Show w r s 3 a A E i Ei t a w On his way to Bolivia as an International I Farm Youth Jack R R. R Anderson center is pictured with others at National H 4 Foundation Washington D D. D C. C He is sponsored locally by Utah Lions clubs and nationally by the Bureau Burea of Educational and Cultural Affairs US U.S. Department of State Ephraim Youth Tells of Bolivians Jack Anderson son of Mr and Mrs Robert 0 O. Anderson of Ephraim Utah's International al Farm Youth Exchange delegate delegate delegate dele dele- gate to Bolivia relates some of his impressions and experiences experiences experiences after one month in that country Dear Friends in Utah I can truly say that I am enjoying many different I arrived in Lapaz on September and was im immediately immediately immediately im- im mediately greeted very warmly by Rind Guzman who is in charge of the program in in Bolivia We had a two-day two or orientation orientation orientation or- or in Lapaz and then were given our assignments of host families I have two host families families families fam fam- so will live about two and a half months with each My experiences should be quite varied as one host family lives close to the city of Santa Cruz which has a subtropical climate climate cli cli- mate and is a colonization zone and my other host family lives in the city of Potosi a city on Bolivia's Alto Piano Plano which has hasan hasan hasan an elevation of around fourteen to fifteen thousand feet above sea level I have lived with my first fam family ily in Santa Cruz for ap approximately approximately approximately ap- ap proximately one month and have really seen a lot of different kinds of farming In this area they raise sugar cane cotton rice and coffee Right now they are harvesting sugar sugarcane cane The cane is all cut by hand with machette It is then put on a truck and transported to toa toa toa a factory a few miles away The roads are all dirt so they work when the weather is good and rest when the weather is bad The workers are paid ac according according according ac- ac cording to how much cane they cut Perhaps we could take a alesson alesson alesson lesson from this I live with one of the more well to do families I am not expected to work but rather sit around and enjoy the sun Well WellI I like to work so I asked my father if I couldn't help in the fields He was was surprised but said it was okay I have made friends with all the workers and some of their families andam and andam andam am really having a good time I am also seeing both sides of life t the the- e well to do and the poor workers It is really very interesting Farm life here although different different different dif dif- dif dif- ferent is really enjoyable One experience which made me realize how different it is was the m milk ilk cow situation Can you imagine going to help milk and meeting seventy Bramah cows face to face The closest I had been to a Bramah before was at the local rodeo We have about 70 Bramah Braman cows that are milked by hand for form m milk ilk for the family and work work- ers The calves run with the cows in the day and then about three in the afternoon the calves are locked up so the cows will have soine sotie milk by morning The first t tiny day I was here I went to help milk ty-five ty cows have freshened and andare andare andare are being milked at present When we were through we had fifty liters of milk or about fifteen gallons This was one of my first surprises although I didn't expect to give much milk I found out later that the reason for the Bramah Braman breed here is of the heat and also that the cows are not used for m milk ilk alone but also for beef production On Saturday the of October October October Oc Oc- Oc- Oc tober they had a large Fiesta here in the nearby village of Montero This was the first Fiesta I have attended in South America and it was really in in- in They were celebrating ing the harvest of sugar cane At that night they started a dance A At t first the people just sat around and talked and drank anything from champagne to beer to soda pop About the music started and the dance b began gan Two bands furnished the music One was a brass band and the other was a guitar group One group would play steady for about 15 minutes then would stop and the other group would take over and play for awhile When the guitar group would play everybody would swarm to the dance floor and when the brass band played everybody would sit down I It- It was really interesting to see that the older folks liked the same music as the younger people About midnight they stopped the dance and for the next two hours they chose a queen of the Fiesta Then the music started up again and the dance continued till am a.m. at which time they just turned out the lights and the people had to leave in the dark This area is next door to the jungle j It is so hot in the day that it is hard to stay alive let alone work It is also so hot in the night that it is even evena a trial to sleep My room is open to the outside on both ends as I have to keep the doors open to try to catch a breeze my room is us used d as a pathway pathway pathway path path- way for people dogs cats ducks chickens and any other animal that feels like using it Down here the houses are open to everything Anyway what's one more animal To my friends in Utah Ufah that help make this experience possible possible possible pos pos- sible I say thanks Especially to the members of Utah Lions Clubs I know that I will gain from it and I will try to h help lp these people in turn I feel that a person to person contact contact contact con con- tact with people of other coun coun- tries has a greater effect for good than anything else we can do I will try to make this idea a fact Thanks for your support JACK ANDERSON c o c Dr Austin Haws Casilla US U.S. Embassy USA RD Lopaz Bolivia |