Emotion from Bolivia…

PEOPLE OF AIQUILE

The first thing you notice when you arrive in Aiquile is the green of the valleys. The winding road is a continuous up and down that unfolds between two thousand and four thousand meters of altitude. Along the road, stray dogs patiently wait for a bite from passersby while cows, donkeys, and pigs lazily cross the asphalt in search of better food. Then, after the last curve, you arrive at the Charango roundabout, the unique local guitar to which the city has proudly dedicated a museum. And you are in town. Now you can see them.

You see the children and the cholitas, the weathered faces of men baked by the sun and the toil of days.

We are six, and we are not all foreigners; we are guests of the people of Aiquile. If today's theme is: Words of love, I must say that words are nothing compared to actions here in this wonderful South American land, where there is a need for actions, concrete actions, because what we call poverty according to our standards, you will easily encounter it when you leave the city center and venture towards the outskirts.

With the off-road vehicle of our Aiquile friend, we traveled dirt roads, crossed fords, and passed deep potholes to reach rural schools or small settlements where, with the generosity of many, we were able to collect enough to contribute to the education of children and girls. Even though school dropout is quite common, we were able to joyfully embrace a boy and a girl who in the last year had achieved the status of a doctor by graduating in economics and commerce and pharmacy respectively.

One of the major calamities in the area is the chronic lack of water, a vital element for the survival of both humans and agriculture. This is why we attended the inauguration of tanks that will allow small rural communities to continue living in their homeland without having to migrate to the tropical lowland areas, as many have had to do.

The eyes of the children receiving a case with crayons and pencils repays us greatly for all our efforts, and the offering of chicha that we taste before offering it to Pacha Mama makes us understand how grateful the poor people of the highlands are for the activities of the Fundacion.

The Aquileño does not hold back and travels every day to meet Mayors, Teachers, School Principals, Representatives of small communities, receives requests for help, evaluates, almost always grants, struggles with a thousand problems, but above all loves. He loves his land, his people, his sky full of white cotton balls, his mountains, the plants that cover them, the food, the flowers, everything that reminds him of his Andean origins. We are grateful to him for the hospitality he has granted us, but even more for the example he conveys through his actions.

Alessandro Perone