Thursday, 24th May, 2012, Humilhação e Conflito Armado, palestra na Faculdade de Direito da USP (sala Miguel Reale, 3º. Andar) no curso Direito Internacional Penal ministrado pela Prof. Cláudia Perrone-Moisés, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
And see here the São Paulo Agenda organized by Gabriela Saab. See also Professor Murilo Jardelino da Costa.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Thursday, 24th May, 2012, Memories of Humiliation in International Conflicts,palestra no curso de literatura pela Dra. Laura P. Zuntini de Izarra, na Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Departamento de Letras Modernas, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
And see here the São Paulo Agenda organized by Gabriela Saab.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Wednesday, 23rd May, 2012, with Gabriela Saab and her mother, kindly invited by Marcelle Guil to a concert with Paquito D’Rivera in Sala São Paulo. (The adjacent building, see the picture on the left side, was a place where torture was perpetrated during the dictatorship.)
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Tuesday, 22nd May, 2012, with Gabriela Saab: Reflexões Democráticas: Direitos Humanos, Tolerância e Humilhação (Democratic Reflections: Human Rights, Tolerance and Humiliation, see also pdf and another pdf) Conversa no Instituto Norberto Bobbio, São Paulo, Brazil, com Evelin Lindner, com a apresentação de David Calderoni, psicanalista do Núcleo de Psicopatologia, Políticas Públicas de Saúde Mental e Ações Comunicativas em Saúde Pública (NUPSI).
Thank you, David Calderoni, professor Dr. Maurizio Russo, César Mortari Barreira, Fabricio Rodrigo Costa, and all those who so kindly contributed to making this event happen!
And see here the São Paulo Agenda organized by Gabriela Saab.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Monday, 21th May, 2012, Gabriela Saab's mother-in-law, Doña Regina, very kindly invited us to a wonderful Brazilian lunch. I was so touched that Doña Regina even offerd a welcome flower to me! Before lunch, we visited Missão Belem and the Igreja São José do Belém, where Gaby and Fabio got married (see further down). Later, we passed by the local padaria. See also my amazing welcome gift table (see the flower, dear Murilo's wonderful creme, among others...)!
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Monday, 21th May, 2012, Gabriela Saab's mother-in-law, Doña Regina, brought us to the young people of the Missão Belem. We also visited the church Igreja São José do Belém, where Gaby and Fabio got married, as well as the second-hand shop whose profits go to buying basic goods for needy families, see pictures.
The young Missão Belem missionaries (one could also call them activists) live under circumstances in their favela in Belem, which most people would deem impossible. Among the missionaries are former drug addicts. They regularly join the street children (many of whom are addicted to crack) in the street also at night. A police ratia in February this year that aimed at expelling the youth from the center of the city did not discriminate between the missionaries and the youth. Many of the street children were hiding behind the missionaries, and, later, many sought refuge with Missão Belem.
The missionaries have quarters for their women, and other quarters for their men. See the women’s quarters, where up to 16 women sleep on a few square meters; see their cupboard, their library, and their meditation space. See also the corridor that represents the male quarters, where up to nine men sleep on the floor.
The women explained to us how their mothers, though of religious orientation, have grave problems with their daughters choosing this extreme degree of “walking the talk” of religious conviction. Equally, the men shared with us that their parents would rather have them live “normal” lives.
For me, it was deeply touching to see the fulfillment in the eyes of these young people. New research on the importance of relationships underpins how significant it is to feel that one belongs. Furthermore, these young people gave proof of how fulfilling it can be to dedicate one’s life to aims broader and higher than the mere amassment of material possessions or the attempt to be a “normal” part in a context that produces unnecessary suffering to others. The dedication that these young people gave us the privilege of witnessing was exemplary in many ways. First, since many had experienced street life and drug addiction themselves, they were first-class helpers for others in similar situations (research underpins this insight). Second, they follow the motto (see one of the photos): “Se nao fomos ‘reduzidos a pobres,’ como entenderemos os pobres?” (Google Translator: “If we were not ‘reduced to the poor,’ how could we understand the poor?”); see picture. In this way they avoid the humiliating patronizing charity of ignorant do-gooders.
For me, using terms such as human dignity or true humanity are ways to describe such commitment, be it carried with religious or non-religious motivations. As mentioned in other places, I myself resonate with fourteenth century Persian Sufi poet Hafiz, who said, “I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew. The truth has shed so much of itself in me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman...” I resonate with this phrase not least because I would like to avoid the impression that my motivation to help might be secondary to wanting to trap people, through help, into certain world views. If at all, I resonate with "the Holy" (this is philosopher Rudolf Otto’s term for what connects all religions, see Otto, 1928). Trapping people into religious doctrine would, at least to my view, be as unholy as any other manipulation. Furthermore, I personally think that it is our human duty to be human—that it would be rather blasphemic to unload this duty onto the shoulders of religion, and, even more banal would it be to do this in order to gain spiritual “advantages” for oneself in the same way others try to gain worldly advantages. Questions of religion ought to be free from having to carry tasks humans have to shoulder as humans, this is my view. Using religion as justification for why we should have the common good at heart, for why we ought to love each other, for why it would be better to live a life that makes social cohesion possible and sustainable, to me, would represent an abuse of religion. I felt that these young people were very aware of such reflections. They confirmed repeatedly that they were keeping an extremely low profile and would never push people in any way. When they witness drug abuse in their favela, for example, they would not interfere.
Incidentally, Neil Walsh, a dear member in our HumanDHS network, wrote to me on the same day, 21st May, 2012, “Evelin, today I met a real life example of someone who is embodying your work here in the North East. Iran Nazario lost his brother to gang violence and has, since then, been on a mission to transform the streets by going out at the times when kids are most vulnerable, 3-4 AM and giving them options, other than drugs and run-ins with the police. Iran is putting kids in touch with mentors, taking them to the countryside, and teaching them prosocial behavior. Iran really understands the community and knows that gangs, in and of themselves, are not really the problem, but that the problems are much more rooted in lack of community engagement and a limited kind of view of the world. I have worked with youth in Georgia who, nominally involved in gangs, were more vulnerable because of lack of opportunities in their families and communities. Gangs, I observed, were just kind of local groups of friends who fight with other neighborhood kids. What I also observed was that if someone in a poor community got involved with law enforcement and it was suspected they were in a gang their criminal record would become very complicated and could lead to a downward spiral in terms of behavior. Iran understands the situation and seems to offer very positive solutions informed by dignity and justice.
I want to recommend that Iran be invited to speak at one of the roundtables at the conference this December. I feel that he would be very well received and that he could make connections within the network that will empower his program and the communities he serves. Best, Neil.”
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Sunday, 20th May, 2012, a stellar evening, gathered by dear Gaby, with Prof. Murilo Jardelino da Costa, Natalia Brasil, and Fabricio Rodrigo Costa, in a lovely restaurant in the center of São Paulo, Brazil.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Saturday, 19th May, 2012, I learned that my creme did not make it from Chile to Brazil by post. The Ministry of Agriculture in Brazil is currently analyzing it, which means that it will spoil unless they have understood that it must be kept in the deep freezer. It might arrive after my departure. I make this creme myself.
The creme that is on offer in shops contains a number of chemical substances that keep bacteria growth down, to keep it from spoiling. Yet, these substances are not necessarily beneficial for human skin. I react aversely to all cremes sold in shops I have so far encountered. Therefore I make my cremes myself and I do not use any chemical substances. See, for example, Stephanie Faber's books. I have not found these ingredients in any country outside of Germany and therefore produce a "reserve" lasting half a year or a year, whenever I am in Germany.
When I travel, I take a number of small containers with me, which I put in the deep freezer or refrigerator wherever I stay. In the case of my travels in South America, I foresaw that it would spoil during five days of bus travel. I wanted to bypass this problem by sending most of my little containers to Brazil by post. This was the text that dear Gabriela advised me to enclose in the parcel:
"Produto feito sob encomenda acompanhado da prescrição. A paciente encaminha para sua anfitriã para poder mantê-lo refrigerado enquanto durar sua viagem Producto personalizada acompañada de receta médica. Los delanteros del paciente y de su huésped con el fin de mantenerla refrigerada para la duración de su viaje.
Dr. med. Evelin Lindner, Medical Doctor licensed in Germany and Norway /Médico licenciado na Alemanha e na Noruega Médico con licencia en Alemania y Noruega.
Prescription 18th March 2012 The patient reacts allergic to commercial products for facial crème. This is a prescription for a facial creme prepared without chemical additives. It requires to remain refrigerated during her trip.
Prescrição 18 mar 2012 O paciente reage alérgica a produtos comerciais de creme facial. Esta é uma receita de um creme facial preparados sem aditivos químicos. Ela exige a permanecer refrigerado durante a sua viagem. Receta 18a de marzo de 2012 El paciente reacciona de forma alérgica a los productos comerciales de crema facial. Esta es una receta para un tratamiento facial crema preparada sin aditivos químicos. Se necesita para mantenerse refrigerados durante su viaje. "
Please click on the picture above to see it larger.

Saturday, 19th May, 2012, a wonderful welcome day, very kindly gifted to me by Gabriela Saab, her husband Fabio, her mother Rosy, and her partner! What a welcome! In a Japanese restaurant á la Brazilian style! And Gaby has prepared a comprehensive programme for me! After almost being stuck forever in the mud of Bolivia, I can almost not believe my happiness of being with Gaby and her family!
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Friday-Saturday, 18th-19th May, 2012, 9.00, departure from Puerto Suarez on the Bolivian side to Corumbá on the Brazilian side. Then, at 11.30, departure from Corumbá to São Paulo, arrival São Paulo next day at 11.00 (we arrived an hour earlier).
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
• I spent the night from 17th to 18th in Hotel Vini in Puerto Suarez, a few steps from the Bolivian side of the border to Brazil, at the end of an officially non-existent road!
• The head of the Andorinha office took, Ney Eguez Yorge, and his crew, all studied intensely the brochure from Hamelin I had given them as my sign of gratitude the day before.
• I was surprised when I encountered the first Brazilian bus drivers. They looked like pilots of important airlines, dressed in elegant uniforms, with name tags, proudly strolling in front of the bus!
• In Columbá, while waiting for the bus to São Paulo, I met Josy, a young medical student in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, who was on her way to her sick grandmother in Vilhena in Brazil.
• I was extremely lucky to have Sandra as my kind neighbour in the bus to São Paulo, by far the most comfortable bus I so far experienced in South America. Sandra would most kindly chaperon me like her sixth child! We held a small linguistic university on board of the bus, Sandra kindly teaching me Portuguese! She told me that ca. 20.000 Brasileiros are living in Santa Cruz. Many Brazilians come to study medicine, not least because it is much more difficult and costly to get into medical school in Brazil. She agreed with my impression that the atmosphere in a plural country such as Bolivia is not always easy.
• See the termites! They covered entire fields with their cupinzeiro mounds!
• See the Brazilian Rodovia (highway) system! Our bus used a road maintained by private concessionaires.
• See the large billboards alongside the road. One says: "Crack: Independéncia ou morte."
• Francisco Cardoso Gomes de Matos wrote on 11th May 2012: "Dear Evelin... Oh, before I forget: what were sanitary conditions like in public places, such as airports, bus stops, and in hostels and the like? Toilets, women's, men's, sadly reflect the sanitary indignity - humiliation - which human beings are subjected, in many (?) countries. Imagine you'll record your observations on that, too."
Dear Francisco, you are so right! These conditions merit our attention! The by far most advanced country in this respect is, of course, Japan. Heading for a public toilet will most often than not lead to an experience of luxury (intricate cleansing jets of water, plus paper, plus warm air, plus artificial noise, and so forth). Already during my seven years in Egypt, I had gotten used to the cleansing jet of water, and learned the Egyptian snear at the barbaric "smearing" use of paper in countries that call themselves "developed." In Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, at least in those parts I passed through, I learned to bring my own paper, and to throw all used paper into the nearby bin rather than into the toilet, so as to avoid clogging the pipes. See here the pictures of the toilets in the Brazilian highway restaurants: unexpected luxury! There is paper in the toilets, and marble and flower decoration at the entrance!
• Finally, I was in São Paulo, and Gabriela Saab so very kindly picked me up at the Terminal Rodoviário da Barra Funda!
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Wednesday-Thursday, 16th-17th May, 2012, from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in Bolivia, to the "frontera" between Bolivia and Brazil, with Puerto Suarez on the Bolivian side, and Corumbá on the Brazilian side.
The bus was less comfortable than the other buses I had encountered so far. The journey to the border was to take ca. 12 hours, I was to arrive at ca. 6.00 in the morning next day, and catch the bus on the other side of the border to São Paulo at ca. 10.00. Upon departure in Santa Cruz, Señor Rodolfo gave me an envelope, where he had written the name Juan Da Silva Carbal, Bus Andorinha, who would help me to get the bus to São Paulo. Inside the envelope was a piece of paper indicating that my destination was São Paulo.
However, everything evolved rather differently. The bus was stuck in the mud on the non-asphalted stretch of the journey, in the middle of the night. The crew of the bus, clearly, was well prepared. They set up an external spotlight on some wooden beams, and started working with large shovels. The entire bus had sunk deep into the mud, almost sliding off the road to the right, leaning to the right side. It took several hours to free the bus. Another vehicle finally pulled it out. See the pictures I took without flash, in order not to startle the hard-working men who gave their all to free the bus.
In that way, I arrived many hours too late at the border and missed my bus to São Paulo (I might have missed it anyway, due to Señor Rodolfo's delaying tactics, see more further down). I managed to get reluctant help from two passengers, who allowed me to share their taxi, and, luckily, they went to the Andorinha office. I found Señor Juan Da Silva Carbal, and he told me that he would phone Señor Rodolfo. He disappeared and I did not see him again. I was sitting in the Andorinha office for many hours, writing these reflections. (I always refrain from aggressive, indignated, accusatory behavior, as I just saw it in a German tourist. By simply staying present and calm, friendliness and helpfulness may emerge, and, on a continent of few smiles, as South America seems to be so far, perhaps even a smile. With accusatory behavior, I create enemies, who might help only as far as they are being pressured. By calmness, I create friends, who help also where I do not have enough oversight over the situation to know what kind of help I might actually need.)
Finally, I approached the two men who had helped me with the taxi, and they kindly phoned Señor Juan Da Silva Carbal (since I do not have a cell phone) and they told me that the problem was that the fact that the ticket had been paid for was not being communicated: the money was not being freed or authorized to go to Andorinha, the bus operator for São Paulo (this is what I understood from their Spanish explanations).
Soon after, the head of the Andorinha office, Ney Eguez Yorge, took initiative spontaneously and phoned Señor Rodolfo himself. He did that with a very firm voice, shouting into the phone.
Suppose the delay tactics (a prepaid ticket is not made available for use) in Mendoza and in Puerto Suarez represented an intentional strategy to tire out a foreigner, getting her to be so frustrated that she would buy an alternative ticket expecting to obtain a refund for the originally prepaid ticket (which then would not be granted, in effect making the foreigner pay the same ticket twice), this would be a shrewd strategy and would have worked with most foreigners! See the explanation for the context here or further down (see *)
The head of the Andorinha office then kindly explained to me that I could walk to the border and get the stamps into my passport for leaving Bolivia and entering Brazil, which I did. I thanked him with a postcard from Norway and a brochure from Hamelin.
At the end, the evening bus to São Paulo was too full. I am writing these sentences in a hotel a few meters from the border, ready to get the bus tomorrow, 18th May, 9.00 in the morning, arrival in São Paulo on 19th May, at 11.00 am at the Barra Funda Terminal.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
• Please see dear Señor (or Don) Johnny Rojas Oporto from the Hostal Rio Magdalena in Santa Cruz, who had faithfully accompanied me to the bus in the Bimodal bus terminal of Santa Cruz, waiting with me for three hours until I was safely sitting in the bus. He told me about his life, and about Bolivia and its history. His family lives in Sucre, Bolivia's capital.
• Don Johnny Rojas Oporto patiently explained everything to me in Spanish, slowly enough for me to understand. He explained, for example, that it was Señor Rodolfo, who would decide which of the two available routes to São Paulo I was to take, the "direct" route of ca. 33 hours, or the route via Paraguay, more than 40 hours. Luckily, I was to be on the "direct" route, he would confirm later.
• Don Johnny also explained to me that bus drivers in Brazilia are not allowed to drive more than four hours in one stretch, then they have to sleep, and be replaced by another driver. In Bolivia, in contrast, there are no such rules, he told me. Later, when we were stuck in the mud, I remembered his words and wondered whether the driver had fallen asleep for a moment, since the bus stood diagonal, the front had slid almost into the bushes. However, perhaps it was the condition of this particular part of the road, since, at some point, also a big truck was stuck behind us. He had a stronger motor than our bus and managed to free himself by carefully driving forward and then back again. The sound of this action, the big motor being brought to its maximum capacity, was to be heard for about half an hour.
I remembered Don Johnny's words also when I encountered the first Brazilian bus drivers. They looked like pilots of important airlines, dressed in elegant uniforms, with name tags, proudly strolling in front of the bus!
• Don Johnny conveyed to me Señor Rodolfo's message that I should not worry: I did have a ticket, I was told (unlike in Mendoza). I was again reminded of the lesson I had learned throughout my life, namely, that it is high time to consider getting worried, when one is told not to worry: Watzlawick! And, indeed, at the frontier to Brazil, in Puerto Suarez, again, I would not have a ticket!
• Don Johnny was very proud that the road to the border was asphalted. I was astonished why he should mention this fact and sensed that his pride might be hiding another truth, a truth that was perhaps more significant in practice. I asked him, therefore, whether the entire stretch to the border was asphalted. No, he replied, a "brief" part was not. Clearly, this was precisely the stretch of the road (not that brief), that kept us for many hours during the night. (Google Maps does not include this route as a possible route. There are plans to implement a road connection between Santa Cruz and Puerto Suarez, enabling smooth traffic throughout the year. Between Santa Cruz and Pailón, there is already a paved road of 62 km. Opposite the airport of Puerto Suarez and Arroyo Concepción there is already a paved road of 17 km.)
• When we were stuck in the mud, I was hugely impressed by the men accompanying the bus, first how they worked diligently, for hours, to free the bus, digging, putting planks, trying to drive forward and then back again to get out. Later, when the bus was on the road again, it was amazing to observe how the driver negotiated the most impossible conditions for hours upon hours, inching through mud hole after mud hole, carefully avoiding the stones that stuck out everywhere, all in complete darkness, with only rather dim lighting coming from the bus. Luckily, there was a lot of other traffic, busses and trucks drove by, and they added light, since most of them had stronger lighting than our bus. Finally, we reached the asphalted road.
• I was also impressed by the passengers. Most Bolivians slept through the accident, no sound was to be heard from the children. Only after one hour, or so, did two men get up to look out of the window to check what was happening (as I usually observe, in Europe, most men will immediately get up, watch, and discuss what they would do to save the situation). Fully in the European fashion, the three European-looking Mennonites (as it seemed, a couple with their adult son, the father in a blue overall with a beige hat), were talking loudly (they spoke Plautdietsch). The woman was constantly looking out of the window (that she had opened, thus inviting mosquitoes into the bus); she was talking loudly to her male company throughout the entire episode and the son even went out of the bus, only to be immediately told, by the men of the bus, to return inside.
• In the morning, one of the men responsible for the bus appeared in front of the passengers, asking who needed to get off at the next station. Visibly, his mouth was full of coca leaves; the right side of his face was bulging. His eyes were overstimulated, wide open, starring wildly: The night had clearly taken its toll and the coca leaves were meant to keep him awake.
• When the morning light appeared, I took pictures from the bus window with the aim to honour the wonderful chapter about Beni and its human-made landscape in Charles Mann's book 1491(the bus drove through the adjacent Santa Cruz Department of Bolivia). The landscape was extremely uniform, hour after hour: lush greenery, not even an electricity cable following the road, two lone dwellings for hours. I was not sure as to whether I caught glimpses of the human-made mounds that Mann describes.
• I saw an “urbanización” project, in the middle of nowhere, that made particularly visible how misguided it is to use what I call the “prison camp” approach. It means starting with a prototype that an architect far from the locality has designed, then multiplying this prototype and setting those copies up in a rectangular grid-like manner. I would recommend offering people local material and allowing them to use their own creativity to design their dwellings. The Organization Workshop approach of Iván Labra is the solution!
• See the plastic litter lining the side of the road also here.
• By the way, I have learned to drink very little, to be able to survive without a toilet for many bus-hours! I also have learned to carry my own paper with me. And, I have learned to avoid throwing any paper into the toilet, even used paper, but into a bin, so as not to clog the pipes.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Wednesday, 16th May, 2012, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
• First, I bought some food for the three-days' bus trip to São Paulo that starts this evening. I bought bananas from the kind lady you see on the photo. Carlos Andres and his mother sold me lovely cheese, see them in their shop. Then I went back to the "Paseo Artesanal" with its wooden booths covered by thatched roofs and bought the only thing that I permit myself to buy at times: big rings!
• Then I took a picture of a sign on a wall in Quijarro Nº 199 Esq. Arenales, saying "Medicina Psycosomatica, Academia de Psiquiatria-Orthomolecular, New York, USA," and suddenly its owner, Dr. Rafael Valdivieso Urquidi, stood in front of me and asked me why I took the picture. See his picture!
• See also the picture of the shop where Christian paraphernalia are sold. See a doll of the Virgin Maria, and another doll and a picture of St. Jorge.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Tuesday, 15th May, 2012, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
See the "Paseo Artesanal" with its wooden booths covered by thatched roofs. Is this a successful use and adaptation of traditional architectonical styles for modern use?
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Tuesday, 15th May, 2012, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, arrival in the bus terminal Bimodal of Santa Cruz, ready to catch my bus to São Paulo on the 16th May 2012.
Upon arrival in Santa Cruz, Señor Rodolfo Marquez Mirabal was to pick me up and help me go to my hotel. I searched in the bus termninal and learned that Señor Rodolfo works for Bolipar. I learned that Bolipar, Yacyreta, and Trans Rosario are the same company, all with headquarters in Paraguay. I met also Señor Pedro A. Fernandez, who had been very helpful, when Claudia phoned from Mendoza and was referred to Señor Pedro. I thanked him with a postcard from Norway.
The ticket for São Paulo that had been given to me a week earlier, when in Santa Cruz, was unfortunately dated for 16th July, rather than 16th May. This seemed to have been a writing error, Señor Rodolfo had informed my friends in La Paz when they phoned him. I waited for two hours for Señor Rodolfo because I was keen to have my ticket be redated for the correct date, namely for the following day. Finally another employee of the company, Juan Alarcón, with whom I could share some Japanese since he had studied in Japan, was so kind to do this. He also helped me explain to a taxi driver the location of my Hostal Rio Magdalena (a week earlier, the taxi driver had gone in circles, not able to find the hotel). As I learned later, Señor Pedro, Rodolfo, and Juan, all are Paraguayans and not from Bolivia.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Tuesday, 15th May, 2012, arriving in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, from La Paz. I had spent a wonderful week with my friends in La Paz and returned to Santa Cruz (18 hours bus trip La Paz-Santa Cruz), to catch my bus to São Paulo on the 16th May 2012.
• I saw little ponds in front of some villages, perhaps for small-scale fish farming?
• Again, I saw a pipeline, similar to those I saw already along the road from Pocitos to Santa Cruz. For gas?
• It is legal to transport coca leaves in Bolivia, where the milder ones are being chewed as stimulant.
• I saw three kinds of roofs: 1. hatched roofs, 2. tiles, and, 3. corrugated iron. Do the thatched roofs represent the traditional style?
• I saw two kinds of cattle, the Friesian black-and-white cattle, and a plein beige kind of cattle.
• Pacena beer (beer from La Paz) seems to have learned from Coca Cola and appears to provide large amounts of red paint so that entire house facades can be painted red.
• See the oversized Coca Cola bottle advertisement! As far as I can observe, the company has amply succeeded in making almost everybody in the South America I have seen so far believe that drinking Coca Cola means "being one of the rich people of this world."
• I saw many agro-businesses along the road.
• I saw an Araucaria tree, the one Claudia Arcos had pointed out to me in Chile as indigenous tree.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Monday, 14th May, 2012, from La Paz to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, saying good-bye to my dear Daniela and Johann at the bus terminal! I had spent a wonderful week with my dear friends in La Paz and returned to Santa Cruz (18 hours bus trip La Paz-Santa Cruz), to catch my bus to São Paulo on the 16th May 2012. You see the last glimpse of beautiful La Paz from the bus...
• Before leaving, Johann bought us his favorite cinnamon icecream!
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Sunday, 13th May, 2012, La Paz, Bolivia, my birthday, made unforgettable through the love and care of most generous and kind Daniela and Johann!
See the wonderful Bolivian meal, and the amazing "feliz cunpleaños" birthday cake they prepared for me!
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Saturday, 12th May, 2012, La Paz, Bolivia, together with most generous and kind Daniela and Johann, first Valle de la Luna, then the shopping mall MegaCenter en Irpavi (see bottom right).
• The shopping mall MegaCenter en Irpavi in the wealthy southern part of La Paz, sadly, does not offer any native Bolivian food, except for one Bolivian-style fast food, "Pollos Copacabana." Downtown, I learned, there are now some gourmet restaurants where such food is on offer at high prices (and, as I learned, their food would practically be identical with what restaurants for poor people would have on their menu). However, in a shopping mall in a wealthy segment of town, mostly international junk food will sell, so I am informed. With great sadness, I observe the same "inferiority complex" wherever I go in the world: the worst of Western culture is being proudly imitated by those who have accumulated wealth, and the best of native culture is rejected in shame. I ask: who else but the wealthy, those who have resources, education, and time, have the responsibility to manifest their dignity through offering their diversity to the world, rather than submissively and meekly bowing to Western uniformity?
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Friday, 11th May, 2012, La Paz, Bolivia, together with most generous and kind Daniela and Johann.
• See the large new building for the Military School of Engineering/Escuela Militar de Ingenieria (EMI), vis-à-vis the Military Academy, Unidad Educativa del Ejercito "La Paz."
• Daniela's father is Guillermo Iraola Mendizabal, Director Ejecutivo Primera Escuela de Hotelería y Turismo de Bolivia, see the very blue building!
• See shops for "polleras" (the local pleated skirt) and hats. The pollera was originally a Spanish peasant skirt that the colonial authorities forced indigenous women to wear. Now it is also a symbol of pride in being indigenous, and is considered a status symbol.
• See mesas and baby llamas at the Witches' Market or the Mercado de las Brujas.
• The Diablada is a dance typical of Carnival of Oruro, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2001 in Bolivia. See the mask and costume.
• Maybe, we will have cinnamon icecream, perhaps tomorrow?
• Pork sandwich and the best local beer, Huari beer, due to the very special water that is used to brew it!
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Thursday, 10th May, 2012, La Paz, Bolivia, together with most generous and kind Daniela and Johann. They live in the south of La Paz, the part of La Paz called San Miguel.
The motto of La Paz: "Los discordes en concordia, en paz y amor se juntaron y pueblo de paz fundaron para perpetua memoria"
• They kindly showed me the Valle de las Animas (Valley of the Souls), near La Paz. There, we made a video "Do We Need Concepts such as Humiliation, Dignity, and Respect to Understand Majority/Minority Relations?" in high density and MP4 format, as a contribution to the seminar "Majority and Immigrants: Social Psychological Aspects," to be held on Thursday, 31st May 2012, at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway, in honor of Reidar Ommundsen.
• See the large new building for the Military School of Engineering/Escuela Militar de Ingenieria (EMI), vis-à-vis the Military Academy.
One of Bolivia's important days of commemoration is Día del Mar, yearly held on March 23. During the Day of the Sea the country remembers the War of the Pacific in 1879, during which Bolivia lost its access to the Pacific Ocean to Chile. In La Paz the occasion includes a day-long parade of military units, government departments and youth bands.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Tuesday, 8th May, 2012, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, to La Paz, Bolivia, 18 hours bus trip. I met Diana, who very kindly helped me rush to the bus terminal and catch the bus to La Paz. Thank you, dear Diana!
The bus started at 16.30 on the 8th May and arrived next morning at 10.30 in La Paz. In the morning, in the bus, a man stood up, see the pictures in the middle, to sell small books on various topics (cooking recipes, atlas of Bolivia, how to use the internet, etc.; the man sitting beside me chose a book explaining dreams).
The high altitude in La Paz caused me no problems whatsoever, surprisingly, despite my limited lung capacity.
It was such a feast and joy to finally be with my friends in La Paz, Daniela and Johann! See the picture at the bottom.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Monday, 7th May, 2012, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, the city where Che Guevara was shot (at its old airport, not far from the city).
Staying in Hostal Rio Magdalena, Calle Arenales No 353, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Problems with public transport in La Paz indicated that it was wiser to wait one day in Santa Cruz de la Sierra instead of proceeding to La Paz immediately.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
• When I arrived in Santa Cruz in the evening of 6th May, the taxi driver at the bus terminal in Santa Cruz did not know the location of the hotel, and he was afraid to ask. Increasingly desparate, and upon my urgent recommendation, he asked around, and finally found the hotel.
• Upon arrival in the hotel, I approached a young French traveller couple since I suspected them to know the practice of sharing valid information with newcomers. And indeed, they warned me that fake policemen would stop tourists, ask for their passports, only to steal them. I also learned that also Bolivian banks limit the minimum amount of money one can draw with one's credit card from their machines to maximize the already exorbitant fees for each transaction. I was told that Union Bank in Santa Cruz was somewhat preferable.
• On the next morning, I succeeded in explaining to the kind hotel manager Juan that he should phone Señor Rodolfo on my behalf, the gentleman who was the very person who made my original bus ticket from Chile to La Paz. Señor Rodolfo came to the hotel (see the picture of the gentleman with the open shirt). On the phone, he had asked the hotel manager whether I was one person or two. When he arrived, to my surprise, he was very astonished that I wished to proceed to La Paz, and asked me when I would want to take the bus to La Paz. He explained to me that the bus trip to La Paz was not included in the ticket (also the first leg of the journey, from Chile to Argentina had not been included, as I had learned the day prior to departure).
See the explanation for the context further down (see *); perhaps it was a story of national historical humiliation? At least partly?
• See the pictures of the Hostal Rio Magdalena at the beginning of the web gallery, with Señor Juan, one of its very kind and helpful hosts. The hostal's cats unfortunately had my breakfast when I was not paying attention...
• I found the Norwegian book "Spansk reiseparlør" by Aschehoug, from 2007, in the hostal's library!
• See impressions of the non-touristical part of Santa Cruz de la Sierra near to the hostal Rio Magdalena. The market made me very happy, not least since it reminded me of my seven years in Egypt!
• I bought electrical adapters, shoes, and socks, and was allowed to take a picture of the sellers!
• The choice of clothes I so far observed profoundly saddened me. In wealthy neighborhoods, it was the uniformity of Western clothes that I found. The clothes offered in markets of less wealthy neighborhoods seemed to be part of cheap and low quality imitations of Western clothes, or perhaps even of the global trade with second hand clothes which pushes aside local production and style in even more hideous ways (see, for example, the documentary (see, for example, the documentary "Geld verdienen mit Kleiderspenden?"). I have written about the damaging effects flowing from subaltern elite imitation in my books. I would like to encourage, instead, a sense of unity in diversity, or, more precisely, a sense of unity in equality in dignity, rather than subaltern uniformity, a sense of dignity manifested through pride for diversity.
• In similar ways, the globally imitated way of building houses with concrete columns and bricks, unfortunately, has visibly pushed aside any available local building style also in the parts of South America I so far have seen.
• Street children...
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Sunday, 6th May, 2012, eight hours of bus journey from Pocitos, at the Argentinian-Bolivian border, to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Arrival in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in the evening, after dark.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
Sunday, 6th May, 2012, 9.00 in the morning, arrival in Salvador Mazza (also called Pocitos) at the border between Argentina and Bolivia. A kind and helpful Andesmar employee put me into a taxi which brought me to Señor Miguel Valdiviesa. Since I had too little Argentinian money to pay the taxi, he changed 10 Euros for me (Chilean currency would not have been welcome, I learned). Miguel Valdiviesa brought Señora Elida and her daugher, with their little dog, who took me in a taxi to the border, where they helped me through the Argentinian and Bolivian pass and custom's controll. Then we went by taxi to the Yacuiba bus terminal, on the other side of the border. There, we caught the bus to Santa Cruz de la Sierra in the very last moment, after a very rushed money exchange to get Bolivian money to pay the taxi driver on the Bolivian side.
Eight hours of bus journey followed, through the most fertile of Bolivian nature.
• With respect to solidarity, poverty, and the profit motive, I make many observations. For example, the taxi drivers in Pocitos, at the border between Argentina and Bolivia were rather rude and trusted that a tired foreigner would not count her money. Altogether, poverty was clearly leaving its mark in this frontier region. Back in Mendoza, Andesmar’s employees had engaged in “tricking” their clients into paying exorbitant fees—yet, their behavior clearly was not driven by their personal poverty but by the profit motive of the company, perhaps combined with a general, rather confrontational and hierarchical power-over culture. In other places, such as Pocitos, it may be personal poverty that pushes some people to act rudely. Yet, since Pocitos is also a village where everybody knows everybody, others, such as Señora Elida and her daughter, who helped me to get through the pass and customs controls at the border, also showed family-like solidarity.
• As to the quality and strength of family ties, the children who travelled with their parents in the buses I so far took in South America (up to 33 hours in one stretch) were almost as quiet as I observed in Asia on long bus journeys. Parents in Europe would expect considerable problems, had they to travel under similar conditions. Here, each parent had one seat, while the children had to make do with the space on their parents’ laps. They all relaxed and slept, “stacked” on top of each other, for hours on hours. I was especially impressed by the two fathers I had a chance to observe throughout the many hours of the bus trip.
I also observed the two mothers. One mother was very young and clearly much less educated than her husband. She looked at me with the shocked curiosity, with which hundreds of Chinese people would gather around me in remote regions of China in 1983, where they would stare at me for hours, breathless, in a mixture of horror and fascination, as if I was an alien from another galaxy. This mother, more than being a mother to her child, acted as her husband’s first child. I have observed similar settings all over the world. Many societies match an older husband with a younger wife to guarantee her dependence and loyalty, and this can play out more or less well, if he is a benevolent man, as in the cases I observed here, or badly, if he abuses his power.
The other mother, clearly, was bored by her children, ready for different kinds of fun. I observe this wherever women have gained more space for themselves very recently. So far, I got the impression in South America that imitating traditional male approaches to bonding through self- and other-destructive fun rituals and posturing, like drinking and smoking, seems to be accepted as a symbol of emancipation even among politically aware and active women.
• As to relationships with animals, I am struck by the ubiquity of dogs being kept in houses and on properties (some wild dogs in cities are killed by the municipalities in regular intervals). I have never been surrounded by as much barking as during my time in South America so far. It seems that prior to 1492, dogs were prevalent as domesticated animals. Perhaps the ubiquity of dogs is thus simply a tradition? When I asked around in Chile, whether the larger dogs were needed for protection, most of the time I got the answer that they are kept to provide company, not protection. In Bolivia, for the first time, I encountered that dogs were felt to be needed for security. The smaller dogs, I observe, function as replacement for the warmth and love that children may provide. Cats fill a similar role, they are only less prevalent. Altogether, I observe a culture of sometimes even aggressive power-over relationships with fellow human beings, with a considerable degree of mutual mistrust, and animals filling the role of fellow creatures one can turn to for warmth and loyalty per definition, because they are dependent. Could this situation also be an after-effect of colonization?
• As to respect for the environment, I noted the plastic litter alongside the roads. In the bus to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, I observed a woman in front of me opening the window of the bus and throwing out plastic waste. The same happened in the bus from Santa Cruz to La Paz. There, the woman beside me slowly went through every paper in her purse she no longer needed and then threw it out of the window. I finally turned to her and offered to collect all her trash for her and dispose of it myself. There seemed to be little sense of responsibility ranging further than the immediate personal space.
• As to Western influence, Coca Cola advertisement seems to be ubiquitous. As it appears, red paint is made available by Coca Cola, and entire houses are thus painted, often rendering them the only colourful surfaces in a village. As I observed further, Coca Cola has hugely succeeded in its campaign, since everybody with respect for themselves seemed to consume it in vast quantities. Again, an attitude of subaltern imitation of imagined Western elites seemed to prevail even among local elites.
• I saw the first maize fields on my way to Santa Cruz in Bolivia, coming from the south. Please check Charles C. Mann's book 1491!
• I saw my first gas pipelines in the Andes coming to Chile from Argentina, since Bolivia refuses to sell gas to Chile. I also noticed gas pipelines running southwards in Bolivia when on the bus from Argentina to Santa Cruz.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Saturday, 5th May, 2012, 8.00 in the morning, start of a wonderful comfortable 25 hours bus trip with "Flechabus" from Mendoza in Argentinia, going northwards on the east side of the Andes, to Tucumán (via San Juan, La Rioja, Catamarca), then further with the same bus over night through Salta, San Salvador de Jujuy, to Salvador Mazza (also called Pocitos) at the border to Bolivia. Arrival on the next day, Sunday, 6th May, 9.00 in the morning.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
• It was an exceptional night: The night sky of May 5 was illuminated by the once-a-year cosmic event of the perigee moon (perigee means periapsis in Earth orbit, or the point in its orbit where the moon, or a satellite, is nearest to the Earth). The elliptical orbit brought the "Supermoon" within 221,802 miles to Earth, the closest point, and thus it appeared much larger, an effect magnified by the full moon appearing roughly 20 percent brighter and 15 percent larger.
• It was interesting to observe the presence of the horses that the Spanish had imported. In Limache, the neighbor used horses to draw carts. During my bus travels, repeatedly, I saw horses appear alongside the road, horses alone, horses with riders on their backs, and horses drawing carts.
• The virgin Mary is being venerated everywhere, more so, it seems than male saints (see the large San Nicolas statue on my way to Pocitos).
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Thursday and Friday, 3rd - 4th May 2012, in Mendoza, Argentina, together with Claudia Arcos Duarte, trying to establish the factual basis of my ticket.
See the explanation for why we spent time in Mendoza further down (see *); perhaps it was a story of national historical humiliation? At least partly?
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
• Argentinians like to spend time in Viñja del Mar, Claudia explained to me, since it offers a kind of beach, together with beach life, that Argentina's coast line does not provide. Inversely, Chileans like to come to Mendoza, Claudia explained to me, since it is known to be a very pleasant city, with a lovely climate and pleasant outdoor life in the evenings. Mendoza featured the great Youth Hostal Campo Base, and many other interesting details, for example, there is a passage for the "estado de Israel," another one for the "republica Arabe Siria," among others.
• Please note "patay"! A total surprise! The gourmet restaurants of this world ought to have it on their menu! It is a kind of cake made ​​with the white flour of the prosopis alba tree, typical for central, northwestern and northern Argentina. Prosopis alba is a South American tree species that inhabits the center part of Argentina, the Gran Chaco ecoregion and part of the Argentine Mesopotamia. It is known as algarrobo blanco in Spanish, which means "white carob tree" (the Spanish settlers gave it that name because of its similarity to the European carob tree). It tastes like honey, a very very special treat!
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

Thursday, 3rd May 2012, kindly accompanied and guided by Claudia Arcos Duarte, I went on the bus from Viñja del Mar, over the Andes, to Mendoza in Argentina (ca. 4 hours). On the day prior to departure, Claudia had established the fact that there was no bus ticket waiting for me from Santiago, but that I had to get to Mendoza, Argentina, on my own.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
See the explanation for the context of this trip further down (see * further down, or a Pdf file of my reflections on my experiences Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil: Reflections on a "Digniventure"); perhaps it was a story of national historical humiliation? At least partly?
Let me explain:
*First, I would like to make clear that I consider problems to be opportunities for learning and that I am immensely grateful to everybody who kindly gave their time and energy to be of help. In situations of difficulty and emergency, often the most touching experiences arise, experiences of mutual support and help. Please know that the problems I describe further down do not give me any reason to judge or engage in verdict-thinking (S. M. Miller's coinage, in contrast to let-it-flow thinking). I do not feel and think in terms of rigid dichotomies of wrong-right, or truth-lies, since I am only too aware that there is a wide field of nuances. Misunderstandings are often the most significant reasons for disconnections. The very last aim I have in life is to assign blame or make people feel guilty, or attract pity for me. I am simply extremely thankful for all the wonderful help I received also in this case. I write this report only in order to increase my understanding of the socio-psychological dynamics around me, and to express my gratitude to the altogether 11 people who helped me overcome the problems of the journey from Chile to Bolivia!
When I arrived in Chile on 29th March, Howard Richards kindly asked in the bus terminal in Santiago de Chile, whether there was a bus connection to La Paz, Bolivia. He was informed that there wasn't any. I communicated this to Mariana Vergara in New York, who was so kind as to ask her friend Rocio in La Paz, to see whether she could be so generous and take it upon herself to help.
This was the ticket that these dear friends had kindly purchased on my behalf and that I attempted to act upon:

• Mayo 3 2012: Salida de Santiago - Santa Cruz, Transportes: Yacireta, bus cama, Hora de salida: 10:00 am, Tiempo de viaje: 42 horas, Costo del pasaje: $us. 220.-
• Mayo 5 2012: LLega a Santa Cruz, Hora de llegada: 10:00 pm, Dormir en Santa Cruz
• Mayo 6 2012: Salida Santa Cruz - La Paz, Hora de salida: 5:00 pm, Transportes: Trans Copacabana, bus cama, Tiempo de viaje: 16 a 18 horas, Costo del pasaje: $us. 25.-
• Mayo 7 2012: Llegada a La Paz, Hora de llegada: 10:00 u 11:00 a.m
  
  Interestingly, many elements of this ticket turned out to be either incomplete, incorrect, or misleading. It would almost have been easier not to have a ticket. A ticket that misleads requires that one first establishes the facts, before one can actually proceed with the journey. This ticket thus presented an opportunity for higher levels of cultural learning.
  My ticket from Chile to La Paz in Bolivia had been issued in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. The dear friend of Mariana Vergara had arranged for it and purchased it on my behalf. I was to find the company Yacyreta and take the bus from one of the six or seven of Santiago de Chile's bus terminals at 10.00 on 3rd May 2012. On Sunday, 29th April 2012, four days prior to departure, Gabriel and Luis Razeto had kindly established that a Yacyreta company does not exist in Chile. Claudia Arcos Duarte later established that such a company is not present in Mendoza, Argentina, either (I later found out that its headquarters are in Paraguay). Instead, as we were informed a few hours before departure, I had to start the journey on my own, by going over the Andes, from Chile to Mendoza, in Argentina, with a ticket of my own. Claudia kindly offered to accompany me from Viñja del Mar in Chile to Mendoza, with the company Andesmar.
  Upon arrival, we failed to find Yacyreta in Mendoza. We were then informed to ask in the office of Andesmar, yet, we also failed to find my ticket in the Andesmar office. We were sent from office to office, with no success, in between making international phone calls from a calling office to the issuer of the ticket in Bolivia, and sending emails to our dear friend in Bolivia, who had helped with purchasing this ticket. Later I learned that during all this time our friends in La Paz continued to phone Andesmar in Mendoza, and always were told that nobody whatsoever had ever asked for my ticket there.
  Claudia and I finally decided to stay on in Mendoza to gather more information.
  Next day, Claudia succeeded in detecting that the "codigo" number for the ticket that we had been given was incorrect. We were finally able to make a reservation for me to continue northwards. First, we were given a trip that would arrive at the border to Bolivia at 23.00 at night. We later changed this unfavorable timing. Unfortunately, we were told only too late that the fee for changing a reservation was ca. $US 50, double the price of the ticket we had paid for our Chile-Mendoza trip. Had we known this, we would have waited with making the reservation until we were sure of the most suitable timing.
  Claudia and I spend a second night in the Youth Hostel Campo Base in Mendoza.
  During all our endeavours, only two or three Andesmar employees tried to be helpful and treated us kindly. Most of the Andesmar personnel seemed to either have a general policy of "our clients are our enemies," and "how can we withhold as much information as possible to show our clients who has the power," and "how can we trap our clients into paying fees they do not expect," or that there was a very specific grudge against Chileans, or against Germans (since I travel with a German passport)?
  Later, in La Paz, I learned from my friends that the first information they had received was that this was a ticket for the same bus going from Santiago de Chile to Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia. In reality, I had to start the journey on my own, and then take a bus from Mendoza to Tucuman, and then to Pocitos. In Pocitos, I had to be helped over the Argentinian-Bolivian border, and be put into another bus to Santa Cruz.
  What was the reason for this situation, which could have emerged from a novel by Franz Kafka? Was it simply human error? Or general culture of mismanagement? Or were we intentionally misled?
  Perhaps the reason is national historical humiliation? At least partly?
  Already in April, I had learned from Howard Richards that Bolivia refuses to sell its gas to Chile, and that Chile receives it indirectly, via Argentina.
  While proceeding with my journey, I increasingly sensed that national historical humiliation might be the most probable reason also for my Kafkaesk bus travel experience?
  Just to name a few manifestations of an apparent antipathy against Chile, for example, I was asked at the border from Argentina to Bolivia: “Oh, you come from Chile? Do you wish to go back there?” Unsuspectingly, I replied with “no” (since I will leave South America from Ecuador) and to my surprise, I reaped a satisfied smile. Or, most money changers indicated that they would not change Chilean money.
  
  Here are the historical facts (compiled from different sources):
  The War of the Pacific (Spanish: Guerra del Pacífico) took place in western South America from 1879 - 1883. Chile fought Bolivia and Peru and won. During and after the war there was a rise of racial and national superiority ideas among the Chilean ruling class (Ericka Beckman). Chilean historian Gonzalo Bulnes (son of president Manuel Bulnes) once wrote, "What defeated Peru was the superiority of a race and of a history". During the occupation of Tacna and Arica (1884–1929) the Peruvian people and nation were treated in racist and denigrating terms by the Chilean press. In 2007 the Chilean government returned almost 4,000 books to Peru's national library, more than a century after they were taken by Chilean soldiers in hopes that the return of the books may go some way to improving the two nations' relations.
  For Bolivians, the loss of the Litoral (the coast) remained a deeply emotional and practical issue, as was particularly evident during the 2003 natural gas riots. Popular belief attributed many of the country's problems to its landlocked condition; recovering the seacoast was seen as the solution to these difficulties. Numerous Bolivian Presidents pressured Chile for sovereign access to the sea. Diplomatic relations with Chile were severed on March 17, 1978, in spite of considerable commercial ties. The leading Bolivian newspaper El Diario featured at least a weekly editorial on the subject, and the Bolivian people annually celebrated a patriotic "Dia del Mar" (Day of the Sea) to remember the crippling loss.
  Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.
  

Sunday, 29th April 2012, Luis Razeto Migliaro, his wife Priscilla Barry Délano, and their son Gabriel Razeto Barry came to Howard Richards' Dialogue Home and Centro para el Desarrollo Alternativo en Limache, Chile, together with Douglas Hughes, his wife and daughter, and the neighbor Estanislao with his partner, for an afternoon with Howard Richards, Shelley Damaris Richards Higgins, and Evelin.
Please click on the picture above or here to see more photos.
See, furthermore, the two videos that we have created (Luis Razeto Migliaro, Evelin Lindner, and Howard Richards).

26th April 2012, Iván Labra and his wife Mary, who brought Organization Workshops to South Africa, together with Bill Thompson and José Diaz, spent a wonderful day at in Howard Richards' Dialogue Home and Centro para el Desarrollo Alternativo en Limache, Chile.
Please click on the picture above or here to see more photos.
See, furthermore, the three videos that we have created (Iván Labra and Howard Richards).

24th April 2012, Rosa Saavedra was so very kind as to show me Santiago de Chile's Cerro San Cristobal, where she introduced me to a national drink, "mote con huesillo."
Please click on the picture above or here to see more photos.

Saturday, 21st April 2012, Alfredo Rojas Figueroa and Nora Lambrecht honored us (Howard Richards, his daughter Shelley Richards, and me) with their visit in Limache, Chile, coming from Santiago de Chile. Alfredo Rochas is retired from UNESCO (the UNESCO headquarters in Latin America are in Santiago de Chile) and is now coordinating the School Leadership Network, working with his partner Nora Lambrecht, see convivenciaenescuelas.org/Redaulid/. See their book Construyendo Autoridad Moral desde las Aulas.
They shared with us how they conduct workshops to help co-create a culture of peace, and how they apply speech act theory. They build on biologists and philosophers Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, and on Chilean philosopher Rafael Echeverria, who, in turn, studied, among others, John Langshaw Austin (born 26th March 1911), a British philosopher of language, who suggested that speech is not only passively describing a given reality, but that it can change the (social) reality it is describing through speech acts (a similarly revolutionary insight as in physics the discovery that measurement itself can change the measured reality). John Searle then built further on Austin.
The question "Who are you?," for example, points at the core speech act of a person, namely how she defines her essence. Soy pan, soy paz, soy más by Piero De Benedictis (stage name Piero), an Italian-born Argentine singer/songwiter, is a song that illustrates this point. This song has been performed by the author and Mercedes Soza, an Argentine folksinger who fought for human rights during the hard days of dictatorships in Latin America.
Then there is the task of not judging others in ways that essentializes their behavior (like saying "You are a lazy person" to somebody who simply was late). Then there is the courage needed to be daring, to speaking up. And, furthermore, there is moral authority (as Linda Hartling would say: "walking one's talk"). We discussed the tacit norm "Autoridad que no abusa pierde su prestigio" ("authority that does not abuse, loses its prestige") and its humiliating effects.
Please click on the picture above or here to see more photos.
See, furthermore, the two videos that we have created.

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20th April 2012, Charla (lecture, talk, presentation) titled "La Ética de la Dignidad y la Humildad, Presentación de la iniciativa Universidad Mundial de la Dignidad" ("The Ethics of Dignity and Humility, a Presentation of the World Dignity University Initiative"), El Departamento de extensión del Instituto de Ciencias Religiosas Ad Instar Facultatis de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile.
See the invitation that Vanessa Araya Fuentes sent out for this event:
Invitación Clase Magistral: El Departamento de extensión del Instituto de Ciencias Religiosas Ad Instar Facultatis de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, le saluda atentamente y tiene el agrado de invitar a usted a participar de la Conferencia Magistral, “La Ética de la Dignidad y la Humildad, Presentación de la iniciativa Universidad Mundial de la Dignidad”, Presentación e investigación realizada por la destacada Doctora alemana Evelin Lindner, miembro fundadora y representante de la World Dignity University, red mundial de académicos y profesionales, interesados en estimular el cambio sistémico, global y local.
La actividad tendrá lugar el viernes 20 de abril, a las 11:45 horas, en la sala 3-20 ubicada en la Casa Central de la Universidad (Av. Brasil 2950, Valparaíso).
Saludos Cordiales
Pedro Boccardo Rojas, Magíster en Teología y Bioética, Jefe de Extensión, Instituto de Ciencias Religiosas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso,
Vanessa Araya Fuentes, Licenciada en Filosofía y Educación, Doctoranda en Filosofía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
Please click on the picture above or here to see more photos.

19th April 2012, 79 años del Partido Socialista de Chile, Charla (Lecture, talk, presentation) titled "Dignidad humana en el quehacer político" ("Human Dignity in Political Work"). Please see the three hosts listed on the picture on the right side. Note the Juventud Socialista de Chile (Socialist Youth of Chile), the Partido Socialista de Valparaíso (Socalist Party of Valparaíso), and the Biblioteca Popular (Library of the People) in Valparaíso. Since I am new to understanding the depth of the role that Salvador Allende played, and still plays for Chile, and for Latin America as a whole, I think that it is helpful to see the Discurso de Salvador Allende para los estudiantes that he gave at the Universidad de Guadalajara, México, Diciembre 1972.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

19th April 2012, Cecilia Ortiz, and Marcela Espinoza Silva kindly invited to a wonderful Valparaíso meal! Click here and see the wondrous streets of Valparaíso, protected by UNESCO with good reason. The picture in the middle shows the traditional building of the socialist party on the right side. It has very recently been repaired and made accessible again. Clearly, the historical building that once stood to its left side did not survive the onslaught of "modernity" and was replaced by uniform global architecture. See also the Biblioteca Popular (Library of the People), where, among others, documents from the Allende era are being collected.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

19th April 2012, Charla (Lecture, talk, presentation) titled "Dignidad humana en el quehacer político" ("Human Dignity in Political Work") at the Colegio Mar Abierto in Valparaíso, Chile, in the building of the former German school. Please note the memorial plate with the names of those Germans who were conscripted into World War I. Jewish immigrants from Germany removed another plate, which honored those who had participated in Hitler's WWII and melted it down.
Please click on the pictures above or here to see more photos.

16th April 2012, Claudia Arcos Duarte with the most recent book by Luis Razeto Migliaro: ¿Cómo iniciar la creación de una nueva civilización?
Please click on the picture above to see it larger.

15th April 2012, having the great honor of being invited into Claudia Arcos' home in Caleu together with Dimitri (Alberto) Neumann Fernandois.
Please click on the pictures at the top or here to see more photos from Evelin's camera.
Please click on the pictures at the bottom or here to see more photos from Alberto's camera.
Please see also the videos we made.

14th April 2012, having the great privilege of spending a day, together with Howard Richards, with Luis Razeto Migliaro, his wife Priscilla Barry Délano, and their son Gabriel Razeto Barry, in their home in Liray near Santiago, Chile. Before coming to Liray, the Razeto Barry family used to live in the Comunidad Ecológica de Peñalolén.
Please click on the pictures above above or here to see more photos.
Please see also Solidarity Economics and a New Civilization, a video in Español and English that was created with Luis Razeto Migliaro, Howard Richards, and Evelin Lindner, by Gabriel Razeto Barry, in Liray near Santiago, Chile, 14th April 2012. Luis Razeto presents his work in Spanish, translated and commented in English by Howard Richards and introduced by Evelin Lindner.

14th April 2012, having the great privilege of spending a day with Luis Razeto Migliaro, his wife Priscilla Barry Délano, and their son Gabriel Razeto Barry, in their home in Liray near Santiago, Chile. Please see above the "arpilleras" (they remind me of the work done by Ramses Wissa-Wassef and his family at Harrania in Egypt, for example, they both nurture the creativity in people who "normally" are not "expected" to be creative). Luis Razeto was a board member of the Fundacion Solidaridad since its inception over 30 years ago. Unfortunately, this initiative stopped working in 2011 due to funding problems. Gabriel Razeto Barry created a video of the closing ceremony, which tells the story of its history, with many live testimonies.
The picture above on the left shows an arpillera within an arpillera: it shows the FESOL 93 market, to which everybody brought their arpilleras. Please click on this picture or here to see more arpilleras.
The picture on the right says: "dignity handmade"! Please click on that picture to see it larger!

Please read the explanation of the meaning of "arpillera" given by the Fundacion Solidaridad:
The dictionary defines arpillera as a rough, coarse cloth used for cleaning or for making sacks. Each day, dozens of Chilean women work with this cloth, taken from used flour sacks, to embroider the story of their country. Drawing from their daily lives in the poorest neighbourhoods to the most significant national events, these "arpilleristas" chronicle Chile's history with pieces of cloth, wool, and other recycled materials. The first arpilleras appeared very soon after the military coup of 1973, when Chile lost its long-standing democracy and were sewn by the mothers, wives and sisters of the "disappeared" people during the dictatorship. In these arpilleras, they depicted the search for their loved ones as well as the other terrible ordeals of that time. These events have remained a recurring theme until today, reminding us that arpilleras have never been merely decorative works.; each one is a piece of the lives of our people. Arpilleristas today ply their craft for a dual purpose: alongside the aim to express the struggles of the Chilean people, they now also endeavor to generate a source of income, one which often must be made to support an entire household. Many arpilleristas have formed workshops, where the money received from the sale of the arpilleras is distributed equally among all the participants of the group. If for any reason, any of the women are unable to work, the rest of the group is committed to support then. Here are just a few of the titles taken from the dozens of articles and books that have been written about the arpillera to date: "A People that Embroiders Its Struggle" "The Embroidery of Life and Death" "Scraps of Life" "Needles that speak" Life goes on, and through it all, these intensely united groups of women continue embroidering. And in their stitches from behind the magnificent Andes Mountain Range we can see a sun full of hope.
Fundacion Solidaridad Santo Domingo, 2222 Santiago - Chile, www.fundacionsolidaridad.cl

13th April 2012, Gabriela Weil and her husband are producing wonderful honey in Limache, Chile.
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13th April 2012, with Claudia Arcos Duarte at a small market organized by parents in the Waldorfschule in Limache, Chile. Claudia showed me around. For example, she led me through the wonderful childhood home of architect Jorge Gomez, a building that now holds the central administration of the school. It has a kitchen that reminded me of my childhood. I grew up on a farm in Esperde, Lower Saxony, Germany. Then she showed me the rest of the school's land and the architectural visions that Jorge Gomez has realized there. In the spirit of Rudolf Steiner, he avoids aggressive rectangularity and lovingly adapts buildings to the landscape, see for example, the Kindergarden. Waldorf schools make ​​sure that spaces and buildings are not built in a right angle, since, according to anthroposophy, right angles will fail to offer children the necessary room for creativity. Claudia also showed me the large theatre-to-come, or the "big tree" (this one is not indigenous to Chile).
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12th April 2012, the real thing: no need to buy new shoes when the old ones are repaired so masterly as in Limache, Chile.
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April 2012, Stevia is being sold in large bottles in Limache, Chile.
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10th April 2012, Claudia Arcos Duarte in Limache, Chile.
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10th April 2012, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile. "Charla harla para Universidad de Valparaíso," Howard Richards' talk in Spanish as Pdf file and as video. Evelin's talk (¿Se puede manifestar más dignidad?
En lugar de más humillación?) was in German, kindly translated by Claudia Arcos into Spanish. See the political background for this talk described in an article in The Economist, Chile: Progress and its Discontents - A popular student rebellion shows that, as Chileans become better off, they want the government to guarantee a fairer society. Politicians are struggling to respond, Friday, April 13th 2012.
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6th April 2012, Franciscan Easter Procession, Stations of the Cross, in Limache, Chile. Each station was marked by an altar in front of a private house that was blessed by the priest Aristides. Howard Richards shared how politically diverse the church is, ranging from the right to the left spectrum of political views. He also shared that they, when he lived in the south of Chile, this procession would stop in front of houses of people who had been tortured.
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6th April 2012, Vanessa Araya, Ph.D. student from the University of Valparaíso in Chile, heard the interview with Ignacia Imboden in the radio and came to prepare for a seminar in Valparaíso next week.
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5th April 2012, seminar "Encuentra Cordinadoria de la Universidad Mondial de la Dignidad" with Evelin, upon the invitation of Howard Richards and Claudia Arcos Duarte (who translated from German into Spanish) and Andrea Osorio Mendez (who contributed with making wonderful food), in Howard Richards' Dialogue Home and Centro para el Desarrollo Alternativo en Limache, Chile. We concluded that dignity, or equality in dignity, is a notion we have in our bodies, and that words, such as solidarity or fraternity all are insufficient.
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See here the invitation to this event that Claudia Arcos sent out on April 4, 2012:

Te invitamos a conocer la Universidad mundial por la dignidad, a través de Evelin Lindner
Hola te invitamos a conocer este ser increíble que es Evelin Lindner, fundadora y coordinadora de la universidad por la dignidad humana. Aquí una muy breve presentación de quien es ella y los que hacen "WORLD DIGNITY UNIVERSITY":
Nosotros, los Estudios de la dignidad humana y la humillación (HumanDHS), son una red global e interdisciplinario y la comunión de los académicos y profesionales interesados. Estamos comprometidos a reducir - y en última instancia, ayudar a eliminar - la falta de respeto destructiva y prácticas humillantes en todo el mundo. Nuestro trabajo se inspira en los valores universales como la dignidad, la humildad, el respeto mutuo cuidado y la compasión, y un sentido de compartir los derechos y responsabilidades planetarias. Somos, ante todo, una red global de personas con el objetivo de aumentar la sensibilización y la creación de encuadres y visiones que promueven la igual dignidad de todos. Deseamos para fertilizar y generar la investigación transdisciplinaria (intra e intercultural) y difundir información destinada a mejorar la conciencia de la dignidad humana. También animamos a la aplicación de métodos creativos y estrategias educativas, así como fertilizar más a punto de los proyectos de intervención y la planificación de las políticas públicas. Por lo tanto, trabajamos en cuatro aspectos, en primer lugar como una red global, en segundo lugar en la investigación, en tercer lugar en la educación, y en cuarto lugar con la intervención. Nos dirigimos a todos los niveles, micro, meso y macro levels. On 24 de junio 2011, se inició el proceso de levantamiento de nuestra investigación y las actividades de educación en un nivel más concreto y puso en marcha la Iniciativa Mundial de la Dignidad de la Universidad. Dado que somos una red global, la los límites son fluidos. Invitamos cordialmente a todos las personas de ideas afines para contribuir. Por favor, consulte nuestra llamada a la creatividad . Nuestros miembros no "suscribir" o "apoyar" todo lo que está sucediendo dentro de HumanDHS. Todo el mundo está llamado a contribuir en el mejor de la capacidad. Esperamos que la sinergia que surge de todas las contribuciones facilitará nuevas ideas y de acción.
Ella es Doctorada en medicina y psicología, pero en realidad es un mapa completo , viviente lleno de experiencias que ha ido acumulando en los últimos cuarenta años viviendo en los distintos continentes. Esta es su primera visita a Latinoamerica, siendo su primera pasada por Chile. Y para los que estamos en la 5ta región un gran encuentro. El jueves a las 10 am. en Centro para el Desarrollo Alternativo en Limache, se ruega confirmar asistencia ya que el espacio es reducido el aporte es voluntario de mínimo 500 pesos. saludos afectuosos Claudia Arcos

4th April 2012, the journalist Ignacia Imboden joined us in Andrea's house in Limache, Chile, to interview Evelin and Howard Richards, for a program of half an hour on Saturday or Sunday in the catholic radio program La Fibra / Radio Amor 99.3 FM in Viña del Mar, Chile. Claudia Arcos Duarte was so kind to translate from German to Spanish (Ignacia and Evelin could have communicated in French, but the radio listeners would not have benefitted from that).
La Fibra / Radio Amor 99.3 FM: " La Fibra #23 Jueves, 12 de Abril de 2012 Conversación grabada en Limache el miercoles 04 de Abril, al aire el Jueves 05. Conversamos con Evelin Lindner, Founding President of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, sobre como desarrollar ideas de Dignidad Humana que iluminen el actuar del hombre en todos sus aspectos, terminando con las prácticas humillantes de las que todos somos objeto de alguna forma, en un sistema pragmático que nos ve pomo piezas de un engranaje. La entrevista está en Alemán, pero es traducida por Claudia Arcos, nuestra querida colaboradora limachina."
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3rd April 2012, Howard Richards invited Luis Razeto Migliaro, the "father" of Solidarity Economics (please see a summary in English, "What is solidarity economics?"), who made the 1 1/2 hours trip from Santiago to join us, together with his son Pablo Razeto Barry. They work on A New Civilization.
Also student leader Andrés Díaz gave us the privilege of being with us and sending us:
las paginas con las presentaciones que realizamos el año pasado y este año (pages with the presentations that we made last year and this year):
(1) es sobre el moviente estudiantil (about the student movement),
(2) sobre la reforma tributaria que pretendemos realizar como estudiantes movilizados (on the tax reform we intend to do as mobilized students)
(3) que es sobre el litio, recurso nuevo en su explotación pero que lastimosamente ya las tras nacionales han pensado vender dejando muy pocos dividendo a los chilenos (on lithium, a new resource in its exploitation, but unfortunately with national plans to sell with leaving only a very little divident to the Chileans.)

2nd April 2012, in Valparaíso, Chile, with Claudia Arcos Duarte. Please see the project Población Obrera (third picture on top). Please note also the naval building (bottom), one of the places where people were tortured after the 1973 coup.
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31st March 2012, in Valparaíso, Chile, with Claudia Arcos Duarte and her three children, Carla Luna, Oliver, and Luciano.
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31st March 2012, in Limache, Chile, with Andrea Osorio Mendez and Claudia Arcos Duarte in a market of exchange, mercado trueke. Claudia gives her tomatoes, and we receive a framed photo of the father of Reimi (in the middle).
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29th March 2012, in Limache, Chile, with Andrea Osorio Mendez and Claudia Arcos Duarte in the market, where I got myself a second hand sweater and jacket. Meet Claudia through her video presentations.
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22nd February 2012, with Lillian Hjort, Menneskerettighsakademiet, Oslo, Norway, and Marit Langmyr, Aktive fredsreiser, Risør, Norway.
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17th February 2012, "Ydmykelse og folkemord - den indre forbindelsen," lecture at the Department of Political Science/Institutt for statsvitenskap, at the University of Oslo, Norway, invited by Bernt Hagtvet, as part of STV1530 - Folkemord og politisk massevold i det 20. århundre, Aud 1, SV-Bygget, Blindern. Please see a background paper for this lecture Terror in Norway: How Can We Continue from a Point of Utter despair? Promoting a Dignity Culture, not Just Locally, but Globally a paper originally prepared for the 17th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies “Enlarging the Boundaries of Compassion” in Dunedin, New Zealand.
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17th February 2012, in the office of Lasse Moer, recipient of the 2011 Beacon of Dignity Award, in the University of Oslo, Norway.
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14th February 2012, Happy Valentine's Day from Pamela Hiley, Oslo, Norway, who made this wonderful Dialogue Home plus rose collage.
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11th and 13th February 2012, Evelin in Oslo, Norway, with gratitude, in Pamela Hiley's wonderful Dialogue Home.
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13th February 2012, "Ydmykelse, identitet og konflikt," foredrag ved Politihøgskolen i Oslo/Norwegian Police University College, invited by Jai Ganapathy, fagansvarlig for studiet Konflikthåndtering i et flerkulturelt samfunn.
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8th February 2012, 12.-13.15, After 22nd July: Humiliation and Terrorism,
lecture at the Centre for Gender Research at the University of Oslo, Norway / Senter for tverrfaglig kjønnsforskning, with, among others, Oddrun Rangsæter, Anne Modalsli Touré, Latha Nrugham, Stein Villumstad.
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8th February 2012, interview with Aase Cathrine Myrtveit, NRK verdibørsen, Oslo, Norway.
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4th February 2012, meeting with Brian Palmer in Oslo, Norway.
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31th January 2012, Senioringeniør Egil Bergh-Telle, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway, received the Beacon of Dignity Award from the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies network and the World Dignity University initiative. Kontorsjef Birgitte Bøgh-Olsen accepted the Dignity Economy book as a sign of gratitude from Evelin Lindner to the Department of Psychology.
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29th January 2012, a wonderful evening with Fanny Duckert in Oslo, Norway.
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28th January 2012, with Birgit Brock-Utne and Gunnar Garbo in the wonderful celebration of Dr. Kimizi's doctorate at the home of Zehlia Babaci-Wilhite on Nesodden, Norway.
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27th January 2012, Arne Næss' 100th birthday party in Oslo, Norway. Thank you, dear Steinar Bjørnstad, for taking some of the pictures!
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The picture on the right shows Arne and Kit-Fai in our 2nd Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies in Paris, 12th - 13th September 2003, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme de l'Homme, Paris.

26th January 2012, Kristian Harpviken at his 50th birthday party in Oslo, Norway.
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25th January 2012, with Ingela Lundin Kvalem and Carolin Aulie at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway. Creating a video clip for the World Dignity University initiative.
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25th January 2012, Humiliation and Terrorism, lecture at the Department of Psychology/Psykologisk institutt at the University of Oslo, Norway (Harald Schjelderups hus, Forskningsveien 3, Auditorium 1, as part of PSYC3203 - Anvendt sosialpsykologi, see also www.sv.uio.nol). Please see a background paper for this lecture Terror in Norway: How Can We Continue from a Point of Utter despair? Promoting a Dignity Culture, not Just Locally, but Globally a paper originally prepared for the 17th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies “Enlarging the Boundaries of Compassion” in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Stein Bråten, Berit Waal, Birgit Brock-Utne, Mai-Bente Bonnevie, and Jingyi Dong, among others, contributed with invaluable comments.
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23th January 2012, together with Jingyi Dong, celebrating that the first printed exemplar of the Dignity Economy book, the first book of Dignity Press, came in the post on 19th January 2012, Oslo, Norway.
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23th January 2012, celebrating that the first printed exemplar of the Dignity Economy book, the first book of Dignity Press, came in the post on 19th January 2012, Oslo, Norway.
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18th January 2012, Bestemødre for fred with Mai-Bente Bonnevie, Oslo, Norway.
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17th January 2012, in the Dialogue Home of Pamela Hiley and her sons in Oslo, Norway! Note the rainbows! Pamela calls us therefore "the Rainbow Family"!
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16th January 2012, Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo, Noway, with Reidar Ommundsen, Jan Smedslund, and Salman Türken.
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