BOLIVIA - Evan Worldwide Global Youth Perspectives

Home to the highest capital city in the world, La Paz standing at over 11,000 feet above sea level, the Plurinational State of Bolivia is a country that can trace its history to over 5,000 years ago back to the Tiwanaku Empire. Bolivia is an ethnically diverse country as they have the largest proportion of indigenous people in all of America with 48% of the Bolivian population identifying as Indigenous in 2020. The largest indigenous communities in Bolivia are the Quechua, Aymara, Chiquitano and Guaraní people. My friend Christian and I spoke a lot about the political situation in Bolivia with the multiple political parties that exist. He adds perspective from more than one place in Bolivia as his parents comes from two different cities, La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Christian was very enthusiastic and excited while describing some of his favorite Bolivian dishes and how in Bolivia, one can find corn that is naturally colored purple. We also spoke about how some dishes in Bolivia are supposed to be eaten at specific times during the day and on different occasions such as Christmas. Something that really stood out in this interview was Christian’s opinions on confronting conflict with a peaceful mentality. He believes that in order for youth to be able to help spread awareness and advocate for peace in not just his country but worldwide, youth must make their voices heard in a peaceful manner while being willing to compromise allowing for peace to exist.