USAID/OTI BOLIVIA HOT TOPICS
July 2006
Democracy Workshops Support the Empowerment of Indigenous Youth
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| A civic education leadership training course led by a local, indigenous youth leader in the high plains of La Paz, Bolivia. The participants discuss the creation and implementation of a youth platform organized around the themes of democracy and economic development. |
The Leadership Training for Indigenous Youth program, is executed by USAID/OTI through partner Casals & Associates.
The program supports an alliance of five local organizations that have formed an agreement with local leaders to provide an intensive training course for 90 youth leaders. The subjects of study include democratic principles and values, and topics of national importance including decentralization and economic development. Once the youth leaders complete the course, they return to their communities for a second phase, applying what they have learned in the form of a community development project. These courses are the first of their kind to be offered in many rural areas of the Department of La Paz. The program has the support of local mayors and the Prefect (Governor) of La Paz, in addition to the traditional leaders of participating communities.
"When your grandmother asks family members to say whether they would prefer chairo or pique macho for dinner, she is encouraging equal participation and dialogue, which are key values of democracy," says Adolfo Mamani, in his colorful mixture of Spanish and the indigenous language of Aymara. Mamani's down-to-earth analogy raised a chorus of laughs and nodding of heads among the participants of an USAID/OTI-funded workshop on Democracy and Citizen Participation in the poor rural community of Batallas.
Relatively isolated from the nearby capital of La Paz, not much has changed in Batallas since Mamani was born there 26 years ago. While he was away completing his university degree, Mamani dreamed of improving the quality of life in his community. He and some of his classmates formed a non-governmental organization (NGO) called Willjta Pacha - Aymara for "Birth of New Dawn" - its goal to inform rural Bolivians about the democratic system, but the group lacked the funding and training necessary to make a real impact.
Since March 2004, USAID/OTI has supported the growth of a new generation of indigenous youth leaders, one that is well-versed in democratic values, and skilled in workshop facilitation and community organization. Willjta Pacha, along with the expanded network of youth NGOs now benefiting from OTI support, is providing follow-on training to dozens of young leaders from altiplano - or high plains -- communities.
With OTI assistance, Willjta Pacha recently joined forces with 4 other organizations based in the Bolivian altiplano to form the Plataforma de Jovenes de Kollasuyo. This expanded organization has held hundreds of workshops and provided information on democratic principles and values to more than 200,000 indigenous citizens living in rural communities.
Mamani says,"USAID is helping us to achieve our dreams: to bring an appreciation of democratic values back to the small pueblos and communities in which we grew up. The Plataforma is successfully expanding access to information about our system of government and electoral processes throughout the altiplano, and preparing a new generation of Quechua leaders that will continue to strengthen Bolivia's democracy."
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Russell Porter, Regional Team Leader, 202-712-5455, rporter@usaid.gov
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