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your roots are there

AHÍ ESTAN TUS RAÍCES

Chapter 5

and the elderly have been passing away, no?

we lived together like brothers and sisters.

It’s really changed a lot since all my friends left, all of them…

It’s normal that it makes you sad, it makes you nostalgic,

Tarata has been emptied…

Here in the towns it was neighborhood living,

But it’s changed a lot, no?

So it was a beautiful life and then suddenly they leave?

but life goes on, no?

…it’s been emptied.

And there are others that left too. They’re gone.

and not return to the United States.

In other words, we’re talking about having left Bolivia empty.

And you get used to the way of life that’s so easy and comfortable,

My house for example is empty.

you can go back to Bolivia for vacation.

The second generation, my kids, they’ll go to visit.

And you enter the system from below…

Maybe to go and live two or three months and come back.

And the Valle Alto is worse, no?

There are empty towns, I don’t know if you’ve realized?

I lock it and I leave.

Even me, I don’t feel like going back definitively

but at the same time also harsh.

And my grandkids, they are also going to go visit, but I don’t think that they’ll go to live.

Because first, almost half of your life is invested here.

There aren’t people.

Go… and come back. I think that my generation is going to do that.

I don’t think that the majoriy of Bolivians will go back to Bolivia.

Houses and houses and there aren’t people.

Because to acquire this easy life, you have to fight hard, to work.

Before, we could play soccer outside in the street.

it was rocks, rocks, rocks. Now it’s all pavement.

I’m part of that change.

I’m no longer that girl either. I’ve also changed.

Now I’m not going to…I’m not going to be the girl

The streets, the paths have changed now.

Now we can’t because cars come by sssss really quickly now.

I used to be really sneaky, playful, and laugh a lot.

Cars go a lot faster.

I myself have changed too, as a human being.

People…sometimes they aren’t the same

that played soccer or basketball outside on the street.

My neighborhood was paved with rocks

It’s really dangerous. We can’t play soccer there now.

I think that I’m more serious now.

as you knew in the past.

going from one place to another looking for work.

And sometimes they don’t want them for work anymore

I think it’s because they’re old.

Do you understand?

That’s what I don’t want.

is to go to Bolivia, when we are a certain age, no?

or they don’t regard them as they should for work.

And I don’t want to deal with that,

sometimes I look at elderly people here.

Sometimes they are unemployed. Why?

I want to go back to Santa Rosa for the reason that…

And for that reason I think that the most adequate thing

because I know that they didn’t stop me.

until last year [2016] for the judge to pardon me.

I had to wait, just wait, for an answer from migration since 2013

It was worth waiting, waiting, waiting.

and it was worth it.

I went through bad times, which I practically laugh about

I could arrive there after 18 years.

supporting me, listening, always making decisions together

I waited a long time for that, I waited a lot, a long long time.

Cintia and I keep fighting, always with Cintia at my side,

He told me yes, we’re going to give you residency.

that’s what I’m looking to implement –

the things that I saw on the outside.

But since I liked it here a lot, simply because of that I returned to stay here.

leading the town you could say.

And I returned here to Bolivia for vocation.

new ways of achieving something,

Currently I’m studying computer science and

After so much time away, getting to know new ideas

After that I went to the United States.

I adapted to what had changed from before.

I grew up my whole life here in Santa Rosa until I was ten.

I will take that with me.

I think that when I’m in my bed in the hospital dying,

I am going to remember only their faces, the moments,

It won’t fit in my casket; you could say.

the moments that I saw my children born

or in my bed, old and dying, I am going to remember

and that moment that I'll be seeing them for the last time

I won’t take with me all the money that I am going to accumulate and accumulate.

and arrive where I’m at.

before coming to this country, if you didn’t have

then that’s the good life.

But there’s a moment when the craziness comes over you

A good life depends on if your previous life

But if you had that and you wanted

I think that I am even living poorer than in Bolivia.

And I still don’t have a good life.

all of the economic comforts that you have here,

I had a good life in Bolivia.

and it costed me to adapt to this country

to have a little more money and live worry free,

I had my house, my business, my work, I was happy.

I don’t have a good life.

that’s the good life.

I didn’t need to come. No… not at all.

This good life here in this country is temporary for me.

My personal opinion was to come, get to know what

I’ve arrived at the conclusion that this is not a good life.

It’s like when you have a mission in life.

and go to your country and have that good life there.

I’ve said that while I can be here, I am going to be here,

if this is what I want or if I want the other.

but the day I decide to go, I’m going to go.

But you can achieve all of that with your work

this good life here is and decide

This is comfort.

When I go out to the plaza like right now…

remembering…remembering that on this bench

It makes you sad, no?

I walked around and around…

so rememerbing, always remembering all my friends.

this friend sat with his girlfriend, on that bench

To have lived since childhood, since kindergarten practically,

suddenly they disappear? It’s a huge void, no?

And now not one of them is here.

you were late, no? Half an hour haha.

sat that group of friends…

with all of them until being 30 or 40 and then

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Justo Barriga Erika Alba Yave Justo Barriga Julia García Álvaro Yave Luke Sejas Roly Vallejos Zurita Erika Alba Yave Sandra Patiño Julia García

Voices in order of Appearance | Voces en orden de aparición

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Agradecimientos

Acknowledgements

Para los bolivianos, no hay una única realidad de vivir en Virginia. Sus diversas experiencias dependen de innumerables diferencias, como son la clase social, la educación, el dominio del idimoa, el género y la sexualidad, la edad, las deudas, el estado inmigratorio, la familia y los sistemas de apoyo en Virginia. Asimismo, la mayoría de los inmigrantes traen consigo costumbres de Bolivia como es la discriminación entre las familias urbanas y rurales. Las citas de este sitio dan voz a personas comunes y todas sus historias son retazos de una experiencia colectiva.

For Bolivians, there is no single reality of living in Virginia. Their varied experiences depend on numerous differences including: social class; education; language fluency; gender and sexuality; age; debt; legal status; and family and support systems in Virginia. Most people also bring with them dynamics that exist in Bolivia, such as discrimination between urban and rural families. The quotes used for this website highlight voices of particular people and their specific stories that are threads of a shared experience.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who participated in this project. You wanted your experiences - both the struggles and joys - to be known. You gave your time to interviews and invited me into your public and intimate spaces to photograph. You entrusted me with your stories and you trusted me to honor them. This project is for you and would not have been possible, first and foremost, without your participation. Thank you.

Me siento profundamente agradecida con todos aquellos que participaron en este proyecto. Ustedes quieren que se conozcan sus vivencias, ya sean felices o tristes, ser conocidas. Me concedieron su tiempo en cada entrevista y me invitaron a fotografiar en sus espacios públicos y privados. Me confiaron sus historias y confiaron en mí para honrarlas. Este libro es para ustedes y sin su participación no hubiese sido posible. Muchas gracias.

This project would also not have been possible without the direct help and support of key individuals and organizations over the course of two years. Thank you. Comité Pro-Tarata, Santa Rosa LISAR, Tinkus Sán-Simon, Salay Bolivia USA, Julia García, Rudyana Jimenez, all project participants, Susan Sterner, Gabriela Bulislova, Alexandra Dietz, Daniel Martínez, Carolina Vicent García, Hector Emmanuel, David Rochkind, Jim Mole Web design and development: Carey Averbook & Jim Mole Chapter 1 web design and development: Jim Mole

Este proyecto tampoco habría sido posible sin la ayuda y apoyo directos de personas claves que durante dos años colaboraron conmigo. Muchas gracias. Comité Pro-Tarata, Santa Rosa LISAR, Tinkus Sán-Simon, Salay Bolivia USA, Julia Garcia, Rudyana Jimenez, todos los participantes del proyecto, Susan Sterner, Gabriela Bulislova, Alexandra Dietz, Daniel Martínez, Carolina Vicent García, Hector Emmanuel, David Rochkind, Jim Mole Desarrollo web y diseño: Carey Averbook & Jim Mole Capítulo 1 desarrollo web y diseño: Jim Mole

To complement this multimedia documentary, there is: A photography book with quotes from the interviews A participatory community engagement project An ethnograhic research paper. You can access these materials from the home page or the hyperlinks above.

Para complementar este documental multimedia, puede consultar: Un libro de fotografía con citas provenientes de las entrevistas Un proyecto colectivo de participación en dos comunidades Un artículo de investigación etnográfica. Puede acceder a estos materiales desde la página de inicio o clicando en los enlaces anteriores.

Dedicated to all people who leave their homes in search of their better life.

FIN

Dedicado a todas aquellas personas que dejan sus hogares en búsqueda de un mejor porvenir.

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