Bolivia

Had you been born into an indigenous family in the high Andes of Bolivia, chances are you would have no birth certificate to carry with you in life — no way to get an I.D., or register to vote, or obtain a marriage license. To the government, you would not officially exist.

Your parents, try as they might, would spend most of their days working to grow a small amount of potatoes, corn and beans in poor soil at 11,000 feet. You’d eat basically the same thing, day after day — which would stunt your growth. Your water might come from a nearby open well or stream — and you would not know that parasites in it were causing your diarrhea and stomach aches.

With the work that LWR is doing in Bolivia, however, that scenario is changing.

With your support, LWR works to end injustice and human suffering in Bolivia

• Providing legal assistance to get legal identity documentation for indigenous peasants so they can vote, marry and work legally
• Teaching government employees how to provide better documentation services to indigenous populations
• Training indigenous people to be “documentation promoters” in their communities and encourage birth registrations

Fighting hunger and malnutrition and improving children’s overall health by

• Teaching families about the need for clean water and a varied diet
• Demonstrating to farmers how to increase their crop yields and grow a better variety of nutritious foods in addition to traditional ones

• Installing water systems at schools and in communities, and training community members how to manage and keep the water clean
• Teaching backup methods for clean drinking water, such as solar purification

• Increasing the quality and quantity of agricultural production
• Educating farmers in environmentally sound farming technique
• Promoting better food security and nutrition by diversifying crops
  
  
  

9,862,860
TOTAL POPULATION

$1,630
GNI* PER CAPITA

60.1%
AT OR BELOW POVERTY LINE

63 years
LIFE EXPECTANCY

67% (rural)
ACCESS TO IMPROVED WATER SOURCE

25%
ACCESS TO IMPROVED SANITATION