The homes in Bolivia are mere inches away from plunging into razor-sharp rocks lying at the bottom of the 200ft drop – but despite the cliff eroding, residents won’t move out
Residents living in flimsy shacks on the edge a 200ft cliff have refused to move out – despite warnings from city officials that the steep rock face is eroding.
The dwellings, dubbed “suicide homes”, are mere inches away from plunging into razor sharp rocks lying at the bottom, but locals living in them won’t move out – even after warnings from experts that the site is on the verge of collapse. The colourful shacks, in El Alto, Bolivia, often serve as workplaces for Aymara shamans, known as yatiris.
Yatiris are medical practitioners and community “healers” among the Aymara of Bolivia, Chile and Peru, whose role it is to improve health, prosperity, fertility and luck – and to heal negative energies.
The tiny spaces inside the coloured shacks are often used by shamans to make offerings to the Pachamama, or Earth Mother. But they’ve been urged to leave by concerned city officials as torrential rains have massively weakened their foundations over the years.
The shamans are meanwhile refusing to move because they believe they will be protected by the Pachamama. Gabriel Pari from the city’s mayoral office said: “The precipice in this valley is 90 degrees. That is precisely why we want them to leave this place, if they do not want to leave we are going to have to use force.”
Refusing to move out, one yatiri Manuel Mamani said: “We are not going to move from this place, because this is our daily workplace. But we are going to take care of the soil, especially the rainwater, we are going to channel it so that the water goes somewhere else.”
El Alto’s already treacherous terrain is worsening overtime as extreme weather continues to weaken the buildings and lanscapes attracting many local visitors. Local authorities have even had to build cable cars to help people get around.
Gabriel Lopez Chiva, another yatiri, said he was confident that the Pachamama would protect him. He said: “We can do an offering ceremony, we do it as a payment and in this way, the land will never move because Pachamama needs an offering. It is like giving food and this way this place will not move. On the contrary, it will stabilize.”