Henry hits Macha

Henrique Escobar is a phenomenon that only hits Macha every eight years, so when he appears you have to make the most of it. Macha has five competing song and dance Carnaval groups all desperate to secure Henry´s participation. This group managed to get him to carry the Carnaval mask as they danced around the streets. Already two feet higher than most people in Macha he stuck out even more; a welcome target for water bombs, flour bags and confetti that gets thrown around during Carnaval. Behind him is a boy-girl equipped with a wip just in case he would step out of line. "Where is the rest of the family?" you might wonder. Well they are a bit shorter which helps. Bonno did his father proud however by participating in the "Entrada" dressed as a Tinkuy warrior. In a place where people are worried about the decline of Quechua, this blond boy with some knowledge of the language was most welcome.

Visiting the compadres

Henry´s cumpadres in Kalankera had warmly invited us for Carnaval and one day we ventured out from Macha. As we reached the first huts people were preparing for the llama ear piercing ceremony and already generously pouring libations. Without any form of audience this family had dressed in their special Carnaval gear, which is a major investment, decorated the coral and performed the necessary ceremonies. Unfortunately the baby llamas were not quite ready and we could not stay long enough to watch the pinacle of the ceremony. We had brought all sorts of gifts including sea shells, as people have never seen the sea, which were gratefully received. This was the boys first experience of one of the poorest parts of the world and although they enjoyed many aspects of it the constant demands for more gifts was also very stressful.

Meeting the Sirens

To celebrate Carnaval we travelled to Macha, a small town far away from any mayor centres in the north of Potosi. As we crossed this deserted and often bleak landscape suddenly groups of people would suddenly appear out of nowhere. These were the Sirens. Dressed in extremely colourful dress and playing pinkillu flutes they danced their way to houses where someone had died during the previous year. As this is the time in which flowers and fruits come to flourish, signs of new life, their task is to help the souls of the departed to the other world. The Sirens would start at about 3pm and travel all night as communities are far spread.

On the road

After Bonno´s birthday it rained and rained for weeks. It got quite cold especially as houses here are not equipped with central heating or tumble driers. The east of Bolivia, which is the lower part, was and is particularly badly hit and many thousands of people are made homeless, crops and livestock destroyed. During this time we stayed mainly at home and worked on our various projects. One weekend we ventured out to Cochabamba for site seeing and work, and got stuck various times as the night bus came to a standstill. In several places avalances of mud and stone had come down the mountain slopes completely blocking the road. This is a major problem in Bolivia of which a large part is mountaineous with altitudes ranging from 300 to 5000m above sea level. Roads are unlikely to last more than five years. As a taxi driver commented: "You need to have God on your side to travel during the rainy season".

Bonno´s Birthday

On the 19th of January Bonno celebrated his 10th birthday; a milestone for all of us! He had a fabulous party with lots of friends, mainly from his music group. They turned up and disappeared at all sorts of times. We danced and played English party games, which everyone seemed to enjoy. Henry made a fantastic cake in the shape of a drum and panpipes, which was quite a novelty here. Instead of party bags the visitors went home with big plates of food.