Trash, Climate Conference and Peru

Happy Monday! Before I get into the climate conference and my trip to Peru, I want to go back to the issue of trash here in Cochabamba and some responses I got from that blog entry. I agree that we need to have a place to put our waste and if I implied that all dumps are bad ideas, I didn’t intend to. I agree that we should not feel guilty for doing what we need to do live, such as preparing food and inevitably having waste from that. I don’t feel guilty about having waste, but I do think it’s good to question how much waste I produce, whether it’s all necessary, how is it affecting others and whether I could use some of my waste in another form, such as putting food waste into compost instead of the trash? It’s not guilt that motivates my questioning, rather a hope of continual betterment for myself and my community whom I belong to.

I’m so appreciative of being questioned how racism is a part of the issue when I did not explicitly address the race and ethnicity of the people in the southern zone. I want to say first, I am in the beginning of grasping who the players are and what the history is, so I admit to my lack of experience and knowledge about this situation. In the midst of trying to gather more perspectives and background, I will attempt to put some of the pieces together, fully knowing it is incomplete.

From what I’ve listened to so far, I’m reminded just how much race is socially constructed and my ideas of the indicators of difference continue to be twisted, multiplied and turned around. How I’m thinking of racism is *systematically* assigning value based on race, which can be made up of different factors: biological/genetic, geographic, color of skin etc. From what I understand (which again, is not a whole lot as of yet) people in the southern zone come from other parts of Bolivia and from the country in hopes of getting more opportunity to earn a living.

Many are indigenous and may not know Spanish or if they do, it may not have been their first language; many have not been raised in the city; many work very long hours and get their kids to work too. People from less colonized areas tend to have less Spanish blood mixed in their lines of heritage and therefore tend to have darker complexions. To demonstrate how value is being assigned to complexions, most advertisements I see are of very thin lighter-skinned people with lighter hair and lighter eyes AND they sell beauty creams here for the purpose of lightening the color of your skin…all sending the message that you’re more beautiful and more valuable if you have lighter skin.

When the group of people who live in the southern zone don’t have their own water, have more sicknesses due to the dump, and live in much poorer conditions than the group of people in power of making decisions, it appears to me that the group of people in the southern zone are not seen as being as valuable as other people in Cochabamba. That is why I said that environmental racism appears to me, to be present here. I have so much to learn still and I may come back in several months or a year with a whole new perspective, but this is what I’m observing at this point in time, which doesn’t make it truth, simply my perspective.

 

On to the climate conference, officially titled People’s World Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. After the UN met in Copenhagen in December 2009, many people were disappointed with the outcomes for the environment. Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia, invited everyone interested in the world to talk about the causes and solutions relating to the environmental problems. The idea was to include people who weren’t able to sit at the table of discussion in Copenhagen and have more dialogue on the following: structural causes of climate change; alternative models for Living Well in Harmony with Nature; talk about and agree on a Universal Declaration for the Rights of Mother Earth; plan a World Referendum on Climate Change; and come up with a proposal for a Climate Justice Court.

Because anyone could go, I signed up for free on the internet and I went to several different sessions as well as the closing ceremony on Thursday, Earth Day. There were lots of panels going on at the same time so I only went to some. Most panels/sessions took place at a university campus about 15 minutes from here. I didn’t understand everything because many hours on end is a lot to try to concentrate in another language, so content-wise I didn’t understand as much as I would have liked, but I’m glad I went. For example, I went to a talk about using local traditional knowledge and modern technology to help approach climate problems with farming in the Altiplano (higher altitude mountainous region) of Bolivia.

It was really fun to people-watch there because there were so many people there from all over Latin America especially. They reported that about 140 countries were represented. I met a guy from La Paz who works as a photographer in the Amazon and other national park areas of Bolivia. I met another guy from Argentina who was Hari Krishna and had a booth about vegetarian eating. There were lots of people there in indigenous clothing and it was very clear that we were a diverse group of people, just by listening and observing. I saw Miss Bolivia and the Vice President of Bolivia again, but not together this time. Small world.

 

The final day, the ceremony was in the soccer stadium in the city of Cochabamba and it was a lot of fun, although I found out later I left before all the REALLY good dance presentations started. All these different indigenous groups processed in, dancing and playing instruments. There were some performances and then a famous Bolivian band performed and they were great. Two people got up to read the findings of the 17 different working groups (each with its own theme), and plan for the future. The next meeting of this nature will take place in Mexico, at the end of this year I think. Next, the political leaders spoke, which was my least favorite part, but I stayed through it thinking they wouldn’t talk so long (I was mistaken). I never in my life expected to be in the same place as the Vice President of Cuba, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, the VP of Bolivia and the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales. There was also a rep from Nicaragua. Granted, my comprehension and attention span were not superb, but it appeared to me that they were there for their own interests, not so much for the environment. Apparently after I left, things got a lot more jovial and celebratory, but I was leaving based on the time allotted in the program…silly me. It was a good experience and I’m glad I got to go. We’ll see what Mexico’s conference brings? You can see more pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/nora.pfeiffer/ClimateConference#

 

If you’re still reading, thank you! The last thing I want to relate is my trip to Peru last week. I arrived in La Paz about 6:15am to find out that there were blockades both in Bolivia and Peru on the roads to get to Puno. I asked four different people about it and got four different responses, until I heard one that cheered me up. I could still get across the border if I took a car or van, instead of a bus, which is exactly what I did. The road was bumpy, dusty and long but I got to the border. I got really lucky and the police boss let me go across without having to pay the standard 100 B’s even though my letter saying why I’m here in Bolivia wasn’t current enough for his liking, “just make sure every time in the future you get a new letter”…yes, sir.

I found a bus heading to Puno and what I thought would be 2 hours turned into 5. We got lost (which I realized later was because we were taking an alternative much longer route since there were blockades) and the driver suddenly had what seemed like 50 wives nagging him to pull over and ask for directions…c’mon, you’re wasting our time…ask him, ask him!!! It was pretty funny for me to listen to. We also got a flat tire and a police inspection. Finally we arrived in Puno and I was cold and wet, but found a market with some delicious food to fill my grumbling tummy.

I met up with my friends from Arizona, JP and Cathleen, who are living in Peru. It was so nice to see them again and we had a great visit. On Saturday we went on a boat tour in Lake Titicaca to visit some floating islands of the Uros people and then to a more solid island of Taquile. I learned that the Incans named the lake “Titicaca” because it looks like a puma chasing a rabbit...so they say, but you really have to use your imagination. Titicaca is roughly translated as “Stone Puma”.

 

Floating islands…what are those? They explained to us, using a model, that they transport hunks of earth out into the water and there they fasten them together to float. On top of this, they pile layers and layers (every 2 weeks) of this reed, called totora. The reeds are also used to construct their houses, boats and look-out towers. It appears that they really depend on tourists because everything was set up to invite us to spend money. I really liked their clothing – bright neon colors and it was interesting to see a glimpse of their lives.

 

Next we went further out into the lake and the sun finally came out for the first time once we arrived at the island Taquile. We had a great lunch and walked across the island to board our boat on the other side. The dirt was so brown and rich-looking, not what I see in Cochabamba. A lot of the day was spent on the water, which was fine by me because I absolutely love being on the water. With no oceans to go to, at least Bolivia has Lago Titicaca.

 

The next day we went to a little town called Juli and wandered around the town, its small harbor, and several very old churches. The lake was just gorgeous and I was able to get some pictures of it in its beauty with the Bolivian mountains in the background. My trip back to Cochabamba was also very long, about 15 hours, but I chatted with people in the van this time and that made the trip more enjoyable. I’m so glad I went and it was a real treat to see friends in addition to my first introduction to Peru. For more pictures, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/nora.pfeiffer/PeruBlog#

 

5 things I’m thankful for today: making eggplant parmesan with my host-mom yesterday and getting to eat it again for lunch today (there’s not much good Italian food here); the music of Michael Jackson; getting to talk with my mom yesterday; good conversations with teachers about Bolivian culture; and the oranges and “mandarinas” (we don’t have them in the US as far as I know) which are in season right now and DE-licious!