- Rising Voices Microgrants 2013 - https://rising.globalvoices.org/microgrants2013 -

Bolivia: Revaluation of the Yuracaré Language

· Eddie Avila

Categories: Bolivia, Endangered Languages, Blogs, Digital Video, Social Networking

The language of the Yurakaré culture is a language that has survived to this day. However, contact with the Castilian language has been an influence on the speakers, the language, and culture. Currently the Yurakaré language is considered to be endangered. Thus, we propose to strengthen the Yurakaré identity and oral tradition through the spread of its language with young people exploring new technologies that recently reached the community.

Topical focus:

Endangered Languages [1]

Country:

Bolivia [2]

What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?

La Misión, Chimoré, Cochabamba

Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.

Yurakaré youth who are experiencing a drastic change with the arrival of new technologies (TV, DVD, etc) to the community of la Misión, where they have a computer room without internet connection. Access to electronic devices has changed the attitude and behavior of young people towards the Yurakaré language. We believe that the use of new technologies can be the perfect opportunity to enhance, spread their culture, and language through the web.

What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?

Starting with oral histories of the Yurakaré people, there will be a selection of life stories written, as well as photo stories, interviews, a selection of words and phrases in the community to disseminate daily on the web. The selected information will be published in Yurakaré and Castilian. Thus training journalists and other community digital chroniclers.

What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?

Blogs [3], Digital Video [4], Social Networking [5]

Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.

Consejo Educativo del Pueblo Yurakaré (CEPY): Institución encargada de la educación y cultura, en las regiones yurakarés de Cbba, Beni, Santa Cruz y La Paz. El Consejo Indígena Yurakaré (CONIYURA): Principal organización del Territorio Comunitario de Origen (TCO) yurakaré of the Chapare River. Oficina departamental de Políticas intra-interculturales (Cbba): Entidad descentralizada que se encarga de promover la intra e interculturalidad.

How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?

Directly around 30 young people from the community both men and women. Indirectly, the entire community.

Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?

You can help by disseminating information about this initiative, share experiences about similar projects and follow our work closely to exchange knowledge and training.

Contact name

Ida Peñaranda

Twitter URL

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