Bolivia Reflections (post 4): Bolivian Women are Superwomen!

In Bolivia, you will see women selling fruit, juice, vegetables, meat and pizza on the street corners. These women are (typically) single mothers. Women in Bolivia bear the role of mother & father all too often. It is more than anyone should have to handle. These women walk long distances with their babies swaddled on their backs often until the age of 2. We did several home visits while in Bolivia. All of them were emotionally intense. I think it's hard to briefly enter someone's reality and witness their pain and suffering. 

Mike D., Susana (front, purple), Juana, cousin

My group met Susana and her daughter Juana. Susana has about 11 children. Yes, you read that right. 11. Juana is the youngest and her father died shortly after her birth about 8 years ago. Inside their home, there are three beds on top of dirt. There is no running water (i.e., no toilet, no sink, no washer, no dishwasher).  Approximately 7 - 9 people sleep in that tiny one-room home. Sadly, this is the world's "normal." On our home visits, we are allowed to ask our hosts questions about their daily lives. 

Susana's mother shared a little bit about what her life (and the lives of so many other women) are typically like in Bolivia. Susana usually wakes up about 5 - 5:30am. She walks down the mountain (perhaps it's more like a huge hill but it seemed like a mountain to me) to the city square. This is a 45 minute - 1 hour walk. She does not have money to spend on a bus or a taxi. Susana keeps her cart in storage. The storage owner charges her a fee for storing her cart there. She then has to go and buy some supplies from the store (if she's able to) and then begins working until 9:30 - 10:30 at night. Exhausted she gets up and does it all over again. Sometimes an older sibling will watch her and her cousin. Often children are home alone. I did not see any first responders in Bolivia. As a matter of fact, I did not see or hear a police car or ambulance. (Although there were plenty of police at the airport!) The homes in the poor areas cannot be left unattended. If they are temporarily vacated someone will either rob the family of what they have or literally throw them out and take over the property. In the poor areas of Bolivia, you will see effigies with signs attached to them that literally say: "Thieves stay away! You will be killed!" This is their equivalent of a neighborhood watch. 

Susana, like so many others, is in a constant struggle to keep it all together. Many single Moms and Dads face the same thing globally. Rent in Bolivia is collected in 6 months in advance. Susana has recently caught up on the rent; however she has to figure out how to pay for water. In Bolivia there are 2 water companies: Coca-cola and Pil. The latter is the one that delivers water to the residents in Cochabamba. The government does have a "set water price" however, since it is not enforced, companies often exploit families by charging them 2-3 times what they are legally allowed. The water isn't potable and must be sanitized in order to contain the cholera outbreak that is on-going in Bolivia. Things that I have taken for granted suddenly become quite complicated....