Respect for Pachamama

Hello. I’m Carlos.
I’m 14 years old.

I live on the outskirts of La Paz.
The capital of Bolivia.

I’m an indígena or descendant from the Indians that lived in America long before Columbus came.

My parents are poor.
I am poor.

I have the chance to go to school and learn history.
I like history very much.

In my country, it is rather sad.
We have been poor since the colonization by the Spanish.
They considered and treated us as second-class people.

It is pure injustice.
We are only different.

We live more in touch with Mother Earth or Pachamama as we say.
We respect her and we know that she gives us all.

The problem is many take too much from her without giving anything in return.
Without her we are nothing.

We respect everybody.
We are all part of Pachamama.

We want to be respected too.
We are no second-class people.

We are people that know that respecting and being respected brings us nearer to Pachamama.
She gives us not only material things but also spiritual riches.

Without them, life is not complete and will never be.

Bolivia, May 2008.