Hi all, Cassie here.

While Andy´s been slaving away back home in Moro Moro, I´ve been hanging out with really cool people and talking about water issues at a 4-day conference in Sucre, Bolivia. I´ll post pictures and stories from the trip in the following post. For now, I want to share a video I took during the cultural night held the last night of the conference, where members from several delegations shared a dance from their country or region. This dance was performed by some young men and women (most still in high school) from Potosí, Bolivia, a city famous for being the center of mining in Bolivia.

Due to a lack of memory on the camera, I only captured a little bit of the dance. Just after I stopped recording, all the men made some actions like they were falling down, then sat on the ground for a minute or so while the women danced slowly around them. Then, after they got up again, the music suddenly picked up, the guys threw down their tools and grabbed the girls, and starting dancing all happy and festive. I learned that some of the young men had already spent time working in the mines, and they said that, as you might expect, it´s very hard and dangerous work.

Mining was a commonly-talked about subject at the conference, mainly concerning its contribution to water contamination around Potosí and other cities in the Andes. In spite of the dependence of Potosí workers on the mines for employment, these guys spoke out strongly and passionately against some of the mining activities that are especially polluting. They also put a lot of effort into presenting this dance. I can´t claim to understand the whole message they´re trying to convey here, but I do know that the lyrics of the song they´re dancing to are pretty powerful. I´ll do my best to translate them:

The words that are sung in the video:

Para el minero no hay justicia
para el minero no hay perdón
para el minero no hay justicia
para el minero no hay perdón.

Antes tratan, de callarnos
con fusiles y metrallas
antes tratan de callarnos
con fusiles y metrallas.

For the miner there is no justice,

for the miner there is no pardon,

for the miner there is no justice,

for the miner there is no pardon.

Before they try to silence us

with guns and shrapnel,

before they try to silence us

with guns and shrapnel.

Words spoken (you can hear this at the beginning of the video):

Pobre de este minero
que ha fuerza de combo y cincel
va forjando el futuro de Bolivia.

Poor man this miner,

who by force of cask and chisel

is forging the future of Bolivia.

Y estos gringos del estado
que no quieren comprender
no valoran ni la vida
que se deja en esta mina.

And these white men of the state

who don´t want to understand

they will not even value the life

that is left in this mine.

Mucho tiempo
hemos mantenido ha Bolivia
ahora quieren desintegrarla
cual cambas y collas
Bolivia es una sola.

For a long time

we have held up Bolivia.

Now they want to disintegrate her.

Which cambas and collas? (names given to those of the east and west of Bolivia)

Bolivia is one.