Life of commoners in Bolivia

BOLIVIA | Thursday, 4 July 2013 | Views [337] | View Smaller Image

"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold" : I think this is a great introductory picture to the life in Bolivia: rustic and rough lifestyle with lots of empty land. Sabina, 77, lives near the town of Uyuni and wakes up every morning at 4AM to start her day: she prepares breakfast/lunch for a family of 10, walks 13 kms (carrying her grand-daughter) to work as a salt miner for the next 10 hours for which she gets 50 Bolivianos (7 USD). She then walks back and then prepares dinner before going to bed. This is her routine 6 days a week. NB: For continuation of my story, please take this as photo # 1. (I could not change the order of the photos)

Casting the net:
Kato lives in Pampa on the edge of Lake Titicaca. He is 18 and has a 9 months old daughter. During the day he works as a driver transporting goods from La Paz to Copacabana. He starts from Pampa every day at 6 AM to reach La Paz at 8. He tries to make 2 rounds between La Paz and Copacabana that are 3 hours apart and he gets 40-60 Bolivianos (6-9 USD) if he also helps in loading/unloading the goods. This daily income is not enough to take care of his family so he fishes during the night, sometimes until midnight. He does not have a boat, so he mostly does shore fishing. Due to this schedule, he is so highly sleep-deprived that he has fallen asleep while driving a few times risking his life.
NB: For continuation of my story, please take this as photo # 3. (I could not change the order of the photos)

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Sojourn :
In spite of having a difficult life, Bolivians make time for their families. She was waiting against this perfect background of a wall for a bus when I sneaked this picture. Later, it turned out we were both going to take the same bus for a long journey. After I put her at ease with my Spanish, she told me her name was Ava and she had taken a few days off to go to Sucre to take care of her widowed sister who had just suffered a heart attack. She was a very well-spoken and dignified woman.
NB: For continuation of my story, please take this as photo # 4. (I could not change the order of the photos)

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Life of commoners in Bolivia

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