Bolivia

The first contact in the women’s centres was a special experience for all of us. When the women saw us arriving for the first time in their centres with CEPROSI employees, we could feel a certain distrust directed our way. They continued to knit without paying much attention to our being there. For some of us, it was hard to feel rejected by the people we want to help.

Following our first blog post, we felt that it would be a good idea to provide more details about the women’s centres that we work with on a daily basis. As you already know, our internship with CEPROSI has led us to work with women from the Max Paredes and Cotahuma boroughs of the city of La Paz and the Ciudad Satelite district of the city of El Alto. These are the target populations of CEPROSI, and to reach them, they are working with the Sembrando Semillas women’s association, which has more than 300 women in over 20 centres.

Here we are at the finishing line! We’ve made it to the last week of work. Only the final details are left: thinking about our goodbye party; finishing our internship project; purchasing souvenirs; … and writing up a few blog posts to tell you about our experience here in Bolivia! We believe that it’s important to describe the daily life we’ve shared over these last two and a half months.

Bolivia became the fourth state on November 20 to formally ratify the new Convention 189 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Adopted by the ILO on 16 June 2011, the passage of Convention 189 has been celebrated by workers around the world as they expect the landmark measure to change the lives of at least 100 million workers globally.

These days, things are booming in the mining town of Huanuni, Bolivia. Tin prices are at nearly $10 a pound, compared to $2 in the eighties. The tin extracted from the mine is processed in local foundries, and then sent by boat to Asia, where it ends up in cell phones, laptops, iPods and other electrical goods. Miners are earning unprecedented salaries, which has spawned a tin rush that has men literally fighting for jobs at the COMIBOL state run mine, and young women fighting over the wage-earning miners.

These women have come a long way - both literally and metaphorically! Nineteen- year old Diana Garcia, member of the executive board of the National Federation of Domestic workers (FENATRAHOB), came from a life of domestic servitude that started when she was only 12 years old in Pando, one of the remotest reaches of Bolivia. Today, Diana is studying law at the University of Bolivia.