Yesterday afternoon I made the 15-minute walk between our two campuses. Half way down the path, I met an agronomy student, a young woman named Fanny Mamani. ¿Cómo estás? I asked.
Un poco cansada -- A little tired, she responded -- I came from Caranavi yesterday.
How did you get here? I asked. Isn't there a blockade? Since Monday, farmers in Caranavi have been protesting a decision by the government to change the location of a planned citrus processing plant from their town to another town further down the road. All roads to Caranavi -- and the whole northeast of the region -- are blocked.
Fanny replied, Well, I went home to Caranavi to see my mother, and got trapped by the blockade. So I walked 8 hours to El Choro -- where the last road blockade is located -- and got a bus from there.
The blockades are sometimes violent: farmers throw rocks from above the road, or physically stop people from crossing. That a student would brave this amazes me -- and drives home how important this opportunity to study is for our students.
1 comment:
The students at Carmen Pampa continue to amaze me too with their desire to learn and to finish school.
Thanks for sharing this great story.
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