Snapshot: Felix (.bo)

Felix says "it is nice to see so many technologies here, but I don’t think we will ever have this in Bolivia, much less in our communities”. He thinks a bit and then adds, "This summit is incommunicado, in Bolivia people go to telecentres and connect to the internet there. Here everyone has a laptop and connects that way. Those of us that don’t have one cannot connect and send information to our radio stations — which is my case. On the other hand, here everyone speaks English, so language is another limitation."

According to Felix, from the communication network they work different fronts: they provide information to communities on agricultural and livestock production, they facilitate communication between people and communities using modern technologies such as internet and they work with telehealth and tele-education based initiatives.

One of the most important tasks is to foment awareness among native peoples so that there will be a change in the political structure of Bolivia: “The indigenous peoples make up 70% of the Bolivian people, however, even though the people of mixed race are the minority they currently control the country. We are fighting from the communication network to change this situation”.

The community telecentres have been put together by the initiative of the same Aymara natives that find these telecentres to be communication alternatives. They provide them a way to tend to their informational needs from and for the community. Community radios that transmit information content in the native Aymara language are run from some of these telecentres. They have yet to have internet content in Aymara, however, because although the language is spread orally, it is more difficult to write.

Felix is at the summit because he has been invited by the Global Knowledge Partnership, GKP, to participate in the presentation of the telecentre.org initiative.

Regarding this Summit in Tunisia, Felix states that “it is nice to see so many technologies here, but I don’t think we will ever have this in Bolivia, much less in our communities”.

He thinks a bit and then adds, "This summit is incommunicado, in Bolivia people go to telecentres and connect to the internet there. Here everyone has a laptop and connects that way. Those of us that don’t have one cannot connect and send information to our radio stations — which is my case. On the other hand, here everyone speaks English, so language is another limitation."

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