Quechua people have a tool for raising children. When I was growing up in Bolivia, in the countryside, I would notice that many women used colorful blankets in which they would wrap their younger child and carry them on their backs. This tradition has also been carried on to cities where one will see many women continuing this Quechua cultural norm. I had always thought that the word, aguayo, was a Spanish word because it is very commonplace to say in Spanish in Bolivia. However, my uncle taught me that this word is actually Quechua. Below I have included a picture of me babysitting my nephew and carrying him in our family’s aguayo. I found this cultural artifact to be very special to my learning because both my grandma, my mom, and my aunts carried me in this aguayo. But, it is also important because many female vendors in the markets use aguayos while working at their stands.
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