March 31, 2017 - The Mojon con Cara

Mojon Con Cara

One of my favorite Bolivian stories is the Mojon Con Cara.  Here is my rendition of the old story.

In eighteenth century, the Calle Republiquetas was not what it is today.  This was one of the more remote and less crowded places in town.  Houses did not join side to side, but had empty lots filled with the colorful blooming trees of Santa Cruz.  There were sidewalks along the street.  It was a nice neighborhood to be raised in.

Not too far from the plaza was a quaint house where lived a vivacious young girl.  She was funny and very beautiful, with dark eyes and black hair.  Her mother though was very protective.  She longed for her beautiful daughter to marry one of the important men of Santa Cruz.  So the mother kept her inside and did not let her roam the streets of Santa Cruz.

Yet one day, the lovely girl was leaning out her window.  She saw a handsome young man, a mere worker, walk by.  She rolled her eyes at him in a flirtatious way and the young man was in love.  Every day he came by just to speak to her and tell her how much he loved her. 

One day the mother noticed them talking.

“There is no way you will marry my daughter,” she exclaimed.  “Give up your quest!”

But he did not.  He stood at their door, day by day, waiting that a window might open or a door, in hopes he would get a glimpse of his beloved.

One day the mother said to him, as she was leaving the house and seeing him standing there waiting patiently, “I would allow my daughter to marry you, only if this mojon grew a face!”

A mojon is like a hitching post.  They placed these in front of houses.  They were also used to mark the property lines, and to keep street traffic off the sidewalks.

The distraught young man did not know what to do.  He looked at the mojon and came up with an idea.  He started carving it.  Day by day, he returned and patiently carved into the mojon, and the mother would laugh at him. 

One morning he was finished.  He had created a lifelike face in the mojon. The mother saw the face carved into the mojon, but the man young man was not there.  Curious, she looked up and down the street, thinking he was away for just a moment.  She shrugged her shoulders and went back into the house.  That is when she noticed her house was quiet, too quiet.  She looked in every room, but her daughter was not there.  She and the young man had escaped.

But the Mojon con Cara is still there, a romantic reminder of the Romeo and Juliet of Santa Cruz.

Translated and adapted from www.educa.com.bo

My second novel is the retelling of this Bolivian legend.  My friend, Mariela, edited it for me, to make sure it was Bolivian enough.  It is a beautiful little novel that I am proud of.  See the link below to buy yourself a copy.  Whenever I am back in the States, I will gladly sign your copy.  If you are not in the States, we can make other arrangements.

My author page, where you can find out how to buy my novel.

March 30, 2017 - The Zoo

The Zoo

I awoke rather late, but I was cold.  A surazo had blown in the previous morning and had drenched the city.  Now the sky was blue, with not a cloud in sight.  I could not stay inside. 

Quickly I was dressed and crossing the Plaza Blacut to get a coffee and cuñapé, and decided to finish it in the taxi.  Sometimes God just sends you the right person.  I was getting a little frustrated because four empty taxis passed me by.  That is when I found myself in the taxi of a young man of maybe 30 years.  What first struck me was that he was polite in traffic; that is something alien to most here in Santa Cruz. 

The second thing was that he was listening to a sermon on the radio.  The man on the radio was praying for various people that had called in.  I waited until it was almost over before I asked, “Is he a Catholic preacher or Evangelical.”

“Evangelico, Señor,” he answered.

“Are you a Christian?”  I asked.

“I am from the Assemblies of God.”

“I was a missionary with the Assemblies of God when I first came here in the 80s.”  I really was, but changed to South America Mission because the Assemblies considered me a temporary missionary and wanted me there for just two years.

That led me to finding out that there is not an Assembly missionary in Santa Cruz, but that he and his family were starting a mission church 30 Km outside of the city.  We talked about me living here as a retired teacher and that I attend Berea Church.  He knows exactly where that is.  He did not ask much for the taxi ride, so I doubled it and asked the other part to be a gift for his church.

One of the reasons I love Santa Cruz!

The Zoo was gorgeous.  The sun was shining and a breeze was blowing.  Flowers were blooming.  Monkeys were playing.  The birds were inches away in the aviary.  The pigs stank to high heaven.  There were no people.

I’m not sure if I ever shared this about the Santa Cruz Zoo, but it has a collection of animals endemic to Santa Cruz.  Here you will see the animals that you would see in the wild in this area.  They need to work on how they house their wild cat species.  I think I counted 6 different types.  There are many animals still behind chain-link fences, but for a city in a third world country, this is very nice.  It also looked like the place had been scrubbed down for the weekend crowd.  There was no trash anywhere!

Nothing really special happened.  It was just a nice place to be on this gorgeous day.

I wish they had t-shirts and souvenir cups here like they do in the Texas zoos.  I guess that is for the future.  I have to come back more often.

What more impressed me today is what I have heard about the church and world missions.  In the past, the church was white, European or North American.  Missionaries were the same.  But in recent years, as Europe and North America became less and less Christian, the church has shifted to Latin America, Africa, and Asia.  This man is proof.  No Assembly of God missionary is serving this huge city, so a local man is doing the work of a missionary.  I applaud his work and pray his church grows.

Here is a link to my Amazon author page. Two novels are out and the third will be here by summer. See what I've got to say.

March 29, 2017 - A Journey in a Trufi

A Journey in a Trufi

Getting around Bolivia’s major cities is easy.  The larger cities all have airports and regular flights between them.  But if you are a little more adventurous, and want to see the real Bolivia, you must leave your comfort zone.

On October 30th, I was returning to Santa Cruz after two days in Samaipata.  I stopped by the trufi office, Transporte el Fuerte, on my way to the Plaza to look for something to eat.  The man there said it would be a while before they left, because I was the only passenger at that moment. 

A trufi is a group taxi.  They are faster than buses and don’t make that many, if any stops.  You have to know where the trufis are located.  The one that runs from Santa Cruz to Samaipata is close to the second ring.  In Samaipata, it is just off the Plaza.  They will not leave until they fill all the seats and kids don’t count as passengers, because they can sit in their parent’s lap. 

So being the only one, they weren’t going to leave.  When I returned from eating, they were starting the van and about to head out.  There were no more seats available.  There was already a lady waiting for the next trufi, so I headed back to the house, gathered my things, and came back.  I didn’t have to wait long.  As soon as I arrived a lady came and said she and another were going if they would pick them up around the corner.  A man called and said pick him up too.  Shortly after two more ladies arrived and now the trufi was full.

We drove around the corner and picked up the two ladies.  Then we drove another three blocks and honked the horn for the man.  He wasn’t there.  A few more honks and a man came running up a dirt side street.  Now we were on our way.

About five minutes out of town we pass by the waterfall and fifteen minutes after that we pass by las Cuevas, where there is a trail that leads to swimming holes and beautiful waterfalls.  I haven’t seen the waterfall yet.  A few minutes after that we reach a beautiful house, sitting on the side of the road.  The garden is beautiful, but more beautiful are the peacocks strutting along the side of the highway.  To me that is my marker that we are leaving Samaipata.

The next hour is twisting and turning through gorgeous valleys and precipitous cliffs. It is a tropical paradise.  There are dirt roads that lead further into the valleys.  Dogs are sunning themselves on the road, meaning there are people in the area.  I wonder at the people that are walking down the highway.  Where do you live?  What do you do for a living?  Have you ever been out of this place?  It is beautiful, but I cannot imagine living here.

After an hour and a half, the heat hits you.  Almost immediately, the road turns a corner and we are at the Angostura, a tool booth.  Beyond begins the long, relatively straight stretch of highway leading to Santa Cruz, but that is an hour away.  First there is the town of El Torno, where everybody is out for the Sunday market.  Another dozen towns dot the highway, all seemingly busy.  We reach La Guardia and I can sense my home is approaching.

Soon we are approaching Santa Cruz and the heat becomes unbearable.  Cities generate heat!

We hit the outer edge of Santa Cruz, probably about the 12th ring, and the man got out.  Not far past my school, two ladies got out.  Another two tell the driver to drop them at the 4th ring, but when we got to the 5th ring they say this is where they want out.  Another lady gets out at the 2nd ring where we are making a U-turn to go to the trufi office.  It is busy and has lots of taxis, so I get out there too.

Two and a half hours to the minute from when we left Samaipata, I walk into my apartment and collapse.  I need a day off to rest from my weekend!

Here is a link to my Amazon author page. Two novels are complete and a third is coming out soon.

March 28, 2017 - Afternoon in Samaipata

Afternoon in Samaipata

My morning with Napoleon ended at a pizzeria eating spaghetti, overlooking purple bougainvillea in the plaza.  A man was watering the plants and wetting the sidewalks, making it smell like it had just rained.  A hippy was in the plaza playing the Bolivian caña.  It was one of those postcard moments.  I don’t know if anyone else felt it at that moment but me.

The tropical sun turned fierce, though temperatures did not venture past the low 80s.  I wandered the streets a bit after lunch, but everybody was going indoors for a siesta.  The hammock on the back porch on of Fernando and Mariela’s house beckoned me.

My goal for this weekend was to write; Samaipata was to be my inspiration.  I did what I set out to do over the next few hours.  I wrote.  Currently I have three books I am working on.  One is very short, so a few weeks ago, I decided to drop everything and finish it.

This one is a love story, set in the not so distant past, of Bolivia.  Like Romeo and Juliet, the lovers come from different worlds.  As always, that causes disaster as their worlds collide.  I want to finish this one soon, so I can send it to two different editors; two ladies who have volunteered to look over my work.  I want to finish it before November is finished.

By 4:00 the mountains were beginning to cool off, so it was time for me to explore again.  At this hour, if you stand in the sun, it is fierce.  I discovered that I got a little sunburned.  But if you walk on the shady side of the street, you get a little cold.  So you have to choose one or the other.

I walked the length of Calle Bolivar to where there is a small Catholic church.  As I was returning from taking a picture, I was met by the Gregories driving by.  They are Baptist missionaries here in Samaipata.  I taught their son, Lance, one of my favorites, back in the 80s.  They dropped me off at the Plaza and mention a few places where I should eat.  I promised to visit them the next time I am in Samaipata. 

I walked around the plaza and wandered the market.  This is a small town, very difficult to get lost in.  I sat in the plaza for a while, watching life go by.  Young couples walk hand-in-hand, and the new reality, sit together on a bench texting.  Kids rushed by chasing each other, or riding their bikes, or kicking a soccer ball.  I discovered a statue that is really a fountain that you turn on from the side.  There are lots of hippies in Samaipata, but they are harmless.  Like me, they are seeking their escape from the busy life of the United States.

I ate early and returned to the house, so I could look at the grandeur of the Milky Way from Mariela’s garden.

The book I mentioned about is Mojon con Cara, now complete and available on Amazon.

 

March 27, 2017 - My Morning with Napoleon

My Morning with Napoleon

I was standing on a hill overlooking Samaipata with Napoleon.  From above, I could see that it is just a small town, nestled between green valleys and green hills.  I was standing on a rock.  The tropical sun was fierce, but the air was cold.  There was no noise except for Napoleon telling me of his many exploits and the history of his children.  But how did I get here?

I awoke at 4:30, and 5:00, and again at 5:30; my internal clock telling me it was time to wake up.  I told my clock to go back to sleep.  I had no responsibilities for the day; I had no plans.  But by 7:00, I was wanting to get out and explore. So my alarm clock won.

By 7:30, I was looking for breakfast.  There were not many restaurants open at that hour.  I couldn’t even find one.  So, I wandered into the market, and found a place that was cooking some delicious breakfast.  A man was grilling cornbread that was about the consistency of pancakes.  I was served a drink called api, a dark, reddish-brown liquid that was sweet and thick.  He told me it was made of a variety of black corn.  It tasted more like berries than corn. 

I ran into yesterday’s trufi driver while looking for food.  He told me to go to one of the miradors to get a view of the city.  A mirador is a lookout that has a good view.  And that is how I met Napoleon.  I flagged a taxi driver, having no idea what I was getting myself into!

Napoleon wasn’t really a taxi driver, but he saw me looking for a taxi and offered his services.  He owned a small hotel, as well as other rental properties.  He is the father of four children, all college graduates.  He is proud that he paid for their college, every one of them.  They are now living in Santa Cruz, Madrid, and Barcelona.  He said he knew everybody in Samaipata and proceeded to tell me stories about every one of them. 

We left town on a dirt road, full of pot holes and washed out in places.  At one place, we crossed a stream, not over a bridge, but through the stream.  About halfway to the top, we got out of the car and looked out on the green valley of Samaipata.  It looks so small from up there.  He pointed out where some Germans lived, or the Swiss, Belgians, or Americans.  He showed me a $2 million-dollar home, that in other places would have cost more than $10 million.

We drove almost to the top, where a German was building a vineyard.  We got out of the car and Napoleon headed straight through the brush of vines and scrubby trees.  Inside I was laughing that me, a fat retired man from the States, was pressing through thorns and brambles.  The reason I came here to Bolivia was because I am not ready to quit.  I am retired, but I want to live before I am too old to do much more than watch TV and tell others about my past.  So here I was, in the moment, crashing through vegetation.

Before us was a big rock that was easy to climb.  My too many pounds and the altitude made me breathe heavily, but it was worth it.  The view is one of those you must see once in your life.  My camera phone can’t catch the beauty. 

My morning with Napoleon ended with him taking me to an animal refuge on the other side of town.  A howler monkey and javalina were running wild.  A coati stuck his nose out the cage so I would rub it.  A wild cat cub, played with me through the fence.  People buy exotics, thinking of the cute baby animal, but not understanding that they grow up quickly and become unmanageable.  Thank God for this French woman, pouring out her retirement money to care for these unwanted animals.

Thank you, Napoleon, for an interesting morning.

Here is the link to my Amazon author page. Hope you buy one of my books, either in paperback or as an e-book.

 

March 26, 2017 - How do you know the Bible is not made up?

March 26, 2017

How do you know the Bible is not made up?

This is a question I have heard before, and I confess, it can be difficult to answer.  I recently read an article by Tim Chaffey on the Answers in Genesis website, answersingenesis.org.  What I am writing below is completely the idea of Tim Chaffey, with my paraphrase and a bit, here and there added.

First, the Bible is unique in its contents.  Forty different writers wrote the Bible, spanning a period of 1,500 years, and on three continents.  Unlike other religions, the Bible shows the mistakes of its heroes.  Adam was the first sinner.  Moses committed murder.  David was not only an adulterer, but he covered up his sin with murder and lies.  Other religions make their heroes to be super human, perfect human beings.  The Bible shows a clear purpose.  It shows that all men are sinners and incapable of doing something to appease God.  The other works of other religions, show the things man must do to please God.  The Bible shows what God did to solve our problem; he sent Jesus to take our punishment.

Second, the Bible is confirmed by archaeology.  To date, not one archaeological find has contradicted what is written in the Bible.  Here are just a few recent finds:

·       The Tel Dan Stele found in Israel is dated to the 9^th century BC.  It mentions the “House of David,” proving David was not a mythological person.

·       The Mesha Stele mentions Moab’s subjection under Omri, the King of Israel.  It also references Yahweh, the name of the God of Israel, and possibly the House of David.  The last part is debated because of unreadable letters.

·       The name of Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has been found governing Judea at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.  He is not a made-up person, as some have believed.

Nelson Glueck, of the Hebrew Union College, says that the accuracy of the scriptures has led to the discovery of 1,500 archaeological sites that “confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible.”  Archaeologist Dr. William F. Albright further adds that “the narratives of the Patriarchs, of Moses and the Exodus, of the Conquest of Canaan, of the Judges, of the Monarchy, Exile, and Restoration, have all been confirmed” through archaeology.

Recent archaeological evidence has confirmed the book of Acts to an amazing degree.  There are dozens of terms and places in the book of Acts, written by Luke, that are not evident in other works during the period of the Roman Empire, but archaeology has confirmed them.  For example:

·       The existence of Amphipolis and Apollonia – Acts 17:1

·       A synagogue in Thessalonica – Acts 17:1

·       The title “politarch” used in Thessalonica – Acts 17:6

·       Sea travel the best means of getting from Thessalonica to Athens in the summer – Acts 17:14

·       Abundant presence of images in Athens – Acts 17:6

·       A synagogue in Athens – Acts 17:17

·       Philosophical debate in the agora – Acts 17:17

·       The term “spermologos,” translated as “babbler” in the NIV.  This was a term unique to Athens at the time – Acts 17:18

·       The characterization of what Athenians spent their day doing – Acts 17:21

·       An altar to an unknown god – Acts 17:23

·       The reaction of the Greeks to the idea of resurrection of the body – Acts 17:23

And all of that is just in one chapter of Acts!  I have read from other sources dozens more.  Luke knew the places he was writing about.  He had been there and he saw it.  Acts is one of the most archaeologically confirmed manuscripts of the ancient world, if not the most confirmed!  That is just Acts.  The list goes on and on for other books of the Bible.

Don’t other major religions have similar sets of archaeological evidence?  The Mormon religion is one of the fastest growing religions in the world today.  Yet in the Book of Mormon, it says that the Native Americans are Jews who fled from Jerusalem.  DNA studies have proven this to be completely false.  The book also says that the early Native Americans rode horses and elephants and wielded scimitars.  That is uncorroborated by archaeology.

I decided to do a little research while writing on this about the historical evidence of Buddha and Muhammed.  For both of these founders of their respective religions, the only historical evidence that they ever existed is from the holy books of their religions.  There is not one other piece of archaeological evidence that either man existed.  Kind of shaky ground if you ask me.

Third, is God’s challenge to other gods.  Wait, you might be asking, did God challenge other gods?  Yes, He did!  It is found in Isaiah 41:21-23:

“Present your case, says the Lord.  “Set forth your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.  “Tell us, you idols, what is going to happen.  Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome.  Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods.”

It is amazing, but not one of the founders of other religions made predictions of the future.  If they have, their predictions did not come true.  Nostradamus and Cayce do not meet the biblical standard of 100% accuracy (Deuteronomy 18:22).  The Bible does!

In the Sunday school class I used to teach at Bristol Baptist Church, we studied the End Times for about a year.  One of the first lessons we had was the accuracy of biblical prophecy, so we would not doubt that the future prophesies would also be accurate.  We listed 40 prophecies about Jesus and where they are fulfilled in the New Testament (I actually whittled that 40 down from about 75 so we could fit it into one lesson.  That lesson took us about 4 Sundays to complete).  Here are just 5:

·       Isaiah 7:14 prophesies Christ would be born of a virgin and that is confirmed in Matthew 1:25.

·       Micah 5:2 prophesies that Christ would be born in Bethlehem and is confirmed in Matthew 2:1 and 6.

·       Zechariah 11:12 says Christ would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver.  In Matthew 26:15 and 49 we see that he was.

·       Psalm 22:18 predicts that Christ’s clothes would be divided at the Cross.  In John 19:24 we see that it happened.

·       Psalm 16:10 prophesies that Jesus would rise from the dead and it happened according to Luke 24:6.

Some have claimed that Jesus set out to fulfill these prophecies during his lifetime, but how could he plan where he was born?  Others counter that they were written after the fact, but archaeology refutes that.  All the prophecies of Jesus were written at least 400 years before his birth; some might dispute the date of these writings, but all are confirmed to have been written long before his birth.  All the books of prophecy are contained in the Septuagint, which was translated from Hebrew to Greek and completed in 132 BC.   

In conclusion, based on its unique content, its archaeologically proven historicity, and its proof through prophecy, the Bible is not made up.  If the things that the Bible says are true, based on the above proof, might its message of salvation also be true?  I say that it is. 

Beginning in the summer, I am going to write a series of blogs on this in more depth.  I am a firm believer that God is real and has proven so throughout history. 

“3 Evidences That Confirm the Bible is Not Made up,” by Tim Chaffey, Answers in Genesis, www.answersingenesis.org, February 22, 2017.

March 25, 2017 - The First Commandment

The First Commandment

I’ve been thinking of writing a series of blogs on the Ten Commandments for about a month now partly because of a series of sermons I heard on the radio while back in Texas this winter. I’ve always had an interest in them because they are, I believe, misunderstood.  Their purpose is to create in us true fulfillment, not to keep us from having fun.  So, let me try to discuss them.

My plan is one a week, so you’ll have to come the next nine weeks to get all ten.

The First Commandment is this:

“I am the Lord you God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before me.”

This commandment is teaching us to understand where our loyalties must lie. Jesus in Matthew 22 said it was the first and greatest commandment (to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind).  Is our loyalty with God or with something else? 

Anything that stands in the way of our commitment to God causes us to break the first and greatest commandment.  It is not that God just wants all the attention and is angry if he doesn’t get it.  This commandment, and all the others, was intended to show us how to live a fulfilled and happy life.

In the early days of mankind, the period of the Old Testament, man was tied to nature.  Flood, drought, wildfires, earthquakes, and storms could devastate a community and there was no backup with a federal government that could step in and repair the damage.  Early man worshipped the sun, asking for sunshine for his crops.  He prayed to rain gods, so they would give sufficient rain and not too much.  In Egypt, they prayed to the river, that it would rise at the right time and flood their farmland. 

God told the Israelites to forget the worship of the sun, moon, stars, rain, and the Nile River.  They were all his creation.  Immediately before the exodus, God proved that He is in control of nature.  God wanted His people to depend on Him, who created and controls nature, instead of worshipping His creation.

Even today there are people who make nature their god.  Any time anyone is talking about global warming or climate change, my grandma responds with, “as long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”  An over emphasis on nature and caring for the earth has become a god to many people.  God will provide sunshine.  God will provide rain.  God will provide winter and summer.  There are thousands of years of proof that He has done it in the past and will continue to do it in the future.

Many people make possessions their god. In Matthew 19, Jesus encounters a young man who said he followed all the commandments.  Jesus knew that his loyalties were elsewhere, so he confronted him saying, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”  The man left sad, because his loyalty was to the things he owned.

I have shocked many people in the last few years when I told them I was moving to Bolivia.  “How can you move to a third world country that doesn’t have the luxuries of home?”  Even more people, including family, have wondered what is wrong with me when I tell them I don’t have a TV!  I am not doing without.  I have plenty.  I know missionaries that live on a lot less than I do, and coming to Bolivia, I see that there are millions who live on less than me.  I am rich to many.  God doesn’t want us tied to our possessions.  A hurricane or tornado could take them away in a moment.

The last is a little difficult to talk about, because it will step on a lot of toes, but the scripture indicates we are to love God even if that means losing our families.  In Luke 14:26 it says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.”  We often ignore that passage, but it is there and that is what Jesus told us.

I once read a story in a book by Brother Andrew.  I can’t find the book now.  It told about a pastor in the Soviet Union who had to make a horrible decision.  He and his family were taken to a frozen river and were told to renounce Christ.  They would not.  The woman and children were placed naked on the frozen river.  The pastor was told to renounce Christ or his wife and children would be killed.  The wife spoke up and told her husband not to renounce Christ under any circumstances.  She and their children died as martyrs to Christ.

Would you be willing to watch your family die for your faith in Christ?

How do we, in our busy world, put God first?  What are some things we can do?  John says, in 1 John 2:3, “We have come to know him if we obey his commands.”  As we learn more about the Ten Commandments and what God wanted from us, we start to put God first in our lives.  David shows us in the Psalms, that worship and meditation on who God is, helps us to acknowledge him and put him first in our lives.  “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Psalm 107:8.

Throughout the Bible, the payback for putting God first is evident.  “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:33.  He gives more than we could imagine when we put Him first.

Place your primary loyalty to God.  Trust him.  Praise him.  Obey him.  And watch how he will bless you.

Soon I will be publishing a novel about a man who lost everything, but found God, You can find about my novels on my author page.

March 24, 2017 - Heroes

Heroes of the War of the Pacific

Yesterday I wrote about the Dia del Mar, which celebrates the heroes of the War of the Pacific.  Today, I want you to meet a few of Bolivia’s heroes of that war: Genoveva Rios, Pascual Mariano Mamani, and Juancito Pinto.

Genoveva lived in Antofagasta, when, at the age of 14, Chile occupied the town.  When the Chilean soldiers surrounded the prefecture, they ripped the Bolivian seal from the building and proceeded to rip the Bolivian flag.  When they hoisted the Chilean flag to the flagpole of the prefecture, they failed to notice that another Bolivian flag was flying a few doors away at police headquarters.

Genoveva’s family was fleeing, fearful of the atrocities that the Chileans were already famous for.  Seeing the flag, Genoveva ran from her parents.  Being careful not to be noticed, she climbed the flagpole and took the flag.  Once on the ground, she folded it neatly and hid it under her dress.  Minutes later, she was back with her terrified family, fleeing their home for safety.  Genoveva explained to her family that she could bear to see the dishonor to this flag that she had seen to the one above the prefecture.

Mamani was just 16 when he enlisted to fight in the War of the Pacific.  He was a highland boy with little experience except in blowing his bugle.  It was reported that his bugle blowing could make you forget the beauty of the birds singing.

 

He was not in the war very long, when his battalion, along with a Peruvian battalion, engaged the Chileans at Arica.  The Chileans were occupying San Francisco Hill and the Bolivians had the task of taking the hill, almost impossible because of the superior weapons of the Chileans.  Yet, they were making the advance.  Young Mamani saw an opportunity.  He fought his way up the hill and stood on top of the Chilean canon, signaling the advance and calling for help from the Peruvians. 

Mamani was shot.  The battle was lost.  Arica became part of Chile.

Juancito Pinto was just 12 years old when he entered the war.  As troops were leaving La Paz, a group of boys followed them, refusing to go home.  Juancito was among them.  It was not an easy life crossing the mountains and deserts between La Paz and the war zone. 

When they reached the battle, he was instructed to use his skills with the drums to indicate the direction of the enemy and inform the troops the direction to march. The Chileans came closer and he watched his comrades die.  Refusing to be captured, he grabbed a gun and fought into the thickest part of the battle, becoming lost in the smoke and dust.  He was never seen again.

Have you caught the connection between these three heroes?  They were all children. 

Thank you, Anna, for information on these heroes.

Mark Potter's Amazon Author Page