International Day of the "Warmi"

Readers:

Today is International Day of the Woman (Woman in Quechua is "Warmi"). To mark the day we have a great member of our Democracy Center team here in Cochabamba, Leny Olivera, honors the women of Bolivia by offering us profiles of three women here in Cochabamba, to offer our readers a more up-close look at the day to day realities about what it means to be a woman here in Bolivia. You can also read the full interviews in Spanish and listen to them here. Felicidades to all our women readers!Jim

[Note: This article was translated to English by our wonderful assistant director, Melissa Draper.]

Three Cochabamba Women -- a Look Up-Close

This week I had the chance to speak at length with two women—Cochabambinas—who, through our conversations, opened a special window into their daily lives. From their stories comes an important reminder of the often tireless and impressive work that makes up a regular day for most Bolivian women:

Maura—mother, wife, cook, business-woman

Maura Salvatierra, 38 years old, is married with two children who study in the local university of San Simon. She works in the cafeteria of the downtown market selling food. A normal day for her begins at four o’clock in the morning so she can get to the market in order to receive begin to heat the huge caldrons of water that will cook the potatoes and rice she Hill sell for the day; she cleans the tables off for her early customers and arranges the chairs.

Then, together with her husband, they embark on a vegetable-buying excursion to find the best price for the vegetables that are needed for her recipes for the day’s food. She returns to the house to prepare her two sons for classes at the university and heads back to the market to marinate the meat before it must be cooked. She serves her customers until four in the afternoon. That’s just in time for her to return to the house to prepare something for dinner for their family. On top of that she Works to arrange the house and finally rewards herself with a shower before she heads to bed.

After explaining her daily activities, Maura admitted that the time she dedicates to her small business left her no time to go to special events, or go out in the evenings. She works every day of the week, without a break, every month of the year including holidays. Unfortunately, since her husband works as a taxi driver at night, she is left responsible for the taking care of the house on top of her daily work in the market.

When asked about what she thought of the international women’s day, she commented “It’s great that we have this day to remember [women] because the entire world works, but we have to recognize that women work in the home as well as outside the home.”

Sara—wife, mother, vendor

Sara Flores, 40 years old, who is also married and the mother of two children works in the same market selling make-up and miscellaneous beauty products.

A normal day for Sara starts at five in the morning so she can arrange things in the house before heading to work at 8am. Some days she has to get up at 4am to prepare food for her son, who is doing his obligatory military service. Sara stays in the market selling her goods until 9pm. She’s worked like this--12 hours a day, every day of the week—for the last 15 years. As she told me, “you have to work everyday in order to eat every day.” International women’s day doesn’t mean much to Sara, as she never gets a chance to take a break or celebrate it. For her, Bolivian’s National Women’s Day (October 11) and Bolivia’s Mother’s Day (May 27) are the holidays she most celebrates.

Sara’s advice to young women is that they do all they can to study. “If you become a professional, at least you get to have Saturday and Sunday to be with your family.”

Alicia—mother, drink vendor

Alicia is 35 years old and the single mother of a 17-year old daughter. Proudly dressed in the traditional clothing of her home village in the highlands near Oruro, Curawara de Carangas, she Works now as a drink vendor in Cochabamba’s main market. The special drink she prepares “batido de huevo,” made with a raw egg mixed with a low-alcoholic beer, is a popular drink in Bolivia. Her day starts at 5am when she gets u to prepare breakfast and prepare food for her daughter’s day as a student in junior high. She works to be able to provide for her and her daughter, especially to pay the costs of her daughter’s education. Her small business selling drinks barely keeps up with their expenses, so she washes clothes for extra income. When asked what she most wants for her daughter, she replied, “I want her to study because I don’t want my daughter to have to be a street vendor.”

To read the full version of Leny’s article and to listen to the actual interviews (all in Spanish) click here.