known musician Juan Carlos Cordoba and his family, who guided the delegation on a rhythmical tour of Bolivia.
• with Calixto Qhispi, an Aymaran spiritual leader who, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, led a ritual for the renewal of Pachamama, mother earth.
• with the Directorio (Board) of UMAVIDA with whom they worked out a strategy for ways they could help achieve the agreed upon goal of securing an environmental audit of the Inti Raymi Mine
• with many other Bolivians in shops and restaurants, on sidewalks and in hotel lobbies, who expressed their hope for renewed relations between their country and the country of their visitors.
• and with the God who once pronounced all of creation “good” and yearns to do so again.

Don Shaw presented a donation to Rev. Luiz Perez for the relocation of Luz y Verdad Church

Brad and Ali Kent are ending their sojourn as Interim Companionship Facilitators for the Joining Hands program in Bolivia

Ending our Sojourn with UMAVIDA

On July 12, we Kents will be ending our sojourn as Interim Companionship Facilitators with the Red UMAVIDA (Joining Hands for Life Network) in Bolivia. As we leave, St. Paul´s image of a woman “groaning in travail” as she gives birth comes to mind, for truly this is happening here.

Bolivia - A Nation in Travail

In January a new constitution was signed into law. The Constitución Política del Estado, commonly called CPE, was written to provide CPR to an almost moribund nation. For five hundred years Bolivia has been exploited by colonialism – first by Spain who sacked their gold and silver, then by a series of corrupt dictators and unstable governments who gave away their petroleum, and finally by externally imposed neo-liberalism -- all of which had enriched the rich and impoverished the poor. With regard to natural resources, Bolivia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but because of both external and internal exploitation, it is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

The New Constitution promises to give birth to a “New Bolivia” a new nation -- or as the document says, a ¨plural nation¨ which recognizes and enfranchises the 36 different indigenous peoples who compose over 60% of Bolivia population. The CPE also insists that the nation´s resources belong to its people. It expresses an intense interest in preserving the environment.

Evo Morales, Bolivia’s first indigenous president, and his MAS (Movement toward Socialism) party, will be the midwives of this birthing. But, they are faced with enormous challenges which could mean a still birth for the New Bolivia.

Opposition. Barak Obama has contentious Republicans to deal with. Eve Morales has an assortment of opposition parties. Even though the national vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the MAS and the CPE, there is strident opposition in five of Bolivia’s nine states. These are Bolivia’s eastern states (called the “Half Moon”) where Bolivia’s wealth is concentrated. These states have majority representation in Bolivia’s Senate and can block any reforms put forward by the MAS controlled House of Representatives. Since the Constitution calls for a radically different Bolivia, new laws must be passed to implement its provisions. Each proposed law is resisted. So intense is the opposition that several of the states are demanding autonomy.

Corruption. Getting rid of corruption in Bolivia would be equivalent to ridding Georgia of kudzu or the Oregon coast of gorse. It is so deeply entrenched in both the governmental and private sectors, that rooting it out seems impossible. Evo was elected on a promise to clean up corruption but has been unable to do so even discovering how entrenched it is in his own party and in the ranks of his closest associates.

Inefficiency. Both the government and private enterprise are as inefficient as two year-olds building sand castles. Getting anything done here requires the navigation of an Odysseus getting past Scylla and Carbides. Often we are amazed not that so little gets done but that anything gets done at all.

Youth. Youth a problem!?!?!? Over half of Bolivia´s population is under 35 years old. Many of them are well educated but jobs don´t await them. Accountants are selling lunch meat in small shops, lawyers are driving taxis, computer programmers are operating store fronts where children play video games, and doctors are taking their stethoscopes to other countries. Others simply hang out hoping that something will come their way. Bolivia´s youth are a resource that waits to be fully tapped.

UMAVIDA-helping to give birth to a New Bolivia

The New Bolivia may still be ¨en utero,¨ but Red UMAVIDA is an adolescent looking for its identity. It may come closer to doing that when it holds a special assembly the first weekend in July. This assembly´s purpose is to evaluate the last five year plan and to create one for the next five years. UMAVIDA´s diversity mirrors the diversity of the country. There is tremendous potential among its eleven organizations eager to be realized. Some are large and well-financed. Others are small and scratch for funding. There is, however, stalwart unity among them as each seeks in its own way to lift the yoke of poverty from Bolivia´s back. All of them are helping to birth the New Bolivia.

Our prayers are with you all in the work you are doing. Join us in prayer for whoever will follow us here either as volunteers or as PC(USA) mission workers. Hopefully, the next newsletter will have news in this regard. Meanwhile, we are grateful to God and the denomination for allowing us to serve in this extraordinary ministry in this extraordinary place.

Abundant grace, abiding peace y abrazos fuertes!

Brad and Ali Kent