Jim’s tears of joy and sadness during emotionally-charged trip to Bolivia
(Story dated January 4, 2007)

The work of Barbara-Ann McVean with the street children and poor in a poverty-stricken town in Bolivia has inspired Orkney folk to riase thousands of pounds to help her efforts.

Her father, Jim, recently returned from an extended visit to see his daughter at work.

Here, he tells Lorraine Shearer about the highs and lows of his adventure.

Barbara-Ann McVean, whose work with Bolivian street children has inspired folk in Orkney to raise thousands of pounds.

It takes a big man to cry openly — making Orkney’s Jim McVean a giant among men.

Facing monster-sized anacondas, being blown up at road blockades and dealing with police corruption are all in a day’s work for his daughter Barbara-Ann.

But now, 55-year-old Jim, from Stromness, has experienced life in South America’s Bolivia for himself, where thousands of pounds raised in Orkney continues to help the poor.

He readily admits to breaking down on an almost daily basis — whether through great joy or great sadness — for he saw and experienced both.

Jim left behind “normality”, at the end of August, when he set off from Stromness on the first leg of a lengthy journey.

Barbara-Ann is pictured with some of the gifts donated by Stromness Junior Youth Club.

From Aberdeen he flew to Paris, then on to Miami and finally Santa Cruz, where he was met by Barbara-Ann, a charity worker in various children’s homes.

But while Jim had made it, his luggage hadn’t.

There was only time for a short rest before they checked in for the flight to Cochabamba, where Barbara-Ann has been based.

“From the air I could see all the terraced farming on the slopes of the surrounding mountains and then the little mud-built houses on the outskirts of the city,” Jim said.

“Once we landed and made our way to the front of the airport, we grabbed a taxi and headed for Barbara-Ann’s house. This was the start of my seven-week stay in wonderful Cochabamba.”

The scorching temperatures, in the high 30s, combined with an altitude of 8,500ft, first struck Jim as he clung to the side of the taxi which sped frantically through the traffic.

“There were no seat belts, or none that I could see at least,” he went on. “We then came on to the motorway. I could see the cars, lorries and buses overtaking on the left, right, middle — even on the cycle track — so I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best.”

Street children viewed Jim McVean as someone they could trust, and were happy to approach him.

Finally, they arrived safely at Barbara-Ann’s house.

“I was sort of shell-shocked for a few hours but it felt great to be with my peedie girl again.”

This was Jim’s first trip “across the pond”, and his first time in South America, so he intended to relish every moment.

“For the first two weeks, I got used to the altitude and temperature and the district, or Barrio (as it is called in Spanish), around Barbara-Ann’s home. We would walk into town and sometimes we would have empanadas, these delicious little sort of Cornish pasty-like snacks, but they can be a little hot depending on what type you asked for.”

They went on a trip to Toro Toro (Two Bulls) for a three-day tour.

“We were treated to canyons and caves, dinosaur footprints and turtle graveyards,” Jim continued.

“Toro Toro was a gruelling five-and-a-half hour road trip over rock-strewn roads and dirt tracks that wound up and up until we were crossing the Andes.

“What a view, it was mind blowing. The trip to the canyon was wonderful at first, and then I saw what we had to do to get to the bottom. Six hundred steps cut into the side of a sheer cliff, almost one mile straight down.

“No railings to stop you falling over, no hand rail to help you down, just roots and grass and nothing more.”

The 45 minute journey down was soon forgotten as Jim stood back and looked in awe at the view — deep rivers running between huge boulders, creepers hanging from the walls and waterfalls galore.

It took a tortuous two hours and 50 minutes to climb the steps back up to the rim.

“On the last day of our trip, we went to visit a turtle graveyard. The turtles had apparently been coming ashore to lay their eggs when an almighty earthquake and volcanic eruption happened, leaving the poor old turtles high and dry and covered in many tonnes of volcanic ash, 320 million years ago.

“Once we were shown around, we made for the exit gate where the owner of the ground awaited us, probably to check that we were not removing the valuable fossils.”

Back in Toro Toro, Jim was treated to some of the local “firewater,” known as cheechaa. It was served in halves of coconut shell and had to be knocked back in one go.

“This brew was made from a kind of large corn kernel and water and probably a few other interesting things. It tasted okay, a wee bit bitter, but, all in all, it was great, for that is how I felt after my second shell and after my third and last shell, the world seemed to kind of tilt over — or I tilted over!”

On arriving back at Barbara-Ann’s house in Cochabamba, they set about washing their clothes —not by piling into a washing machine and flicking a switch, but in a double concrete sink in cold water.

Anyway, feeling refreshed and clean, father and daughter set off again, this time to a town called Yhuni.

They travelled across vast salt flats and stayed, yes you guessed it, in the Salt Hotel, with salt beds, floors etc.

“Everywhere you looked there was salt — a weird feeling. Next stop was a small hostel where we were to spend the night.

“Supper was more llama meat. After tea it was an early night, as we had to be up early next morning, at 4am, to visit the thermal springs and geysers.”

Jim went on: “We visited a geyser that spouted smoke and steam. It was awesome. The area smelt strongly of sulphur and various other chemicals. I thought it was the gas that was making me dizzy so I sat in the transport for a wee while to get my breath back.

“But I was told later that it was not the gas, but the altitude we were at — my head was spinning and my legs felt a bit wobbly and no wonder, we were at 16,500ft.”

After witnessing the thermal springs, Jim and Barbara-Ann headed further down the mountain to one of several lagoons.

“The first was called the White Lagoon, but that’s not what jumped out at me, it was the thousands of flamingos that covered most of it. It was an amazing sight.”

The tour over, they set off on the seven or eight hour journey back to Cochabamba.

The hours slipped by as they bounced along the ever-changing desert scenery, until they reached a town called Oruro — about half-way between Yhuni and Cochabamba.

“Oruro, we were told by our tour guide, was dedicated to the devil and all the strange statues that lined the streets were some form of demon,” Jim said.

“By day it was okay, but at the time we did not know that we would be stranded there for one night, which was a different feeling altogether.

“We were told our road to Cochabamba was blocked by the wives of striking silver miners and that they would not be opening the road until 1pm the next day.

“This is the only place during all the time that I spent in Bolivia that I felt a tad uncomfortable. I could not put my finger on what it was, but I stayed on my guard for that night.”

He went on: “Not very far from Oruro we came upon the road block. There were buses, lorries, cars, tractors lined for a few kilometres on either side of the road block, but this did not stop our driver, Daniel.

“He drove as far as he could by road and went to see if we could get through. In short, the answer was ‘no’. Nobody was about to break the strike.

“I said ‘come on, guys, it’s only about 20 wee wives blocking the road, can we not just drive around them?’ The look on Daniel’s face said it all — he said the women had big sticks of dynamite that they would use if they had to.”

Despite being only in her early 20s, Barbara-Ann has already dedicated much of her life to helping others.

During Jim’s last few weeks in Bolivia, she took him to various children’s homes to see the work that she, and others like her, are doing on a day-to-day basis.

“The first place we visited was a home called The Arc. The boys stay at the home until they are 18 and if they want, they get help to go to university or college.

“The need I saw there was great, but food-wise they had enough. It was more books, paper, pens, pencils and paint that they needed. Also they had a little workshop where the older children made garden furniture to be sold in town.”

Next, it was on to the government-run Solomon Klyne’s home. Barbara-Ann handed over a few sacks of toys and clothes, which were accepted gratefully by the head of the department.

“They needed monetary support to get medicines for the children and also cash to hire staff as the government there does not think that the children are important enough to care for.

“I was so sad to see all the wee faces, but give Barbara-Ann a few days and she would make the sun shine from the place.”

He continued: “After Solomon Klyne’s, we went to see a home run by a Scottish nun, for 38 children. Her name is Sister Josephine Purcell. It’s a small world, but it was about to get a whole lot smaller. Josephine came from the same village that I was born in, Currie, Midlothian, a few miles outside Edinburgh.

“They live from day to day at the home, hoping that they will eat the next day.”

During Jim’s stay, six bags of mail arrived for Barbara-Ann, with 34 parcels inside.

Thirty of them were from the children of Stromness Junior Youth Club, and the remainder were ponchos donated by Renault Motors.

In a bid to hand out some of the essentials to the street children, Jim and Barbara-Ann headed off to the Plaza. As the kids flocked to Barbara-Ann’s side, she explained that he was her papa.

“All the street children’s mothers were giving me their babies to hold and I thought this was just great until I tried to give them back. The ladies just returned the babies to me.

“I asked Barbara-Ann why this should be and she said that they trusted me with their children. Another great lump closed off my throat and I had to turn away to clear the tears from my eyes.”

Sadly, corruption is also rife in Cochabamba, as Jim witnessed first-hand when he was waiting outside a shop, which was next to a little stall selling juices and sweets.

“I noticed the young lad serving give a policeman a handful of local currency. As the policeman was walking away he took a bottle of coke and a few small lollies.

“Now if I was correct, this police officer was taking protection money from the child and stealing goods from the stall. I asked Barbara-Ann about it when she came out of the shop and she said, ‘dad, you’re quite correct, this sort of things happens all the time and corruption is rife among the police force.’

“I’ll not say what I thought about this creep.”

But the nasty taste in his mouth was short-lived, as they visited the Casa Del Amor home, where Barbara-Ann previously worked.

“One afternoon, I brought along a bagful of balls to give to the kids and their reaction was amazing, you would have thought that I had given them the best present that anyone could have.

“They played for an hour with their new possessions. One little boy, who was about one-and-a-half-years-old, rolled his ball over to me and I rolled it back. The game went on for about an hour.

“Barbara-Ann told me that the wee boy was so slow in learning to walk, so I took it on myself to start teaching him. After a short while, the wee fella was able to stand, albeit shakily.”

He continued: “I moved back a foot or so and held out my arms to catch him as he tried to walk to me. The first dozen or so attempts were wobbly and then all of a sudden, he took two steps and fell into my arms, from there on he got better and better.

“I called all the staff over to witness the first steps of my wee pal. I felt so proud as if I was his dad. I lifted him up and gave him a huge hug, my throat became choked again and surprise, surprise, more tears.”

Barbara-Ann copes with the hardships of day-to-day living with a smile on her face.

“I am ever so proud of my daughter, proud that she is a Stromness lass, proud that she is an Orcadian and proud that she does what she does with her whole heart and never complains about anything,” Jim said.

“I am also gobsmacked by the way the people in Orkney and further afield have taken the plight of the street children of Bolivia into their hearts. Cochabamba is such a beautiful place but it, like many others, has its problems.

“Despite having a rich wealth of natural resources, the poverty is severe in this beautiful and ancient land.

“I have seen sights that would scare the travel hardest, I have seen little kids starving and filthy, being washed clean and given food.

“It has been an eye opener for me and I would go back in an instant.”