IN STEREO

Where am I from, they ask me. I feel very proud that I am Potosína. It is important, because it is a pride for us, all the people Potosí has maintained. It’s always maintained the people: it’s maintained Oruro, it’s maintained La Paz, it’s maintained Santa Cruz, it’s maintained Cochabamba. Even right now, it is maintaining them with our Uyuni Salt Flat. I’m going to tell you the history of my work. I have worked since I was ten, together with my mother, in clearing waste. ‘Clearing’ means to work outside the mine. Just like in the house, we sweep; we pick up dirt. Sometimes we mess up the house; we also pick up the garbage. It’s the same in the mine. There is almost no work in clearing. They load from the mailboxes to the dump truck. 

 

Sometimes they leave a good amount, sometimes not. The remains are swept with a broom. On the mountain before, there was a lot of mineral. The mountain was healthy before. I used to take food to my dad. It was only a few people, I think, who worked in that time. I don’t know what happened because I do not remember much, but the mountain was healthy; the mountain was pretty. I found nothing but mineral everywhere in those times. Not knowing, I picked up a stone so big I hardly made it. And my dad told me, “This is mineral.” I picked it up from the road and I was carrying it. My dad said, “It’s mineral, little girl.” At [mining’s] peak, the palliris earned well, but now, I haven’t seen that. That’s why we tell the miners, “Take the broom and sweep.” – Doña Julia