Final Days

Know we are home and no-one probably will see this, but for our own records.

Finally got to see a prison. Very small - 30 women - in Quillacollo town. Went with a member of staff from CAICC, who thought the main Cochabamba prisons may be too manic and problematic to go to. So to be  ok to go in, we needed to buy some gifts. 30 packs of OMO were lugged in by Den and gratefully received. We arrived to a small stone entrance with 2 very disengaged guards - one sucking a lolly -and were ushered through an ancient wooden door to a small room filled with boxes and tables. This was the visitor, storage and dining room in one. Adjoining was a tiny yard with laundry and cooking facilities and what appeared to be holes knocked into the walls for spaces to 'live' and sleep. Minimum sentence was 1 year, with most there for 'drug trafficking' (0.5 kilo). You have to pay to be released, so many spend many more years there. (2 yrs can become 10). ROTL is $20,000!!!! You get a monthly allowance, but have to buy your 'cell', food and anything else you need, so men make furniture and women do laundry or crafts to sell. The kids can live with the Mums and the kids and wives can live with the men and go out to sell the wares, but when the wives go out to get provisions, the kids are left in the prison to the risks of abuse. CAICC tries to get the most vulnerable to the centres each day, along with the kids who have been left with extended family by parents who have moved abroad for work. The family members often abuse these kids.

So, back to the prison...Lou Lou was asked if she would like to speak to them, thinking it would be one to one, but was left to address the group. So in broken Spanish explained how she was working to improve support for women in the UK prisons and was now linked to CAICC to support the same in Bolivia. Two women kissed her and thanked her. We were only there for 20 minutes and couldn't really see or ask much, but still an experience we won’t forget.

We got a micro and then a taxi back, which had 6 of us and the driver!! We then met up with our Spanish friend Arantxita, for beer and cultural exchanges and her work with Voices of Latin America. The city streets are becoming more busy with people from the land, as they sleep here for Xmas, with the hope of some handouts.

The next day - our final with CAICC - we said our farewells, with hugs and thanks from the staff and bracelets from the older kids. We even managed to rush through our England presentation, which despite our limited language, clearly included our dislike for the queen, the dangers of the EDL and the student riots. Rather proud of ourselves for that. They seemed to like it and it has been left for future reference/scrap paper.

Despite the bonds we felt we had with the kids, they no doubt see tonnes of different volunteers, so were more interested in their imminent swimming trip than us leaving! Lou Lou was ok until the cook started blubbing and that set her off too. That night was due to be cocktails and clubbing, but alas, Lou Lou was hanging out in the loo AGAIN. Lost a stone in weight though, but perhaps not in an enjoyable way!!

Saturday Lou Lou went to Incachaca, a sub tropical area a couple of hours from the city. Despite a tour company rip-off, still saw some great scenery, tackled a rope bridge and passed farms, car crashes and wedding celebrations a plenty. Best bit was walking through clouds of butterflies, worst bit was falling on bum in the mud. For the evening, we met up with friends for our goodbyes at Casa de Campo, a rather splendid Bolivian restaurant, famed for traditional food. So Lou Lou munched on mashed potato and dashed to the bathroom every 20 minutes, whilst the others dined on chorizo, kidneys and udder. Yes UDDER!

So we felt at home, Saturday night the lightning storms and dogs serenaded us and we left at 10am for our journey back to cold Inglaterra. But the dogs had one more treat in store...as we settled into our seats on the plane, a woman passed us by, carrying a lumpy handbag, from which the hairy face of a dog emerged right into the face of Den. Need the exact words and facial expressions be described? You can guess them we're sure.

The flights were long, but we entertained ourselves doing air guitar to the Hendrix radio station, whilst sipping cheap wine and watching an amazing lightening storm below us. Coming into Sao Paulo was like landing over a Bladerunner scene and made you question Brazil's commitment to fighting climate change - turn a few lights off perhaps? Heathrow at 2pm and ham, egg and chips by 6pm.

It was fascinating, heartbreaking, hot, dusty, hilarious, political, knackering and much much more, but we loved it and are glad that our friends and family came along too.
Ciao.
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