BOLIVIA TO-DAY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26770, 13 May 1948, Page 10

BOLIVIA TO-DAY

- LAND OF CONTRASTS SPANIARD AND INDIAN A MISSIONARY’S STORY Wealth and poverty, fertility and barrenness, tropical heat and polar cold are side by side in modern Bolivia—a land of remarkable contrasts. The proud Spanish landowner, cruel and oppressive, reigns in luxury, while the half-breed and Indian exists in squalid destitution. Often a stream flowing through a primitive native village serves as a combined water supply and drain. Stories of his life in this volatile South American republic were told to the Daily Times by Mr D. M. Patrick, a minister of the Baptist Church and a worker of the Bolivian Indian Mission. Mr Patrick is at present on furlough in Dunedin, his native city, and is awaiting a ship to take him, his wife and two small sons on the first stage of the journey back to their mission field. Bolivia, said Mr Patrick, had an area of over 600,000 square miles and a population of about 3,500,000. Class distinction among her varied peoples was marked. The pure-blooded Spaniards, a small minority, constituted the aristocracy. The middle strata comprised the mestigos, or ’breeds, while the pure Indian was despised and treated almost as a slave by his social superiors. The present Government has, however, endeavoured to raise the natives to a more equitable position, Mr Patrick said. They have been granted a minimum daily wage of Is 3d and educational facilities for their children. Mr Patrick's work has taken him among the Quechua Indians, q remnant of the once-proud Inca civilisation. Hounded by their Spanish conquerors into the more inaccessible parts of the Andes Mountains, they how eke out a primitive agricultural existence. Revolutionary Atmosphere The modern Bolivian is a hot-headed race mixture. Mr Patrick continued, and revolutions flame up with the monotonous regularity traditional in a South American republic. The last major internal disturbance was in 1946. when the final of a long series of militarv regimes was overthrown and replaced with a civil administration. Over 1000 students of universities in the capital city were killed in the fierce fighting which preceded the change. . The Patrick family, at its isolated mission station, appears to be outside the revolutionary sphere of influence. The 'first news of one such outbreak to reach the field was contained in a letter from New Zealand, in which Mrs Patrick’s mother expressed concern for the family’s safety. The railways of the republic were the object of praise from Mr Patrick. Built and owned by British companies, the syslem represents a remarkable engineering achievement. The line rises to a height of 15,705 feet near the city

of Potosi, which is famed for its rich resources of silver and tin. One mountain alone in this area supplied the greater part of the *tin used by the Allies, during the war. The railway also reaches La Paz, which, at an altitude of 12,705 feet, is the highest capital city in the world. Bolivia is linked with the United States by the Pan-American Airways and there is also an efficient internal air service. Association With Dunedin The interdenominational mission with which Mr and Mrs Patrick serve has an intimate connection with Dunedin. Its founder, Mr George Allan, was a well-known resident of the Taieri. The mission has grown considerably since its establishment in 1907 and now employs 75 workers drawn from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The hazards of work in this wild country are numerous. Mr Patrick related the experience of one of his fellow-missionaries, Mr W. Herron, who used a light aeroplane for transport. Forced to land in the jungle alongside the river, Mr Herron found the forest impenetrable and had to swim down the river for three hours .before he found aid. He was missing*altogether for 11 days. The aboriginal tribes in the jungle fastnesses were often dangerous. A party of five United States missionaries which endeavoured, in 1945, to reach these wild natives did not return from its expedition. Not the least of the difficulties facing the missionary in his dealings with these people, Mr Patrick said, was the language problem. Each tribe spoke a completely different tongue from those of its neighbours. Mr and Mrs Patrick’s children, aged four and two, were both born in Bolivia. That situation might have its complications, Mrs Patrick pointed out, as the boys were liable to be called up for military service when they reached the age of 16. Bolivia was the one country where a British consul was unable to gain exemption for such lads through diplomatic channels. The Quechua Indians on the mission field held the elder of the brothers in particular affection, as he had been born in their midst. They regarded it as a particular honour, said Mrs Patrick, that “ one of them" should have the privilege of visiting New Zealand.