Life looks as it has for many generations high in the Andes of Bolivia, but Oscar is proof positive that, despite the postcard scenes of women in bowlers and petticoats herding llamas, a quiet revolution is in the making. Activities vary in each country and district depending on local needs. That strength is vital, because the communities are so small and isolated they live and die by their own resources, which sometimes are limited to the wits and talents of 30 people. A visit to the residents of the district of Tapacari begins with a two-hour drive on a paved road from Cochabamba, Bolivia's thirdlargest city. The next stage is bouncing along rocky sheep paths into 'villages' of a few adobe and straw huts clustered at the head of steep, barren valleys overlooking a vast, silent, austerely beautiful world.
Life is austere here, too.
At 4,000 metres and higher, vegetation is sparse. The ground has a thin covering of the aptly named paja brava, or brave grass. Small rock enclosures protect the scattered meagre potato fields, irrigated only by rain and fertilized only by llamas. People live on dried potatoes, beans, some cereals and dried meat. In many ways, though, life in Oscar's village, Palcoma, is better now than it used to be.