| |
Oxfam in Bolivia - El Alto shanty town
 |
|
Children use an El Alto rubbish tip as a playground |
|
Fifteen years ago, El Alto, to the north of La Paz, was a rural
area. Today it’s the site of Bolivia’s biggest shanty
town, with a population of 600,000.
People who come here from the countryside often have little knowledge
of their rights. Oxfam is working with these communities to increase
their access to basic services such as water, sanitation, and health
care. Oxfam-supported programmes involving youth groups, women’s
groups, and leadership training are also in place in El Alto.
Living in the city
Viviana Velasco (right), from the Jovenes 2000 Youth Group in El
Alto’s poorest district, explains why the group was formed:
"Our district has a reputation as the most dangerous part
of El Alto. Some people think that because we live in a poor area
we’re all drug addicts and troublemakers. Of course there are
problems in our district, but many young people want to do something
positive for our community. One group planted some trees in the
square, and we have regular clean-up campaigns. We want to show
people that we’re not all the same. We want to make changes,
to improve our living conditions. We have been working with the
staff at Las Gregorias, an organisation supported by Oxfam, and
they have given us somewhere to meet, and money to buy educational
materials to use in our workshops. It’s taken time and a lot
of persistence, but little by little we seem to have made an impact.
The local council started to listen to us, and even some young people
who used to be in gangs joined us."
Photos: Julio Etchart/Oxfam
|
