100 CultureShock! Boliviaviolence especially when one considers its obscene
unemployment/underemployment rate and the grossly
inadequate income of its working poor. But then the dignity
factor kicks in, philosophies of creative nonviolence abound,
and sophisticated social protest proves that Bolivia is one
of the most advanced countries in the world in humanistic
grass roots organising.
Bolivia can thus be considered a point of hope for foreign
visitors involved in socially oriented non-governmental
organisations, job-creating businesses and organisations that
work with ecology, culture and human rights.
Many Bolivians admit that their country is behind others in
the realm of tourism, trade and infrastructure. But the more
optimistic ones call this an advantage. Bolivia is still a ‘green’
country, not by design but simply because her exploiters have
not got around to making theme parks out of vast tropical
forests and hidden valleys.
Bolivia remains relatively untouched by the symbols
of unsustainable modern culture, such as automobile
dependency, tacky tourist icons and bland single-use
zoning. She finds herself in a position to learn from
the wrong turns of other countries and make healthy
and judicious choices at the many crossroads that
lie ahead.
The existence of an internal cultural gap between
cosmopolitan and rural indigenous means that any culture
shock we may feel will simply be part of the overall context
of Bolivian diversity.Postscript: Surrealism a la
Boliviana
At the fi ve-star Radisson Hotel in
La Paz in 1997, former president
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (Goni)
received an award from the Latin
Trade magazine, an international
business publication.
The magazine was applauding
Goni’s ‘captalisation’ scheme,The fact that Bolivia is a poor
country should not discourage
the appreciation of its marvels.
Culture shock for the visitor
to Bolivia will be cushioned
by involvement in issues or
events of universal proportion;
a concert by the music group
Altiplano, a peasant march in
the tradition of Gandhi and
Martin Luther King or a non-
governmental environmental
organisation lobbying for a new
national park.