Environmental education
Environmentalists struggle to bring awareness in Bolivia
By Ashton Eley
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – Bolivia is making many innovative strides in the way of environmental regulations, but a lack of public awareness and involvement has contributed to difficult enforcement of green living, according to the Environmental Education Center of Santa Cruz.
One law that has already made it through the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies could radically change how environmental concerns are dealt with.
The Mother Earth Law is the first of its kind, not just in Bolivia, but in the world. The purpose is to set up an Earth defendant department, much like a public defender, Mendez said.
“This law says that mother earth has rights and is a very different concept for the world,” said Javier Mendez Vedia, science and life editor for El Deber, the largest newspaper in Bolivia. “It is the first law to give rights to the mother earth. For example, water is not subject to commerce anymore. It is a human right and that is revolutionary.”
While most who know about the bill support it, most Bolivian residents are unfamiliar with it and what it would do for the country.
The writing of the Mother Earth Law is vague, reading more like a mission statement than a set of strict rules.
The right to water is huge for Bolivians after the Cochabamba Water War of 2000, where residents protested in Bolivia’s third largest city after the city’s water supply company Semapa privatized and increased prices. However, the new law does not present a clear plan of action on how to prevent privatization or pollution of the water supply.
The law’s second article outlines the six ideals the defendants of the Earth, who have yet to be appointed, are to uphold: harmony, collective good, regeneration of Mother Earth, respect and rights of the Mother Earth, no commercialism, and multiculturalism.
“The Mother Earth Law is interesting if you understand it, but many can’t understand because it was written for people who think differently about the environment,” said Pamela Rebolledo, department of climate change coordinator. “To understand this law you have to change your mind to take on a different perspective. You have to analyze your own behavior to understand the law.”
Bolivia is one of the first countries to have an environmental department. The Environmental Education Center of Santa Cruz has worked to bridge the gap between government environmental action and community involvement, said Rebolledo, who works in the department’s new facility.
“We work with campaigns and social media, any way to get the information out,” Rebolledo said. “We need to, through education, make people understand what the government is doing, we can transfer the technology and knowledge so that the people can appropriate our work. They need to be a part of the action. Communities have to support and join our projects.”
It is easier for those who live off of the land to see the day-to-day effects of climate change and environmental changes, Rebolledo said, but as more Bolivians move into large cities like Santa Cruz, fewer are concerned about these issues.
According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the most pressing environmental issues in Bolivia are “the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber that are contributing to deforestation, soil erosion and poor cultivation methods.”
Despite what most people may picture when they think of South American life, today almost 70 percent of the population of Santa Cruz lives in the metropolitan area. Most do not understand that eventually the resources that the Bolivian industries are capitalizing on will run out if the country does not implement a more sustainable practices, Rebolledo said.
“We need more motivation and advertisement to encourage people. Most people don’t care much about the environment,” Rebolledo said. “Economy and production don’t have a good relationship with the environment and that is the reason we are like the fifth wheel of the car.”
While some worry environmental laws will try to overregulate their farms and other businesses, many environmentalist understand that there is no stopping development and no wanting to, said Cesar Perez, head of Gaia Pacha Foundation in Santa Cruz. However, it is the way in which a city or country develops that is important.
“Sometimes, the environmental point of view is seen as a counter development philosophy, which is not true,” Perez said. “We are looking for a different type of development and not necessarily traditional development. Not this neoclassical economy that is addicted to oil and is based on destructivism. It is a matter of thinking long term.”
While clearing trees for farmland may seem like the best use of resources in the short run, mass deforestation will lead to larger issues later, Perez said.
“If we cut down all the forest to have more soy farms for example, those forests are water factories for many other crops and communities, and we will no longer have that resource,” Perez said.
Through the Gaia Pacha Foundation, Perez started an Earthkeepers program in Santa Cruz. This program is the first of its kind in any Spanish-speaking or Latin American country and works to educate 10- to 11-year-old students, teachers and parents about the environment in a nontraditional way.
“I had a lot of experience in environmental education and felt frustrated because there was no way to measure change in behavior, values or attitudes,” Perez said. “That’s I was motivated to look for a behavior change model like the Earthkeepers. I’m passionate about it because this is a tool that I think that works.”
During the program, the children learn about ecological concepts of energy flow, cycles, diversity, community, interrelationships, change and adaption all while earning keys to unlock a “magical” prize at the end.
After the three days of camping and hands-on learning, Perez and his team followed up with the participants from four different schools to see how they are applying what they have learned in their everyday lives.
“All this makes them (the children) feel so happy to know that they can understand how this whole thing works,” Perez said, “We are for the first time measuring the impact of a program in terms of not just knowledge, but values and attitudes, and there was more significant change for the guys that attended the program.”
Perez said he thinks that the key to his program is its ability to measurable attitude and behavior change he sees in the children and in their homes.
“We can’t face the problems of climate change if we don’t know how the Earth works,” Perez said. “But just because you know something doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to do something, and most environmental education is focused on only increasing knowledge. That’s why we take them out of the classroom and have them interact, using all the learning styles.”
While many independent and governmental groups work to shift the country toward more sustainable development and living, it remains unclear how effective these groups and regulations like the Mother Earth Law will be in implementing these environmentally friendly standards.
While some Santa Cruz organizations try to promote environmental awareness through street art and advertisements, these do not stop residents from littering around the city.
“Most of the cities in Bolivia are expanding fast and not in a well-organized or well-planned way. Development still just equals concrete and steel in the minds of policymakers,” Perez said. “The good thing is there are more and more civil society organizations that are starting to make their voices be heard. I hope that this is the last momentum of traditional development.”
Bolivian student Yasmin Aguilera Suarez and University of Arkansas student Justin Barfield contributed to this report.
This story is part of the 2015 Lemke Abroad program for the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas.
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Growing creativity
Theater grows slowly but surely in Santa Cruz
By Lauren Hoskins
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – The intensity scene’s built as each actor threw whole red apples onto a red surfaced runway stage, approached audience members, and then gazed deeply into their eyes.
Three actresses and one actor composed the cast of “Princesas,” a story about women and gender roles set in place by society.
As the play began, the petite women of different ages were clothed in layers of tank tops, shirts and shorts. The women eventually removed most of the layers revealing their half-naked bodies.
The actor wore a dark suit and sat at the opposite end of the stage. He eventually removed all of his clothing as well and began to dress in women’s clothing
The women made many gestures as forms of expression. They attacked a Disney princess-themed piñata as a way of tearing down the ideals of perfection presented to children.
The cast erotically danced, sang, and dramatically addressed these controversial issues with Spanish dialogue.
Many plays in Santa Cruz are written to influence the community in this same way. Because theater is a growing art, actors are driven by passion to strengthen the work they love.
Local actor and director Jorge Urquidi Del Rio, 49, has been involved in theater for more than 20 years. Urquidi said many productions in Santa Cruz use any resources available for production.
“When we are working in theater, we can work in many ways; using something that I call realism, magic reality, and imaginary,” Urquidi said. Through these systems, actors can enhance the world of the play.
Realism is when things in the set are used for their specific purpose. Magic reality, however, is when items are used for purposes other than its actual function. Imaginary, as it is literally, is when there are no items, but actors pretend there are, Urquidi said.
These systems are practical in their universal theater uses. However, Bolivian artists are especially drawn to magic reality and imaginary.
In “Princesas,” there were wooden framed posts that acted as windows and mirrors during the production. The simple set is an example of the limited resources available for theaters but also the creativity needed to have a successful production.
One area that local theaters leaders see for growth involves children.
Rene Hohenstein, 60, an actor, director and writer who has been involved with theater for more than 40 years, said plays done for children have helped theater grow.
“I think that people who come to our theater today are people who maybe, 20 years ago, went to see a play with their school and they enjoyed it,” Hohenstein said. “So they keep on coming.”
A local actress, Marily Carvajal, 25, has been acting in Santa Cruz for 10 years. She has been in 10 productions in Bolivia and has also done a few shows in Denmark. Carvajal said she got her start with the arts while in grade school.
“When I was 15, there was a leader who came to my school,” Carvajal said. “He directed a group of young people and he gave a short course of theater, which was good because it was free, so that’s how I started.”
Hohenstein said theater in Santa Cruz has changed over the past 60 years because of progress in presentation and opportunities. There was only one theater company in the 1960s. Now there are more than 20.
He said much of the change is correlated with the growth of the city.
“About, let’s say, 50 years ago this was a small town with maybe 50,000 inhabitants and today it’s a city with almost 2 million inhabitants. So, everything is growing”, Hohenstein said.
One of the important moments that contributed to growth was the 1997 launch of the International Theater Festival in Santa Cruz created by Hohenstein. The festival takes place every two years and included nearly 60 theater groups from 16 countries this year.
Zoe Paelli, 17, a foreign exchange student from Germany, attended performances in the festival in 2015. She participates in theater in her hometown of Berlin, Germany.
“I went to five plays in the festival and all of them were very good but I had a lot of recommendations,” Paelli said. “I also went to almost all of the plays that did not make it into the official festival and I don’t understand why a few of them didn’t get in.”
Hohenstein agreed that the festival has changed since its start. He said the festival does not focus on developing the art anymore, but rather entertaining the public.
He is no longer involved with the festival but continues to work with Casa Teatro where he directs and writes plays. He said working the festival was very time consuming and he felt he had completed his cycle with it.
Although there is quite a bit of growth, Hohenstein said the theater realm is still a little behind.
The major difference between Santa Cruz and the United States, is there is no professional theater. Where there are several opportunities to obtain a degree in theater in the U.S., but in Bolivia, there aren’t. Universities do not offer courses for theater. Many active theater participants are empirics, which means that they have studied theater independently.
There is one school of theater, but Carvajal said this school is very expensive. Although there are scholarships, it is still unaffordable to many students interested.
Theater also doesn’t pay the bills for individuals, Hohenstein said. With fewer theaters, there is less pay for work.
“None of us live from theater,” Hohenstein said. “For example, I am a broker for an insurance company. We have doctors and all kinds of people working so we don’t have to earn our daily bread in theater and that gives us freedom to do what we want with no pressure.”
Actors are hopeful that their work will influence greater change in Santa Cruz.
Hohenstein said this is the way Bolivian theater artists find their way.
Bolivian student Biary Flores and University of Arkansas student Ramsey Minto contributed to this report.
This story is part of the 2015 Lemke Abroad program for the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas.
Daily life in Bolivia
Tahuichi a Way of Life
By Cassie Schirm
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – At the Tahuichi soccer academy, kids in matching soccer uniforms run across muddy fields, playing their passion and chasing their dreams with one kick at a time.
Between dribbles, passes and shots, some of the boys and girls of disadvantaged families find a way out of the harsh reality of living in the poorest country in South America.
Kids such as 12-year-old Diego Medina, who is on scholarship at the academy.
“Tahuichi has done many things in my life. They provide me scholarship for school, lunch, and uniforms,” Medina said. “I love to come to train and go to other cities to train and play soccer. It makes me very happy, because through the soccer I will carry my family out of poverty. That’s why I came here.”
Tahuichi administers said that’s the goal of the academy. So kids like Rodriquez can receive education, soccer training and care to prevent problems and conflicts too common in Santa Cruz. Those concerns include alcoholism, drug addiction and violence youth, as they pursue their dreams of becoming professional on and off the field.
“They didn’t have anything,” said Roly Aguilera, president of Tahuichi. “So we give them hope which is here in Bolivia something very very necessary and very big so that children can really push themselves to become better people.”
Aguilera also said the non-profit academy hosts over 3,000 boys and 400 girls monthly between the ages of 3 and 18. For some kids, soccer is the only way out of the problems and Tahuichi makes that happen.
The United Nations Children’s Fund reported that 65 percent of the population in this South American country lives in poverty, 35 percent lives in extreme poverty, which means those residents survive on less than $2 a day.
Aguilera noted there aren’t a lot of opportunities for kids and there’s trouble around every corner.
“We think with the Bolivia way of life the academy is necessary because we save 3,000 kids from drugs, alcoholism and poor backgrounds,” said Juan Jose Felery Estivariz, Tahuichi employee. “We help them stay away from these problems and because of this I think Tahuichi is a necessity.”
Insight Crime, a foundation that studies criminal activity in Latin American countries, reported that the drug problem in Bolivia has been growing constantly. Bolivia is one of the highest coca leaf growers, which can be used in cocaine and is nearly surrounded by other South American countries that use drugs heavily or produce them, the organization reported.
This is why Tahuichi focuses on teaching its students the idea of “sports yes, drugs no.”
“We focus on the drug aspect a lot because of our excess of drug production is over flowing into the streets and we see how it’s penetrating our schools and young children,”Aguilera said. “So it is very important to promote alternatives through sports culture and theater so youths can use their excess energy elsewhere”
Aguilera said of the 3,500 kids involved in the program, 85 percent are on scholarship provided by donors like Coca-Cola, Tigo and Herbalife. For non-scholarship athletes, tuition at the academy starts at $11 a month. The U.S. Embassy has helped out with donating soccer balls and supplies to Tahuichi.
Without these sponsorships, Tahuichi wouldn’t be able to survive and some kids would go without having lunch each day.
The privately funded organization also provides medical and dental care, food, some housing and instruction on basic hygiene.
The academy works with schools and universities in Bolivia and abroad to give players a chance to further their education. There have been 133 scholarships offered by foreign countries to Tahuichi players. A large number of them have gone to the United States. In Bolivia, 544 scholarships have been offered from schools and 81 for universities. Altogether, the academy has accumulated 625 scholarships for its players.
“I wouldn’t have been able to go to UAGRM without Tahuichi,” Felery said. “They gave me a scholarship and I graduated thanks to Tahuichi. It gave me life gave me what I needed. It was all for me. I am very glad for Tahuichi.”
Now Felery works at the academy teaching the children as a soccer coach and as the social coordinator.
“Tahuichi is a huge contribution to Bolivia because we not only receive children but we produce citizens we help with the educational side,”Aguilera said. “Ninety percent of the graduates that we make come back and work in Bolivia.”
Even though Tahuchi does a lot for the Bolivian people, it is not a program just to keep kids off the streets. It is serious about soccer.
The players travel the world competing against other teams. Since 1978, Tahuichi has won 140 international tournaments with only a handful of defeats. It has won the Gothia Cup of Sweden, the largest youth tournament in the world, and the Dallas Cup, one of the most prestigious U.S. tournaments, more than any other club or academy. It has won the FIFA World Youth Club Championship, the South American Championship of Clubs and numerous other tournaments in England, Denmark, Holland, Finland, Spain, Brazil and Paraguay.
And some players do reach their professional goals. The academy produces four to six professional soccer players a year.
The academy has gained so much recognition the Bolivian government gave Tahuichi its highest honor, the Condor of the Andes, which is fitting because Tahuichi means big bird.
“Tahuichi opened many doors for me,” said Rudy Alejandro Cardozo Fernández, a professional soccer player for Club Bolivar, a La Paz-based team, and Bolivia’s national soccer team. “They helped me a lot. They supported my studies and they opened my mind to become a better person and a better professional.”
Coaches said the students at Tahuichi are taught that everyone has an equal chance to succeed. It all depends on how much they work and how much discipline they use. Players see examples like Cardozo so they gain more hope and start dreaming bigger.
“My dream is to become a professional soccer player and help my parents,” said 11-year-old Alejandro Caballos Cortez. “I will reach that dream, because I will push myself as hard as I can do to that here at Tahuichi. And I will follow the ones before me who got their dreams.”
Even if Caballos doesn’t reach his professional soccer goal, there’s still a lot that he can achieve. Aguilera said players leave Tahuichi with an education and the confidence to find their place in the world.
“The states have a very strong saying that you believe in and that it is true as well. The American dream that anyone can become even president,”Aguilera said. “If you work hard, if you study, and if you’re motivated. Here we use that and we call it the ‘Tahuichi Way.’”
Bolivian student Geziel Hermosa Mendez contributed to this report.
This story is part of the 2015 Lemke Abroad program for the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas.
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Fighting for Rights
Public’s perception of women in media sparks debate for equality
By Meleah Perez
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – A beer advertisement hangs on the wall of a popular bar at the downtown square in Santa Cruz. No one’s head turned at the topless woman endorsing the drink on the poster.
Children run around a popular ice cream shop near the center of the city. Their parents laugh and chat. The only out-of-place things were the television sets playing a sex scene. A few people look at the screen, emotionless and return to their conversations.
Barely clothed women even grace the society pages of El Deber, the largest newspaper in Bolivia. Juan Carlos Rivera Jordan, the owner of the newspaper, shrugs with a sheepish grin. People like to take a break from their lives and see those women, he says.
Not everyone appreciates the view, though. Some people are making it their mission to alter the ways women are represented in the media.
Greta Vargas is a member of Mujeres Creando, which translates to Women Creating. Mujeres Creando is a feminist group that has members who pride themselves on taking down the patriarchy in Bolivia.
“Women are not here to just be pretty,” she said.
Graffiti covered the walls of the group’s headquarters, and pictures of protests surrounded Vargas as she talked about women’s portrayal in the media. She furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched up her nose at the media, specifically advertisements.
“We are not talking about any woman,” she said. “It must be a young woman. Thin, skinny – someone who matches the stereotype. She is stripped of her humanity. We aren’t talking about a person – a woman anymore but a thing. About something that complements, decorates the final product.”
Desiree Duran is familiar with how women in media are treated. She was a model who went on to win Miss Bolivia in 2005. After her reign as Miss Bolivia, she was offered a job to become a professional television news anchor.
Duran was hired at PAT, a large and popular television studio, with no journalism experience. Despite her perfect smile and tangle-free hair, she was still criticized.
“In the beginning,” Duran recalled, “it was terrible because I was very nervous and I didn’t dare take that other step. I didn’t want to make a mistake, so what I did was not speak. I let my partner because she was the one that had all the experience. I let her do the job, and I just laughed. For one year, I was the butt of the media’s joke.”
Over time, Duran said she learned how to do the job better. Though Duran said she has become comfortable in her skills, often this is not the case for many women in the real world, Vargas said. She highlighted the influence women in media can have.
When women who are considered close to perfect are everywhere people look, it hurts other women who may not look like that. Young boys start to see women as objects instead of people, Vargas said.
“Exposing a woman as an ornament and stripping her of her humanity – it’s an act of violence,” she said, adding that what might be best marketing for a product may not be the best thing for women overall.
This issue is not concentrated in Bolivia. The United States, though it may not have sex scenes playing at ice cream shops, is guilty for using the same mantra Santa Cruz does: sex sells. The effects of this way of life are evident from a study released by the Department of Psychology at Boise State University in June 2012.
According to the study, there was a significant relationship between media models and drive for thinness in both men and women in the United States. Societal pressure, how to achieve the ideal body and self-esteem were factors associated with media models as well.
“Future studies may wish to investigate possible factors that may mediate or lessen the relationship between media influence and drive for thinness in men and women,” according to the study. “For example, perhaps supportive friends and family members can serve as a buffer against students’ possible comparisons of their own bodies with those of models portrayed on TV and in magazines”
Samanta Flores Serrate, a radio host, actress and journalist, supports women in the media.
“Beautiful women can do a lot of things,” she said.
Members of Mujeres Creando protest, march and lobby for change in how women are treated, Vargas said. A message the group said it wants to give is that women should be free without a model to imitate.
Some people oppose that idea. Vargas said in the Santa Cruz city square, women from Mujeres Creando protested topless against the treatment of women with red paint across their backs. People threw objects at the display in disgust, she said.
“People do not always consider how women might feel about how society is set up,” Vargas said, “but women have to be free of themselves.”
Bolivian students Ninoska Suarez Antelo and Alfonso Roca and University of Arkansas student Sarah Bingham contributed to this report.
This story is part of the 2015 Lemke Abroad program for the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas.
Escaping Responsibility
Bribes, lax attitudes help Bolivians avoid penalties for drinking, driving
By Meleah Perez
SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia – As his fingers tapped on the steering wheel, Raul Letellier watched the police officer approach his car. The red and blue lights flashed in his rearview mirror as he sighed at the inconvenience of being pulled over.
Letellier’s blurred vision shifted to the officer who requested he take a breath test. After the test proved he was drunk, the cop gave Letellier an ultimatum.
Pay money on the spot and continue home or be arrested.
This case is not unique. Many Bolivian drivers can attest to that. Letellier is especially no stranger to being pulled over for drunken driving. It has happened so many times that he lost count.
He said he gets caught driving drunk once every other month, but rarely is arrested. When there are drunken drivers, the police either take them to the police station or extort money from them, Letellier said.
“Normally, it never comes to anything because everything gets fixed with money,” he said with a wide smile.
This attitude toward drunken driving is common. Letellier said that almost all of his friends have driven under the influence of alcohol.
Capt. Ramon Salazar from Bolivian Transit Police said officers do take driving under the influence seriously.
Salazar said that according to laws before 2012, the first time people got pulled over for drunken driving, they had to pay a fine of 400 to 500 Bolivianos or B’s. That is around $57 to $73. The second time, their license would get taken away for one year. After the third strike, they would not be allowed to drive again.
However, after 2012, the government made a stricter law, said Salazar. According to this law, the first time people get pulled over for driving drunk, their license must be taken away for one year. If it happens again, their license is taken away permanently.
Despite the risks, people like Letellier still drink alcohol and decide to drive anyway. According to El Deber, the largest newspaper in Bolivia, car accidents have doubled in the past five years. One of the main reasons is because of drunken driving.
There were 36,000 car accidents, and 17 percent of those were related to driving drunk, Salazar said.
Jorge Ojopi Arana was included in these statistics after his drunken driving accident. Rain pounded on his car as he drove 25 mph to his nearby house.
Ojopi drank two beers with his dinner at his daughter’s house before heading into the night. As he came to an intersection, a motorcycle with no visible headlights hit his car.
On the motorcycle, there was a woman, her child and the driver who had been drinking. No one wore helmets. The motorcyclist broke his leg, and everyone else came out with minor bruises.
“I just had an accident, and the damages were just material,” Ojopi said, “but there are cases with human losses. That’s more critical.”
Although he said he had low blood-alcohol content, he was required to go to Alcoholics Anonymous and give up his license for one year. In Santa Cruz, the BAC that is considered drunk is .05 as opposed to the United States where a drunk BAC is .08.
Ojopi said he gets upset when he hears about police taking bribes from drivers, but that he understands why they do it. Police officers in Santa Cruz earn low salaries, and because of that, they need extra money, Ojopi said.
“If the salaries of the police officers were good, corruption wouldn’t exist, and the law would be followed more,” he said.
Salazar agreed that corruption is directly related to salary. The low wage is actively causing a social problem, he said.
“There are some police officers – they somehow have many problems,” Salazar said, “but that’s not an excuse. You know how much you’re earning. There are many police officers that follow their conscience, but you shouldn’t forget that the police is a reflection of society.”
The situation in Bolivia is similar to the United States about 40 years go. Once upon a time, the U.S. had just as big of a problem with drunken driving as Santa Cruz does now. According to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, website, www.mad.org, fatalities from driving drunk in 1980 reached above 20,000. Since the founding of MADD, that number has steadily decreased over the years. As of 2013, there were 10,000 deaths.
Back in Bolivia, people like Ojopi said they assume it will take something devastating to motivate Bolivians to adjust the nonchalant attitudes they have toward drunken driving.
“If you get educated,” Ojopi said, “you know that you shouldn’t drive under the influence of alcohol. You’re not aware of that – not until you go through an accident. A bitter experience that makes you aware of the reality.”
Bolivian students Ninoska Suarez Antelo and Alfonso Roca and University of Arkansas student Sarah Bingham contributed to this report.
This story is part of the 2015 Lemke Abroad program for the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas.
Lemke Abroad 2015 