Though the official Independence Day in Bolivia is August 6th, the celebrating happened in Uspha happened on Sunday. There was a couple hours long parade of all the different groups in the community. We got there just in time to see Tantakuna, the name of the project/NGO that I work with. Pictured below are the women some of the women that I work very closely with. The plan was to coordinate with white shirts and it was really nice to see everyone dressed up.
Not all of the women got the memo I suppose but most of them only have two or three outfits. I try to dress in solidarity with the women by wearing the same clothes to work. Since work is a dust bowl and I have to wash laundry by hand it is also pragmatic to just have one set of clothes that are completely filthy.
Tantakuna is not only home the bakery but also a daycare and preschool. The kids were not left out of the procession. The scene I captured below was just too precious for words. There are nine departments in Bolivia, similar to states in the US and this group of kids each dressed up in clothes that are native to the different departments.
After the parade I met up with a lot of women and they all wished me a happy birthday. It felt good to go in on a weekend and support them in something so important. Uspha was not the only place holding parades. There were three days of parades that shut down a couple main streets in the city. Sunday, in the city, was a parade of all the school bands. Monday was the civic parade and Tuesday was the military parade. I saw bits and pieces of them, and thought of my dad when we saw the drum major leading the marching bands along the route, but for the most part steered clear. There are more pictures in the web album.
Not all of the women got the memo I suppose but most of them only have two or three outfits. I try to dress in solidarity with the women by wearing the same clothes to work. Since work is a dust bowl and I have to wash laundry by hand it is also pragmatic to just have one set of clothes that are completely filthy.Tantakuna is not only home the bakery but also a daycare and preschool. The kids were not left out of the procession. The scene I captured below was just too precious for words. There are nine departments in Bolivia, similar to states in the US and this group of kids each dressed up in clothes that are native to the different departments.After the parade I met up with a lot of women and they all wished me a happy birthday. It felt good to go in on a weekend and support them in something so important. Uspha was not the only place holding parades. There were three days of parades that shut down a couple main streets in the city. Sunday, in the city, was a parade of all the school bands. Monday was the civic parade and Tuesday was the military parade. I saw bits and pieces of them, and thought of my dad when we saw the drum major leading the marching bands along the route, but for the most part steered clear. There are more pictures in the web album.
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