Voix Libres is active in the Altiplano of Bolivia...

...from Lake Titicaca all the way to the South of the country, in weak communities that, for lack of resources, are forced to migrate to the city slums of Potosi, Cochabamba, La Paz and Santa Cruz.

Potosi (4200 m)

In the mines of Cerro Rico: 8 million deaths after three centuries of exploitation in the silver and tin mines. The working conditions are still atrocious: caving-ins, dynamite explosions, heavy metal intoxications, silicosis. “Here, one dies before going grey...”

In the rural areas, down to Villazón: in weak communities with no access to development and school infrastructure: strong rural exodus to the mines and the city slums of Potosi, Cochabamba, La Paz and Santa Cruz.

La Paz (4000 m)

In the streets: conditions of extreme cold and exclusion for street children who suffer from violence, alcoholism and drug addiction. In the words of Tatoo, a former street child: “Among my 10 friends, five have died, three have gone crazy as a result of glue sniffing, and two have survived...”

Oruro (4000 m)

In the slums and rural areas: with a very high rate of unemployement due to the closing of several mines, Oruro is one of the poorest bolivian departments.

Cochabamba (2500m)

In the garbage dumps: a marginalized community in a heavily polluted area.

In the prisons: most of the prisoners are helpless peasants, struck by the Act of 1008 respecting Coca eradication. Since 1994, Voix Libres has been developing micro-credit programmes with them.