Posts Categorized: Bolivia

The Time is Now to Care for Water

From Water Wars to Climate Change, Bolivians are Faced with Growing Water Scarcity By Oscar Rea Campos | Foundation for Community Axión, a member of UMAVIDA The year 2000 in Bolivia was the year of the “Water War.” Under pressure from the World Bank, the government of Bolivia privatized the public water supply of Cochabamba,… Read more »

Envisioning new ways of living well together

By Hivlin Siles Maldonado | UMAVIDA, Joining Hands Bolivia My name is Hivlin Siles Maldonado. I have been the coordinator of UMAVIDA, the Joining Hands network in Bolivia for a little over 5 months. As a network, UMAVIDA promotes environmental sustainability and empowerment of marginalized communities. As I look at the work we do with… Read more »

Waste from Huanuni Mine Harms Communities Downstream

By Chenoa Stock | Mission Co-worker, UMAVIDA, Joining Hands Bolivia   The Bolivian Joining Hands Network, UMAVIDA (Joining Hands for Life), focuses their campaign for water rights and environmental justice in the city of Oruro, a principal center for mining, Bolivia’s second largest industry. Located just outside of Oruro, the small town of Huanuni is… Read more »

Water Ceremony Seeks to Restore What Mining Has Dried Up

By Alejandrina Ibañez Aramayo | UMAVIDA Twenty years ago, the Peñas Canyon, located in the Pazña Municipality and Department of Oruro, Bolivia, was a prosperous community that thrived from diverse, agricultural production, including potato, quinoa, fodder, broad beans, corn, a variety of tubers, etc. But now, the community solely depends on livestock subsistence farming for… Read more »

Proposed Bolivian Law Declares that “Water is Life”

mining holding ponds By Chenoa Stock | Mission Co-worker, Joining Hands Bolivia As we gathered around the U-shaped tables on this Bolivian winter day, bundled in coats and scarfs – the typical meeting style in Bolivia due to the lack of central heating in any buildings or houses – we were not there to debate or be heard… Read more »