But the reality is dire. There is not enough work to go around. Unemployment is rampant. In many ways, adolescent girls bear the brunt of the dysfunction born of poverty here. Jayne Lyons, CARE Bolivia's reproductive health sector manager explained.
Girls are second in line only to their mothers when it comes to household responsibility.
The same is not required of boys. In many families, mothers must work to provide for the family by selling small items at the market, or as maids, cooks or by working other jobs. From a very young age, girls have to take care of the other children, clean the house and cook, while their mothers' work. This is part of the culture, redrawn only slightly to fit changing times. What happens is that these girls lose a part of themselves in the process.