Open veins

Real communication

I found this quote on a wall in the dilapidated headquarters of the indigenous federation CONAIE in Ecuador. It speaks to me about the importance of rooting our communication in our relationships with people and nature. It is attributed to the Nasa indigenous peoples:

"Indigenous communication isn't about mediums of communication. Communication is a physical, personal, collective and transcendent living in the natural world. Silence and the word are fundamental to good communication. The word does not belong to humans but is given by the spirit via key people. Silence is necessary to listen to the voice of the spirit and nature itself."

Photos of 2005

Best of 2005

Well, I have been blogging for a year now, one that has been quite a journey which interestingly began and ended in Peru, and has involved travelling thousands of miles, getting entrenched in Bolivian politics, falling in and out of love and even getting a job. Here are my top ten posts from the year:

1. Finding Brixton in Brazil
2. Discovering an uncanny ability to pick up gay men
3. Falling in love with Bolivia and wondering if it's requited
4. Uncovering art with altitude
5. Coming face to face with abuse
6. The brutal shock of a mugging
7. Inviting a friend for a week of protest tourism
8. Settling in to a new life in La Paz
9. Finding out a masseuse' secrets
10. Being in Bolivia on the day people voted in its first indigenous President

100th post

This is my 100th post on the open veins blog. That's a considerable amount of verbal diarrhoea. Generally more than once a week now for over 9 months, I have been throwing thoughts, stories and insights into my life and the life of an amazing country, Bolivia, into a public void.

I know I get about 30-40 visits a day but generally have no idea who you are except when I get a comment or two on the blog or via email. I address a space filled with friends from home, new virtual friends (Miguel to name just one) and the occasional lost stranger.

It's a peculiar 21st Century habit to put what used to be reserved for private diaries and occasional letters out into a public global void. In some ways it seems arrogant to think your words deserve a public hearing, but at other times it has helped me feel connected with a community of people concerned for Bolivia or intertwined with my life in some way.

I have really enjoyed the experience because it has given me a chance to be curious while I am here, to listen more carefully to people and their stories. The discipline of writing has enabled me to have time to think about what I am seeing and try to interpret it. I hope also it has given you an insight into my life and Bolivia in general.

To celebrate, I have put a poll up for you to finally have your say. On a more serious note, if there are things you would like me to write about or if you have any other comments and suggestions please let me know. Thanks for visiting!

Ethiopia lives

Before I left CAFOD in 2004, I put forward a proposal with a colleague to fund a photo blog produced by Ethiopians to talk about their lives. The occasion was the 20th anniversary since Live Aid.

In 1985, most of the images of Ethiopia were of famine and desperation. Sadly it is still the typical image represented of Africa today. The images we see on the news may show the need but they turn its people into mere objects of pity rather than dignified humans.

The truth that Ethiopians are just like us who joke with their friends, spend time making good food for their family, use any excuse to have a good party is completely lost.

We wanted in the blog to take the power of imagery and representation out of the international media and let Ethiopians tell their own stories. The result is www.ethiopialives.net. It's a fabulous site: make sure you visit it and leave a comment.

Why open veins?

I can't promise that it will remain the title, but I have decided for now to call this blog "Open veins" after reading Eduardo Galeano's classic book "Open veins of Latin America: Five centuries of the pillage of a continent."

In the book, he traces how the Spanish conquistadores set up a pattern of political and economic relationships that has seen vast wealth extracted from Latin America to benefit firstly European empires and later multinational companies.

Bolivia seems one of the most potent examples of this. Its silver mine in Potosi, discovered by the conquistadores in the 16th century, was at the heart of Spain's wealth and fuelled Europe's economic rise.

More than four centuries later, new veins of wealth are being opened up in Bolivia, this time by foreign multinational companies.

The first is gas, an explosive substance not just for its flammability but also its power to corrupt nations and fuel conflicts. The second is water, the essence of life but a substance that increasingly is being turned into a commodity for sale.

They are today's gold and silver, the lustrous substances that, like the gold in hands of the conquistadores, blind the greedy and rob the poor.

But I don't plan this blog to be just about exploitation and injustice. It would become very depressing if it was.

I hope also to "open" up the veins of life that flow through Bolivia. To introduce the people I meet and share my time with, show the humour and quirkiness in daily life and convey the buzz of living in a unique and vibrant country like Bolivia.