Bolivia is somewhat stricter in its control of quarantine measures
than the U.S. and many other countries. Of course, we have the usual school and
business closings, prohibitions against public gatherings, and no public
transportation, but we are also not allowed to drive private vehicles and we
can only leave our house one morning a week (from 8:00 AM to noon) to purchase
food in nearby stores or markets. At first, they said no bicycle riding
either, but I think they have relaxed that rule so people can get to the
markets more easily. Both Vanessa and I have gotten out on our bicycles
to make purchases on our day. Vanessa can go out on Tuesday mornings and
I can go out on Wednesday mornings. On my mornings out, I have made
several longer bicycle trips to the grocery store and the bank, which are about
10 km from our house. We are not allowed any sort of recreational
activity. We cannot even walk the dog, or ride a bicycle around the
neighborhood. If the police catch you outside your home when it is not
your morning to buy food then can arrest you, fine you $150 USD, and take you
to jail for eight hours. If they decide you were threatening public
health, they can put you in jail for one to ten years. Even within our
gated community, we are not allowed to walk or ride bicycles for
recreation. To keep from going absolutely insane, I have defied the rules
a couple of times and gotten out on my bicycle to ride around the neighborhood
in the evenings. Our security guards have politely but sternly scolded me,
sending me back home saying, "Mr. Beams, you know we are under quarantine
and you should not be out here. Please go back home."
We are not at all starving. Fortunately, a new food economy
has grown up around the rules of quarantine. We live in a walled, gated
community, called a "condominio" in Spanish. There is one
guarded entrance for the about 150 families who live inside the confines of our
condo, called Asai I. We have two small front-room family stores inside our
community and another one a block away just outside the gate. The nearest
open-air market is about 4 km away and the nearest full-on grocery store is
about 10 km away. Through delivery and WhatsApp we have been able to
pre-order many grocery items. Trucks bring the ordered items to the gate
and we walk just outside condo to pick up our orders. We have weekly
trucks that sell fruits and vegetables, meat, chicken, eggs, dairy products,
bread, and dry goods. Guards make group announcements through WhatsApp
when the trucks arrive, announcing what products are available. Everyone
rushes to the gate with their masks and rubber gloves in place. With
proper social distancing, it sometimes takes half an hour or so until it is my
turn to make a purchase. There are also families within the condo who are
setting up their own micro-businesses in order to earn a bit of cash during the
quarantine-baking bread, making candy, selling health and hygiene products, and
even cooking take-out meals--all promoted and advertised through the
neighborhood WhatsApp groups. We even had Papa John’s Pizza delivered
last night to celebrate Isaiah’s 18th birthday!
The entire country of Bolivia is required to be on lock-down until
May 10th. After the 10th
they will look at the number of Covid cases to determine if they can begin
relaxing some of the stricter measures.
We are still seeing an increase of about 100 cases per day in Bolivia,
with about 2000 total cases and 91 deaths in the country. Most health experts say we have not reached
peak spread of the contagion and that we should not relax restrictions
yet. I believe that at least in the city
of Santa Cruz we will continue to be on complete lock-down until the end of
May. I know this does not sound like many cases at all compared to what is
happening in the U.S. and Europe recently, but even with such few cases we are
extremely close to overwhelming the heath care system. Just a slight increase in serious cases will
mean many more deaths in Bolivia. In
order to prevent infectious people from entering Bolivia, air travel and all
international borders are 100% closed until at least May 31st. Surrounding South American countries have
many more cases than Bolivia: Brazil—127,000, Peru—55,000, Argentina—5,000,
Chile—23,000. The number of cases in
Bolivia and surrounding countries is most likely much higher than these number
indicate because we do not have the necessary testing capacity. They are currently only administering about
10,000 tests per month in Bolivia and there is a backlog of nine days to get
the results. Based on this data point
alone, I would estimate that we have many more cases than are being
reported.
A number of social sectors are beginning to rebel against the
restrictions out of desperation to feed their families. Violent protests are flaring up in several
highland cities and many people are on the streets in defiance of the rules. A
local newspaper estimates that there are 3 million people in Bolivia who do not
currently have enough to eat. Although
there is plenty of food in the local stores and markets, without working, many
family do not have enough cash to make purchases. The government has been giving out cash
payments to different sectors of society.
The majority of the poorest families have qualified for one or several
one-time “bonos” of 500 Bs, which is equal to $72.50 USD. I would estimate that
this is enough cash to buy groceries for two weeks for a family of four. In order to collect cash bonuses, people have
to stand in line at banks for hours on end. They have to either use their only
free shopping day to stand in a bank line, or they have to defy stay-at-home orders
and risk arrest trying to collect the payment.
Millions of Bolivians in rural communities have no way to get to a bank
to collect payments. Earlier this week,
Vanessa went to a bank on her bicycle to make a deposit to pay for a gift for
Isaiah’s birthday. She said the line
stretched for two blocks. She gave up
because she said it would have been impossible to get in the door before being
caught by the noon curfew. The local
newspapers have reported that only a small percentage of people eligible for payments
have been able to collect them.
The next couple of weeks will show whether or not the Bolivian
government has the will, or the man power, to continue with the restrict
stay-at-home measures, or if the desperation of the people overpower the ability
of local authorities to hold people inside.
I have seen through Facebook and other social media that in some
communities neighbors are caring for neighbors to make sure everyone has
something to eat. I’m confident that patience, generosity, and Christlike love
will help ease the pain for many desperate family in Bolivia. Thank you so much
for continuing to support Vanessa and I and our ministries during this time of
worldwide crisis. If you would like to
give a special benevolent gift to help Bolivian families who do not have enough
to eat, please make a donation through the special EFCCM benevolence fund that
has been set up at the following link:
If you would like the donation to go specifically to Bolivia,
please write that in the comment section of the donation page and also let us
know.
Blessings,
Danny and Vanessa
Danny and Vanessa
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