Indigenous women pray for rain near the Incachaca dam, in Incachaca, on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Claudia Morales
LA PAZ 鈥� Under a scorching sun, more than three hundred Bolivians on Friday marched to a dusty plain near the Incachaca dam that overlooks the city of La Paz, gathering to pray for rain and an end to a severe drought that has threatened their water supply.
The ten reservoirs that supply La Paz 鈥� one of the country鈥檚 largest cities with about 2.2 million inhabitants 鈥� only contain 135 days of water combined, Bolivia鈥檚 state-owned water company EPSAS has warned.
Hoisting umbrellas to stave off the heat, women wearing traditional bowler hats and colorful skirts walked alongside young men playing drums and native flutes.
Once there, they knelt, praying in Aymara, Quechua as well as Spanish, their eyes tightly closed with hands extended to the heavens.
鈥淲e have come to the summit to cry out for rain,鈥� said Susana Laruta, a member of a local evangelical Christian church.
Without significant rainfall, the high-altitude city鈥檚 water supplies will be exhausted by February. The rainy season is due to start in December but the latest forecasts are not encouraging.
Only scarce rain is expected due to the weather phenomenon known as El Nino, the national meteorological agency has said.
El Ni帽o, a warming of water surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, is linked to extreme weather conditions.
鈥淐limate change is what鈥檚 provoking these changes,鈥� said Bernardo Vedia, a local Methodist bishop.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we鈥檝e come here to join together in prayer to call out to God so that rain will fall over the earth,鈥� he said.