Betty´s Response

I was still disturbed by what I heard in class that I brought it up with Betty when I got home. She was infuriated that someone would make those claims about the campesinos, especially a professor in a classroom. Unfortunately, when Betty enters any excited state of emotion her spanish speeds up and I missed a lot of what she had to say. Betty is also a doctor that works in the campo (like Tatiana´s father) but she had very different things to say. She spoke about the general population in the campo that have less then 1000 Bs to their name, that equates to about $125. The people with no roofs on their houses, no running water (many with no water at all), the children with no shoes and barely any clothes. She explained that in the campo, pregnant women die in childbirth the majority of the time because they can´t afford to go to a hospital. She painted a picture very contrary to what Tatiana had to say. She also elaborated that the wealthy in Bolivia look at the campesinos as less than human.

"Even the dogs, of the rich, get food everyday and can go to a veterinarian"

She also talked about her indigenous heritage but I missed almost all of that part of the conversation. I can´t say that I felt better after my talk with her but I did feel more validated.

Enjoy two polarized opinions on the poorest of the poor in Bolivia.