My parents have lived as missionaries in Bolivia for nearly six years now. I have visited them twice. The first time I visited, I was overwhelmed by the differences from my home, Canada.

Firstly, as a white woman, I was by far the minority in a largely mestizo (Euro-indigenous mixed population) or Indigenous population. In the words of my sister, “I feel very white.” Typically, the only white people in Bolivia are the Mennonites, who make up about 4% of the total population.

Secondly, the heat. Oh, the heat! Thankfully, on my recent trip, the weather was much more moderate for this winterized Canadian.

Thirdly, the language. Bolivia is primarily Spanish-speaking and very few speak English. I am grateful to my parents who have learned Spanish as a result of their work in Bolivia; without them, I would have been utterly lost. Thankfully, I can understand the Plautdietsch of the Mennonites, though it appears that my ability to speak it has disappeared.

Fourth, the water. Don’t drink the water. Bottled drinks only. I got sick the first time I went… which is not recommended.

But oh, the beauty of the land! Bolivia is a beautiful country. On my most recent trip just two weeks ago, I was amazed by the vibrancy of its foliage and the intricacies of its geology (yes, rocks. I like rocks.). Everything is alive in Bolivia — and dangerous, too. Again, thanks to my parents, I avoided any unsavoury encounters with reptilian or carnivorous wildlife, parasites, or ticks while enjoying the abundance of fresh tropical fruit growing in my mom’s backyard and majestic views from clifftops.

And the people! They are kind and hospitable. There is a stark contrast between the high-income class and the low-income class; by and large, most fit into the low-income strata. There is no ‘middle class’ as we have it in Canada; either the people are very poor or they are very wealthy (this is often true for the Mennonite colonies as well).

On my recent trip to Bolivia, my parents, sister, and I hiked near Santiago de Chiquitos.

You can’t quantify the beauty of a land and its people. Yes, life in Bolivia is hard. My parents are deeply familiar with the difficulty of life in a country where health care is unreliable. I take such things for granted when I sit in a Canadian emergency room for five hours… and then I walk away with care having been adequately given and I hadn’t paid a cent.

We often refer to countries such as Bolivia as ‘third-world’ countries because they are poor and less industrialized than predominantly-white capitalist countries, otherwise known as ‘first world’ countries.

Do you know what is meant by the phrase “third world country”?

Far from referring to the poorest countries of the world, the phrase was initially coined during the Cold War as a political term. First-world countries included the USA, Western Europe, and their allies. Second-world countries referred to the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and others of the Communist Bloc. Third-world countries, then, were the remaining countries that weren’t aligned with either. (1)

The terms are outdated today, though I commonly hear them being bandied about in reference to the poorer nations of the world or in the phrase “first-world problems.”

Since most of the nations who did not participate in the Cold War were, in fact, impoverished, the “third world” became fused with the poor world (usually colonized nations). (2)

Of course, there is an inherent arrogance to the terms; who decided which ‘world’ ought to be called the ‘First’? First implies best, but surely the West isn’t without its own pockets of deep urban and rural poverty. Is the West truly the best? The origins of the three-world classification system are usually attributed to French demographer Alfred Sauvy, who, being French, was decidedly biased in favour of the capitalist, wealthy, industrial, and developed countries of the West. (3) Of course he would call his country and those associated with it the ‘First World.’

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the terms became a sort of ranking system to describe which countries were ‘most developed’ (e.g. USA, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, Japan) to ‘slightly less developed but not completely impoverished’ (e.g. Russia, China, Korea, Cuba) to ‘least developed’ (e.g. most African, South American, and Middle Eastern nations).

Developed and Developing Countries

Thus, the terms developed and developing country arose, which generally divided the wealthy, industrialized nations from those struggling to develop better health care and education, clean water sources, and a thriving economy. These terms were created to emphasize the economic status of a country.

Slight problem with these terms, though. Where do nations such as Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and India fit? They are some of the world’s largest trade nations with high income per capita, yet are still stamped as ‘developing’ due to various health and education factors (e.g. infant and maternal mortality, nutrition, sanitation).

Furthermore, the ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ titles create a hierarchy between countries and paint the Western countries (i.e. previously known as the ‘First World’) as the ideal.

However, the so-called less-developed nations of the world have much to offer the West in terms of community and hospitality. ‘Developed’ countries are often known for their lack of hospitality and abject individualization. Are they truly more developed, then? Perhaps in terms of economy, but is easily argued that North America and Western Europe in particular are impoverished in regard to community and friendship.

Chochis, Bolivia is a major pilgrimage site for Catholic Bolivians to celebrate the Passion of Christ and pictorially remember the devastating 1979 flood that wiped out the entire village of Chochis, which has since been relocated.

Majority World

A more recent term that I have heard and is becoming more popular is ‘majority world.’ Perhaps to your surprise, this does not refer to the wealthy nations but to the estimated 80% of the world that lives on less than $10 a day. (4) That is, it encompasses most of the Asiatic, African, and Latin American countries.

Primarily, ‘majority world’ refers to the fact that most of the world’s population can be found in these countries. ‘Minority world’ infers those nations whose populations are relatively small but usually contain vast wealth. (5)

I like this term; it is a humbling reminder that ‘developed’ nations are actually a minority in the world. It reminds me that, as a white woman, I am a minority in the entire global world. It checks the Eurocentric, white-supremacy pride that the West is unfortunately known for.

Fat and Lean

A final term was suggested by Dayo Olapade as ‘fat’ or ‘lean’ countries. Having an abundance of resources is normal in Fat countries. Lean countries, by contrast, use far fewer resources and they waste far fewer as well. They have a much smaller regional carbon footprint than Fat countries and they have less debt. (6)

Frankly, I like these terms, too. ‘Lean’ has a much more positive connotation than ‘third world’ or ‘developing’ countries. I haven’t heard these terms in popular vernacular as much, but perhaps they will gain traction.

My sister and I at the Sand Hills Park just outside Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Why bother categorizing anyway?

Perhaps this is the greater question: why do we bother categorizing nations anyway? Why can’t we simply use the specifics of the countries that we are talking about?

For example, let’s compare Canada and Bolivia.

Canada has universal health care; Bolivia does not.
Canada’s GDP per capita is fifteen times that of Bolivia’s.
Canada’s population of 38.25 million translates into 4.5 people per square km (2021 census); Bolivia’s population of 12.08 million translates into 11.28 people per square km (2023 census).
Canada’s primary natural resources include natural gas, crude oil, bitumen, and coal, as well as minerals such as gold, nickel, copper, zinc, and iron; Bolivia’s resources include tin, silver, lithium, iron ore, and silver, as well as the second-largest reserves of natural gas in South America and various other minerals such as gold, copper, zinc, borate, and potassium.
Canada has $2,280,863 in debt; Bolivia has $35,707 in debt. (7)
Life expectancy in Canada is 81.75 years; in Bolivia, it is 64.47 years.

Comparing specific nations is more nuanced than making vague categorizations. Sweeping generalizations miss the details inherent to each country’s land, people groups, and history.

But we like categorizations and neat boxes. Why?

There are many theories out there as to why we like labels, categories, titles, and boxes so much. My hunch is that we like knowing where and who we belong to, and how to discriminate what and who does not belong with us.

In other words, we like knowing how to distinguish ‘us’ from ‘them,’ how to tell who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out.’ (I wrote another article on this very topic — specifically how to tell who is ‘in’ and who is ‘out’ in Christian churches.)

It’s a cold fact, but I think it’s true.

It’s the root of all racism, classism, sexism, and any other prejudiced -ism you can think of.

But let’s look a little deeper at the experience of being in both of these nations. Is Canada really ‘on top’ compared to Bolivia?

According to the numbers, Canada is the ‘better’ place to live. Canada is wealthier, safer, has more available land and water, and has more accessible health care and education. Canada is what we’d call a ‘minority world’ country.

However, Bolivia is very rich in natural resources, many of which were fought over by neighbouring countries or poached by international corporations in the mid-1900s. Bolivia is no stranger to war — they finally gained their independence from Spain in 1809 after the Latin American Wars of Independence, and then they became officially landlocked in 1904 after losing their coastal access to Peru and Chile due to wars over mineral rights. Their lack of access to coastal waters has cost the nation dearly in trade and economics.

Since independence, Bolivia has also undergone fierce battles to unite the extremely diverse country into a cohesive whole. Most of Bolivia’s rich resources have been historically exported instead of used for internal economic development, and the labour was exacted from the sweat of the Indigenous peoples, resulting in racial prejudices.

Most recently, former Bolivian president Evo Morales, the first Indigenous president of the nation (2006-2019), enacted several reforms that combated illiteracy, poverty, and racial and gender discrimination and advocated for Indigenous rights. Bolivia’s history has been tumultuous, to say the least; Morales’ presidency ended in a forced exile and subsequent resignation in 2019 following his attempts to terminate the presidential term limits.

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Lawrence (Catedral Metropolitana Basílica de San Lorenzo), also called Santa Cruz de la Sierra Cathedral.

In terms of lifestyle, climate, ethnic diversity, and language, Canada and Bolivia could not be more different. But is Canada truly ‘better’?

How can we compare countries such as Canada and Bolivia? They could not be more different! It is as though we try to compare apples to kittens. There is nothing that is similar; there is no point of comparison.

(I exaggerate, yes; both nations were colonized by European powers, but there the similarities end.)

Neither country is better than the other.

Objectively, yes, Canada is the safer, healthier place to live. Quality of life is better in Canada. But the people, culture, and way of life of one country are not superior to the other. Measurements of such things are entirely subjective. You cannot quantify a nation’s history and way of life. There is great value in Bolivia’s ethnic diversity and fraught history, though it certainly comes with many national and economic difficulties.

All people, places, languages, and cultures have value.

I am in awe of countries such as Bolivia. Every time I visit a new country, I am amazed by the diversity of climate, vegetation, people, cultures, languages, foods, and animals. Everything is different, and it is beautiful. I have returned home grateful for the opportunity to experience a beautiful, wonderful land.

We also hiked Mount Turabor at San Jose de Chiquitos, just a few minutes’ drive from where my parents live and work.

Is Bolivia perfect? Not by a long shot. They have far to go regarding education, sanitation, absolving government corruption, building infrastructure, and accessible health care. And yet, they have come so far even in the past twenty years. Rural areas are far more accessible than they once were; health care and education are more available to the remote. In comparing my recent visit with my first visit four years ago, I can see marked improvements in infrastructure.

Bolivians are a people marked by colonization, slavery, trade wars, and racial discrimination. Now finally — finally — there begins to be some financial and political stability as the country seeks to make gains on the global economic scale. Or more importantly, they seek to make gains for their own countrymen and women, even as protests and revolutions continue and government corruption abounds.

Then, is Canada perfect? Nope, not at all. We have poverty, too. We also have rural areas that are difficult to access trade or health care; we have large regions of our country where education is difficult due to geographical isolation. We also have racial discrimination and attempts at reconciliation with our indigenous population. We, too, have homelessness and urban poverty.

Canada has simply had a much more peaceful occupation by their European powers, primarily the English and the French. The sheer size of Canada, its rugged, often impassable landscapes and its harsh winters have written a very different story than Bolivia’s. We remain a constituent of Great Britain, content to name their sovereign as our own.

All people, places, languages, and cultures are broken.

Therefore, none of us is better than or superior to another. We are all image-bearers of the Divine Creator. When I look at the faces of Bolivians and Canadians alike, I see God’s face smiling back at me.

I suppose my purpose in writing this is simply to highlight the amazing wonder of those nations which we so often call ‘third world’ or ‘developing,’ as if they have nothing to offer us, the ‘developed.’

What sheer arrogance.

Instead, let’s appreciate the struggle of the colonized nations as they search for their footing in the tumultuous world of economics and trade. Let’s honour their return to their native roots while acknowledging the colonial influences on their land. Let’s wonder at their land, resources, people and culture — the beauty and abundance that God has given each one. Let’s applaud their courage as they seek to live in unity with people other than themselves. And let’s sorrow over how the wealthy become wealthier and the poor become poorer in the name of power.

Ah, Canada is not so different from Bolivia after all.

Kayaking on the pond in my parent’s backyard… not so very different than Canadian kayaking, excepting the presence of alligators.

Notes

Silver, Marc. “If You Shouldn’t Call It The Third World, Then What Should You Call It?” Goats and Soda. 4 Jan 2015. Accessed 2 May 2023.
Kenton, Will. “What Is a First World (aka Developed or Industrialized) Country?” Investopedia. 9 April 2023. Accessed 2 May 2023.
Silver, Marc.
Silver, Marc.
Byrne, Maura. “5 Terms to Use As An Alternative to ‘Third World’.” Majority World, 3 August 2019. Accessed 2 May 2023.
Byrne, Maura.
Country Comparison Canada vs. Bolivia. Countryeconomy.com. Accessed 2 May 2023.

Far Apart: A Reflection on My Trip to Bolivia