Vacas Municipality


Vacas Municipality is the second municipal section of the Arani Province in the Cochabamba Department in central Bolivia. Its capital is Vacas known as the "Land of the potato". During the Inca Empire Vacas served as a tampu along the Inca road system that led to Inkallaqta and Pocona.
It is bordered to the north by the Tiraque Province, to the west by the Arani Municipality, to the south by the Mizque Province and to the southeast by the Carrasco Province, and it is sized 334 km2.

Geography

The municipality is known for its lakes some of which belong to the largest ones in the Cochabamba Department, Parqu Qucha, Asiru Qucha, Junt'utuyu, Qullpa Qucha, Pilawit'u and Yanatama. The Jatun Mayu is the most important tributaries of Parqu Qucha. Other smaller rivers are Phaqcha Mayu, Challwa Mayu and Q'asa Mayu. Turu Wayq'u is one of the waterfalls within the municipality.
Some of the highest mountains are Kuntur Puñuna, Khurupampa, P'allqaluma, Juch'uy Llallawa and Quturi Punta. Other mountains are listed below:

Flora

In the surroundings of Vacas the famous Puya raimondii, a gigantic, up to 10 m high plant which is considered to be a living fossile but also an endangered species, can be found. It was the French scientist Alcide d'Orbigny who was the first to discover the puya in the region of Vacas in 1830. Later the Italian biologist Antonio Raimondi discovered it in the region of Chavín de Huantar during his trips to Peru. In Bolivia - apart from Vacas where these plants are spread on an area of about 1 km2 - the only other place to find the Puya raimondii is Comanche mountain in the Caquiaviri Canton, Pacajes Province, La Paz Department. The plants all use to grow on the eastern side of the mountains because they prefer having sun from morning until the middle of the afternoon.
The typical vegetation of this region also includes the following plants:
The last four thousand years of environmental and vegetation change has been recently reconstructed from the lake sediments of Pilawit'u.

Fauna

The Andean goose is resident around the lakes in the Vacas Municipality. Viscacha, culpeo, also known as the Andean fox, skunk, guinea pig, owl, falcon, tinamou and viper are typical representatives of the fauna.

The People

Vacas, located in the Cono Sur of Cochabamba with altitudes ranging from 3,400 m to 4,420 m, has a rural character. The peasants cultivate potatoes, wheat, barley, broad bean and oat. The fields are prepared with the help of yokes of oxen. In addition, cows, sheep, pigs and hens are kept.
The people are predominantly indigenous citizens of Quechuan descent. In this place Andean customs and the Quechua culture including the usage of Quechua, a Native American language, still play an important part in daily life as well as in several other communities of the Cochabamba Department. According to census 2001 Quechua was spoken by 6,668 of the 12,511 residents of the municipality and Aymara, another Native American language used in Bolivia, by 13 residents. Today many of the Quechua people here are bilingual: They can communicate in Spanish, too. Yet the women are less accustomed to the Spanish language than the men. Many of them speak Quechua exclusively.
The latest results about the ethnic-linguistic composition of the population are as follows:
Ethnic group%
Quechua94.4
Aymara0.2
Guaraní, Chiquitos, Moxos0.0
Not indigenous5.4
Other indigenous groups0.1

'', an archeological piece of one of the ancient peoples and cultures who lived in Vacas, found during recent constructions
LanguageInhabitants
Quechua11,662
Aymara39
Guaraní2
Another native2
Spanish4,236
Foreign11
Only native7,540
Native and Spanish4,131
Only Spanish106

Regarding medical services there are five local health offices and one medical center available in the municipality now to promote the people's quality of life. At the time of census 2001 an average life expectancy of only 52.9 years at birth was measured.

Education

All types of schools are available in the Vacas Municipality. There is also an institute for higher education situated in the community of Challwa Mayu, the Ismael Montes Teacher Training College, founded in 1916 as Escuela Normal "Ismael Montes",. It is a teacher training college. The ESFM puts an emphasis on bilingual education which is practised during the students' teaching units in the schools of the nearby communities.
But some parents do not see why it is important that their children, and particularly their daughters, should attend school. The children's help is needed in the household and in the fields. For those who attend school the infrastructure of the classrooms is not always sufficient and the distances between house and school demand long and arduous walks.
Illiteracy is still high, especially among women. In 2001 54.5% of the women being 19 years old and more were illiterate and 19.8% of the men. On an average the inhabitants of the Vacas Municipality being 19 years old and more have attended school for 3.23 years.
The number of pupils attending the different types of schools is shown below.
YearInitialPrimary schoolSecondary schoolTotal
20021843,2844633,931
20031453.1575153,817
20041152,9515503,616
20051272,8816393,647
20061092,8396883,636
2007912,4017183,210

Radio Chiwalaki

The idea of a farmers' radio awoke in 1987. The peasants themselves demanded more information, education and intercommunication. After three years, on September 1, 1990, Radio Chiwalaki was inaugurated in the rural community of Misuk’ani, about two kilometres far from Vacas. The 1,000 watt transmission on medium wave allows a distribution of news to various neighbouring municipalities and provinces. So even the people in the Arani Province, Tiraque Province, Pocona Municipality and Alalay Municipality can benefit from it. The programs are preferably broadcast in the Quechua language because they are meant for the rural population. Presently Radio Chiwakali is on the air for three hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon.

History

Vacas is one of the rural Bolivian communities of early rebellion. The forming of trade unions began on April 3, 1936 when the colonos of the hacienda of Santa Clara monastery demanded to administer that land directly, whereas the administration had been in the hands of a priest until that moment. This was quite a radical proposal at that period of time because the colonos neither had the right to organize themselves nor to administer land. Nevertheless, the Trade Union of Agrarian Workers of Vacas was actually founded on December 20, 1936. It was the second trade union in the Cochabamba Department.
In 1832 the Vacas Canton was created being part of the Mizque Province. In 1986 it became the second municipal section of the Arani Province.

Festivities

Every year on December 4, combined with a couple of activities, the population of Vacas celebrates its anniversary of foundation and the feast of its patron Saint Barbara whose image is venerated with much devotion by the residents and people from abroad. The pilgrims come to worship and to ask their patron for little favours, especially for rain and the protection from lightning.
There is a traditional tale telling that many years ago Saint Barbara appeared as a shepherdess on the shore of Qucha Quchita. The people who arrived at this place attracked by the incident found a beautiful image of the saint which they carried to the village of Vacas. Because of this event Vacas was founded officially as Santa Bárbara de Bacas in the middle of the 17th century.

Villages

Notable residents