Seinforma Canada

       Despite the great natural wealth (gas, oil, silver and gold deposits and tourist attractions) Bolivia is one of the least developed countries of Latin America. El Alto is one of its poorest cities. It is located in the Altiplano. Around 100,000 children from 7 to 19 years old work on the streets cleaning shoes or selling candy. Around 3,000 live in misery. With only 750,000 inhabitants, these numbers are alarming. This population of children lack tools and opportunities of recreation, culture and education necessary for their normal development. In many occasions they end up hiding away in drugs, alcohol and crime.
   “Casa WAKI” is a juxtaposition of the Spanish word “casa” (house) and Ayamaran word “WAKI”, which is a name given by the Ayamara´s farmers to a particular way of communitarian work. It approximately means “You give me land, I give you seeds and together we share the crops”.
   Casa Waki supports around 150 children that live or/and work on the streets of El Alto and help them build a better future. They provide the children between 3 and 18 years of age a space, where victims of extreme poverty can exercise their spirits, bodies and souls.
   The activities of the Casa Waki are divided in four programs: “Children”, where literature, mathematics, theatre and social skills are taught to children between 6 and 14 years of age. "Adolescentes" (teenagers) focuses on development of responsibility and punctuality and basic technical knowledge is given. “The Young” is a program that helps young men and women (between 18 and 26 years old) to find strategies and tools necessary for starting their own business.
   Teenagers and young men and women participate in different activities such as handiwork, bakery, carpentry, flower and horticultural growing. They are trained and supervised by volunteer professionals. The self financing of the workshops through commercialization of the products is a supplementary tool taught to the participants. As a reflection of the business production, they are shown how to be entrepreneurs and responsible for their work.
    Its fourth program is the link among the others. The “Service” program helps in the execution of the actions of the other units and projects in favour of the benefiting population and contributes to its administrative following. The services of the forth program include a dining room and a medical consulting room.
   Due to the crisis in Bolivia, the bureaucratic processes to obtain funds have become slower and more complex. Since beginnings of November, Casa Waki has not received financial support for its dining room, a key part of its service for children who live on the streets. The dining room of Casa Waki goes beyond nutrition; it is a place of meeting where children with great potential and need of support get motivation. Due to economic difficulties of the participants, the dining room also attracts beneficiaries who later participate in Casa Waki´s programs.
   Nutrition is one of basic human rights. Casa Waki only uses a small annual amount of money to feed 150 children and teenagers. Without the services of the dining room, many of these children will be obliged to abandon the programs to satisfy this need by working on the streets.
   May be we cannot change the world with a couple of dollars, pesos or bolivianos, but we can help a community. Help is within reach of our pockets and we can make a difference. May be you will buy your loved one an expensive present for the Valentine’s Day, but with less money you can feed a community of 150 children. Seinforma Canada joins Casa Waki to help the children of the El Alto streets to improve themselves and triumph. We hope you will be on our side. TO DONATE CLICK HERE

By Sugey Terrero/Seinforma Canada
                                Special Correspondent

El Alto, Bolivia.-   In the middle of the darkness, thousands of lights are twinkling in the mountains of La Paz, as if they were stars. Before dawn, the workers, salesmen and others begin to emigrate to their jobs. The natives, with their skirts, braids and hats; the samsons camouflaged with week bodies and native Indian faces pick up the bags of fruits and vegetables, that weight five times more that their bodies. While the sun keeps on rising, the shoe shiners appear, as well as the ones who are going to their offices, stores or shopping malls. When noon comes, they all unite on the main square to dance tango among the social classes, the past, and the possible future.
   Without a doubt, Bolivia is going through one of the most difficult social and political moments of their history. Unfortunately, the more serious political problems are, the economy deteriorates and then less attention is paid to social issues. That is why we want to make room for a special cause. Seinforma´s goal goes beyond informing. We want to offer a helping hand to the human rights organizations and alternative media projects that day by day keep the hope of our Latin-American brothers. This year, Seinforma joins the fight against hunger of the children of and on the streets of El Alto, Bolivia.