Issue -January 2012
Rabies – More Than Just Angry Dogs
A 7 year old girl died of rabies in Cochabamba this October. She was bitten by her own puppy and neither her nor her mother had any idea about rabies so did could not get any medical treatment until the virus had spread to her nervous system. Such unfortunate cases are preventable by animal vaccination programs, but, in Bolivia, there are still many cases of dog rabies....
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La Cancha - Beneath the Surface
I didn’t get mugged in La Cancha, in fact I didn’t have any trouble whatsoever with the thugs that apparently roam the streets day and night. I didn´t get sick from the food – well actually I didn’t try any of the food... for fear of getting sick, as I have been so carefully warned may happen. After my first visit; seeing the children of store owners playing amongst their parents’ shops and living day to day in a world where the rest of Cochabamba’s population only makes a brief, weekly visit – I knew there was more to La Cancha than meets the eye.. .
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Quinua: The Rediscovered Andean Gold
Quinua (Latin: Chenopodium quinua) is a plant which, although it looks like a grain, is botanically related to spinach and beetroot. Normally it is yellow or red with a very small seed about one or two millimetres in diameter. The crop itself grows up to three meters, but this also depends on the ground. It is possible to cultivate quinua nearly everywhere; near the sea on at sea level altitude or at high elevations of up to 4000 meters. Moreover, there is no need to worry about vermin, because quinua’s seed coat contains saponin, which tastes very bitter and protects the seed. There is also a long tradition of cultivating quinua with its richness of ingredients. So, how is it possible that quinua has had such little attention in the mainstream?.......
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