Living together in diversity

Children and young people from across Bolivia have gathered together at a summit to celebrate their cultural heritage and learn about the history and diversity of the indigenous peoples of their country.

Children climb up onto the wings of the condor: the spirit of the Andes. It will guide them as they tell the story of the diversity of cultures found in Bolivia. At this event each child is a seed of their culture, tells their own story and contributes to the “Indigenous Boys’ and Girls’ Summit”.

Bolivia's multicultural society, as seen through the eyes of the children, was showcased at an event attended by institutions and people working with children. Everyone enjoyed being part of the children’s contribution. They proved themselves to be skilled musicians, weavers, designers of musical instruments and experts in water management.

The video and the book which will result from the summit will bring together the contributions of children from six indigenous groups and the Afro-Bolivian community. They came to share their cultures, listen to each other’s music and language, and marvel at the knowledge passed down by their elders.

One Tacana girl said, “The clothes we wear to dance are made from a plant. We decorate them with fish scales and they look like the ones our grandparents wore.”

Another girl, from the Qakachaca group, said, “This mirrors you see on our hats shows that we are still single but our mothers can’t wear it any more because they’re married.”

The Afro-Bolivian teenagers danced to the beat of drums accompanied by songs from children from Urus-Iruhito. “We all have the same right to enjoy ourselves whether we are black, white, male or female. This is one of the songs we composed based on an old song sung by our grandparents,” said Marcelo.

The event was organised by Plan, NICOBIS, CAEM, Aid in Action and the Ministry of Justice, and the resulting video and documents will be used as teaching materials in central schools.