Awichas means 'grandmothers' in Aymara, a local indigenous language of the Andes, and ever year there are more and more of them in the region. Latin America as a whole has one the fastest aging population in the world and is also witnessing significant urbanization as large numbers of the rural population move to the cities. In Bolivia, where the large majority of the population is indigenous, older people face a particularly difficult transition. Uprooted from the traditional environment they grew up in, they often feel socially and culturally lost in the city and many come to see themselves as a burden on the modern lives of families in the new urban environment. Too many of them end up as beggars, homeless or alcoholics, when not all of these at one.
Creating their own living space not only gave Awichas the opportunity to significantly increase their quality of life, but also allowed them to reclaim in the city the vital role previously played in the countryside - that of serving their communities as depositories and transmitters of traditions, culture and history.