Over the past few weeks, 16-year-old Esteban Quispe has been making the media rounds. Recently appearing in local newspapers and television programs, he is Bolivia’s latest technological discovery. In the unassuming town of Patacamaya, about 100 kilometres southeast of La Paz, Esteban has spent the last several years building robots, largely out of trash.
From his tinkerer’s workshop adjacent to his parent’s house, Esteban has dreamed up and constructed a family of robots, one with a shocking resemblance to Wall-E, the Pixar robot from the film of the same name. Taking inspiration from the needs around him, he hopes to pioneer artificial intelligence in the future, and to use robotics to help make the work of the farmers and laborers in his community much easier.
The Bolivian altiplano may at first seem an unlikely place for such a tinkerer. In a community whose economy is largely based on potato cultivation, how does one of its own, the child of a bricklayer and a homemaker, find the passion and the talent for robotics? Truth is, Bolivia today is a hotbed of technology. In recent years, the launch of the Tupac Katari satellite and the completion of the first phase of the Mi Teleférico project (with a second phase on the way) are just some of the more high-profile projects in Bolivia. The national government has even announced the creation of a Technological Citadel, a dream to sow the seeds of Bolivia’s very own Silicon Valley, a task for which the State will need to continue improving telecommunications and to move government processes and citizen engagement online.
As these and other initiatives continue to take hold, more and more stories like Esteban’s will certainly come to light. Both Bolivians and expats living in the country are realising what this place is capable of in terms of technological innovation, giving more and more people the drive to dream up the seemingly impossible and push forward to make their visions a reality.
Technology likes to cross borders, and this is very apparent in Bolivia. Much of the latest technological changes here have been brought from elsewhere. Facebook has come with a plan to provide free (if limited) internet access across the country. US engineers have implemented ways to use one of Bolivia’s most abundant natural resources, llama feces, to filter and clean water (no joke!). And German engineering has introduced new technologies to help mend heart defects among children across the country.
But much of the exciting advances in technology in Bolivia are the result of local inventiveness. There are countless people across the country who, like Esteban, have the drive, initiative and knowhow to offer some pretty impressive technologies. In fact, some homegrown efforts are looking to be exported to nearby countries: Bolivia’s RFID-based tagging and registration system for automobiles seems primed for implementation across the continent. And in certain parts of Bolivia, fine examples of traditional technologies, particularly around agriculture and food production, are being brought back into practice as time reveals their usefulness and effectiveness.
In this issue, BX looks at technology and how it is changing and shaping Bolivia. Whether coming from Bolivians like Esteban or from foreigners bringing ‘the next big idea’, Bolivia is entering an exciting new phase of technological development, and we wanted to capture a snapshot of that process.
With improved telecommunications, more advanced training opportunities and a growing interest in moving Bolivia’s tech sector to the global stage, we should expect to see more stories like Esteban’s in the future. The most important thing we can do is encourage the curiosity, foster the inventiveness and support the ingenuity that drives these efforts. Only then can Bolivia be brought closer to participating meaningfully in global technological transformation.
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Llama manure is amazing stuff. This outstanding fertilizer comes delivered fresh in handy odorless pellets, often stacked neatly by the obliging llama. Now, thanks to pioneering work conducted by researchers from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), it can be used to clean water.
VMI has worked with Engineers Without Borders in Bolivia since 2011, helping to obtain clean water for Pampoyo, a small village near Potosi where mining has polluted water sources, causing health problems for the villagers.
Originally, VMI was involved in constructing a sedimentation basin nine miles away from Pampoyo, to collect fresh spring water for the village. Over the past year, however, in a lab back in Virginia, a team led by Lt. Col. Tim Moore developed a system that turns llama manure into charcoal, which can then be used to remove dissolved metal impurities from water.
‘This is a really good field to pioneer in because it’s not really one that a lot of people think about,’ VMI senior Peter Buehlmann told a Virginia Public Radio Show in May. ‘Using waste to clean waste is the quintessential definition of sustainability.’
This summer, VMI volunteers will return to Pampoyo to test out this revolutionary method of water filtration. The good news is, there are more llamas in Bolivia than in any other country, so if the project proves successful, there is plenty more raw material for expansion.
Arriving at Radio Atipiri (840 Khz AM) in El Alto, there is a focused silence over the building; everyone is speaking in hushed voices and keeping as quiet as possible. People are broadcasting at this very moment. Apolonia Cruz Escalante, a 19-year-old university student, is busy producing a radio talk show, managing the mixing board with the calm professionalism of someone who has spent years methodically learning the ropes. It is now second nature to her. She queues jingles, fades adverts in and out, and is not at all fazed by my presence—nor the incredibly intrusive camera lens pointed at her.
While waiting for Apolonia to finish, I chat to Jobana Aruhiza Tola, who is wearing a red puffer jacket, jeans and trainers. She is now in her second year studying social communications at university. Jobana, who is also 19, has long dark hair and an infectious smile. She says that she became involved with radio when was only six years old, after hearing an advertisement aimed at children interested in getting involved in the radio business. Despite being nervous and ‘a shy introverted child’, she was convinced by her father to not waste time just sitting at home and go and see what radio had to offer. She recalls how vocalisation classes and learning to talk into microphones helped boost her confidence: ‘It’s just a question of losing the fear.’
Jobana tells me about Pamela, a teacher at the station when she was a young girl who was an inspiration to her. ‘Pamela was always so passionate and took an interest in our lives too,’ Jobana says. ‘I’ve always said I want to be just like Pamela.’ It is this eagerness to emulate her mentor that has fuelled Jobana’s desire to learn as much as she can about the radio industry and communications.
When Apolonia and I chat, she comes across as your typical 19-year-old girl: She loves almost every kind of music – except rock! She lives with her parents in the 6 de Agosto area of El Alto, and would probably blush profusely if boys were brought up. However, when we talk about the radio business and the experiences she’s had whilst working at Radio Atipiri, her passion is contagious. ‘It’s nice to look back on how long I’ve been coming to the radio,’ Apolonia says. ‘It’s like my second home.’
Apolonia is also interested in the more technical side of the things. ‘It’s important to manage both the technical and informative side of the radio,’ she says, recalling how overwhelming all the technology seemed when she started there and ‘a technician came to explain how to use the radio effects.’ Despite the step-by-step instruction, she struggled to understand it all. Now, however, she manages everything well and only stumbles in scenarios where things get especially complicated, like when she has to operate adverts and effects at the same time as talking. ‘You don’t know which to prioritise,’ she says, noticeably a little flustered by this.
When asked to reflect on their experience at the radio and where they see their futures going, both Apolonia and Jobana light up. After almost nine years of involvement in the radio, they have a lot to say about what their experiences have taught them. Apolonia remembers being incredibly reserved and quiet at both school and home, and she says that working at the radio station has changed her markedly. ‘I’m more confident,’ she says. ‘Now when I come home from school, I tell my parents everything. It makes them very happy.’ The young women are now involved in their own show, Jóvenes en onda, which includes a mixture of radionovelas, music and news.
Currently, both Apolonia and Jobana are studying social communications, in which they are learning interview techniques, radio presentation and television news. They both have big aspirations for the future and see themselves at an advantage compared with their classmates because, as they say, ‘We get to put into practice what we learn at university.’
As long as the radio station stays open, they’ll continue to participate. Both confessed dreams of having their own station, although Jobana is more interested in television broadcasting. Apolonia also adds that she’s ‘more interested in serious things’ and aspires to be a journalist or a news producer at a radio station.
‘It’s nice to look back on how long I’ve been coming to the radio—it’s like my second home.’
—Apolonia Cruz Escalante
An organic dairy thirty minutes from the city
The quiet town of Achocalla, 12 kilometres south of La Paz, offers an opportune breather right when the city begins to feel hectic. Take a daytrip to enjoy telephone wire-free views of Illimani, paddle-boating on a lagoon or tasting fresh cheese, made locally.
For the past five years, the Municipal Organic Assembly of Achocalla has worked to transform the town into a chemical-free zone. Flor de Leche, a local dairy, has long preceded the initiative, however. The Belgian-Bolivian couple who run it spearheaded artisanal cheese-making in Bolivia 17 years ago and has since been working with locals to create fresh organic dairy products, as well as to introduce a culture of fine aged cheeses.
‘One of the most important things the people of Achocalla rely on is milk,’ explains Daniel Guaraya, who works at the dairy. ‘We have to be very careful to avoid contaminating the water,’ he says, because it can lead to milk impurities. The quality of the milk can also be affected by an infected udder, or become acidic from dry grazing-land. Due to the altitude, however, the milk in Achocalla has a high fat-content, which makes it ideal for cheese-making,
Once past screening at the dairy, the milk travels to the pasteurisation tanks. Every day, about 3000 litres of milk are heated to 72 degrees centigrade, killing the thousands of microorganisms they contain. But the real magic happens after this process, when the milk is mixed with various powdered animal rennets, giving each cheese its character. ‘Just a few grams of rennets is enough for this whole cistern to turn into something like a gelatin,’ Guaraya tells me.
Next, in what looks like a giant metal kitchen-mixer with a large knife-edge, the curdle is cut to different levels of coarseness, depending on the cheese type. ‘If we’re making a soft cheese,’ Guaraya explains, ‘the cut doesn’t need to be so “millimetric”. The dry cheeses, however, need to be processed further in order to separate the whey from the curdle. Whey contains 50% of the nutrients in milk and is great for intestinal health, so the conscientious neighbors return it to their milk providers.
Each cheese is brined, shaped and aged in a room according to its variety. By the intense smell in some of the cellars, it’s no wonder they must be aged separately to prevent contaminating the distinct flavors.
I leave the cellars of Flor de Leche impressed by the work of these artisans. Their craft helps maintain this well-connected, well-educated and healthy community. Now I am ready to dig into some lunch!
The dairy opens its doors for generous lunches of pizza and fondue every Saturday and Sunday from 12:30-16:00. For more information, call 22890011 or go to www.flordeleche.com.
