Preserving culture and keeping traditions alive in Bolivia

Rosely Méndez Velasco is the mother of Kaleb, Mateo, and Pablo, whom she supports through her work as she continues studying and learning new skills. She lives in the city of San José de Chiquitos, in Bolivia, a city that is part of the Missionary Complex that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other Missions in the region that make up the Route of the Jesuit Mission in Bolivia.

Because she is part of such a culturally rich region of Bolivia seeking to perverse local traditions among the region’s young people, she participated in the SIYB’s Generate your Business (GYB) and Start your Business (SYB) trainings as part of the joint ILO, UNESCO, and UN-Habitat program, “Our Voice in Action”.

Rosely decided to become an artisan during the pandemic when she asked her mother, Dora Velasco, to teach her what she had learned from her mother, Rosa Tomichá. She is the third generation to apply the knowledge passed down in this Chiquitanian family and has already begun to share it with the fourth generation – her eldest son Kaleb, her traveling companion and an artisan-in-training.

Through the SIYB training, I’ve learned to value my time, my labor, the materials, the inputs and all the other elements to understand the real value of work to sell it.

Rosely Méndez Velasco

Rosely is studying accounting and is registered in several courses and trainings. She takes care of her family, and works on her handcrafts, which she still sells irregularly, but she has made the decision to formalize her business, understanding her potential as an entrepreneur and knowing that her work keeps the Chiquitana culture alive.

Sometimes, we lose motivation, but we can’t leave it at that. We encourage ourselves to carry on – to share my work, my mom’s, and my grandma’s.

Rosely Méndez Velasco