Brightly Bolivia and the Quaker Link

The brightly coloured "wiphala" flag of indigenous unity flutters high over the crowds of protesters as they march down the El Alto street, chanting slogans supporting Evo Morales: "Yes! The revolution continues!!"... my bus inches its way down the twisting roads towards La Paz, a city nestled in a canyon, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and the barren wind-swept altiplano.

Bolivia, Bolivia, brimming with political passions as the country gears up toward the presidential recall referendum due to be held in early August - every day I have seen protest marches, street blockages and the most creative political graffiti marks every wall - for me, it's wonderful to see a country so actively involved in their political system, so interested in their governance and their future. If only the public of New Zealand shared some of the same political interest... (perhaps we need decades of exclusion and oppression to realise how lucky we are to have such a democratic system?) The protesters are largely the indigenous impoverished majority, the women dressed in huge hoop skirts and ponchos, their children tied onto their backs with brightly coloured cloth, the trademark bowler hat perched on top of their heads, their hair tied in two long dark plaits down their back, evoking a strange combination of "sweet girl" and "resilient woman". The poverty in Bolivia is immediately apparent, and much starker than in neighbouring countries - the climate here is harsh, a mountainous country with a dry season of nearly eight months, decades of cruel neoliberal rule leaving the country drained of resources and impoverished; there are many beggars, wild street children with bottles of glue, many young children's teeth have brown stains of rot. But, at the same time, there is a huge sense of positivity here - perhaps a result of the 2005 "revolution", completely led by grass roots peasant organisations, who now realise their unified power, and their rights.

With its hardships and poverty Bolivia is ripe ground for "development" and, reminiscent of Africa, there are plenty of well meaning big name western NGOs here, their logos branding many water tanks, schools and health clinics as you drive the rugged dusty roads around the altiplano, their big white SUVs sit proudly in the cities, "we're here saving you!"... the same mistakes being made the world over. Travelling these same broken roads in a local transport van, crammed in between two elderly Bolivian women and an agricultural engineer working for QBL, I felt that there was really something different about the way that Quaker Bolivia Link operates here. QBL was set up by a group of Quakers who visited Bolivia on a study tour, as a response to the abject poverty that they witnessed in Bolivia's rural areas. The organisation employs mainly local Bolivian technicians to work with rural community groups for solutions to the root causes of their poverty - lack of accessible clean water, lack of fertile land for growing nutritious food, lack of education, lack of inclusion. The technicians visit the completed projects every few months to ensure their efficiency and I accompanied three technicians over an exhausting three days to visit some of the projects and to experience the reality of Bolivian life.

What struck me immediately while waiting for the local bus to leave for the remote altiplano community of Iruma Pomani was the beautiful positive energy of the local people - I was embraced repeatedly by community members, their rough frost burnt hands holding mine so tenderly, arms around me in a loose hug, "Buen Dia Senorita Ingeniera!" - the welcome was warm and genuine and beautiful - squashed in the bus like sardines we bounced over dirt roads to their community, centered in the middle of a wind-swept, barren, dry, yellow landscape that stretches as far as the eye can see - gusts of wind rousing up dust storms that burn the eyes, little houses made from mud brick with straw roofs dotting the earth about 500 metres apart. This land is scorched with freezing temperatures every night and the heat of the sun every day - the people's cheeks are red and cracked from the climate, giving everyone a rosy appearance, but masking a life that is harsh and unforgiving.

Historically, this community of 72 families had accessed its fresh water from small dirty rivers, giving rise to disease and dehydration (the rivers are dry for a large part of each year) and, of course, lack of nutritious food as the barren, dry land struggles to produce only a meagre crop of potatoes and quinoa. QBL technicians worked with the community to develop a water system which accesses fresh water from ground water sources in the hills and using a system of underground pipelines based on gravity to direct the water current, pipes the water to a tap situated outside each families house. The beautiful part of the project is that it is based on community involvement - the community supplied all the manual labour for the installation of the pipes and QBL provided the technicians and the financing. A community committee is also created, changing on a monthly rotational basis, to administer the project and ensure its effective running, and the current president of the committee showed me around the houses, eagerly turning on every family's tap to show the beautiful stream of clear, clean water. He busily explained to me the system of pipelines under the ground, his pride in being involved in the construction evidently apparent on his kind, weathered face - "I worked with these hands!" he exclaimed, explaining to me that as the system uses gravity for propulsion, there is no running cost for the system, and therefore no cost to the community for their daily water. We walked the dusty ground between each house, each family rushing out to greet us "Gracias, gracias Senorita Ingeniera!" (no matter how many times I explained that I was not an engineer!).

What really impressed me about the project was the lack of its obviousness - the taps beared no logos, no branding, there was no sense of dependency from the community members, only a huge sense of pride and local ownership of the project. When we arrived at the last home in the community, exhausted from the whipping winds and hot sun, an elderly man rushed out "Bienvenido Senorita Ingeniera!", his lined face was so bright, his eyes sparkled, and a huge (toothless) smile erupted as he ushered me to a chair in his one room adobe hut, explaining how grateful the community was for the water supply, and quickly brought out a meal of hot red potatoes and fresh salty cheese for us - it was the most touching example of generosity I have ever experienced. Here, in the harshest of landscapes, these people, who have nothing, will give so unhesitatingly, so warmly. He brought us bottles of local coca cola (quina cola) to drink and was so pleased to watch us enjoy this humble, delicious meal. I was truly touched by this gesture of such genuine kindness.

In addition to the water systems, QBL has helped communities construct greenhouses (carpas solares) to allow them to grow nutritious vegetables during the long dry months when food production is so hard. The hot midday sun is perfect for the greenhouses, which then retain their heat and humidity, allowing for the growth of many species of vegetables all year round. The greenhouses (constructed from adobe) have adjoining chicken and guinea pig huts with a vent to allow the warmth to heat the enclosure - most chickens and guinea pigs (the main source of protein) die during the freezing winter nights at this altitude. The greenhouse projects are mainly administered by the women of the community, who are generally in charge of the nutrition of the children, and stepping inside these small rooms was like stepping into another world - the heat and humidity hit you in the face like warm soup in contrast to the climate outside, and the greenhouses were a riot of colour as lettuces, cauliflowers, broccoli, spinach, celery and radishes bloomed on the fertile soil floor and magnificent tomato plants stretched high to the roof, their fruit heavy and round on their branches, in some of the greenhouses the women had planted flowers - such a beautiful salve to the vision when outside the land is colourless and devoid of obvious beauty.

Visiting these communities with the QBL technicians was a hugely empowering and positive experience for me; finally, development without dependency, assistance without ideology, finance without strings, without branding, without publicity. The projects were humble, were community driven, were "owned" by the families involved, and were needed. To think that a small sum of money, like $500, can install a greenhouse to provide an entire family of eight or nine nutritious food, and a small surplus that can be sold or traded at the local market. Simple solutions that really make a difference to the lives of these warm and gracious people.