Clothes merge with the dried out Poopo Lake in Bolivia.
The Poopo lake was one of the biggest in extension in South America. In December 2015 it dried out completely due to the El Niño phenomenon and global warming. This situation affects not only the fauna that used to live there but also the fishermen communities located nearby.
Don Germán stands in front of his house in Llapallapani, Bolivia. He was a fisherman in the now dried out lake Poopo. He tells that there was another drought from 1993 until 2000, but it wasn't as heavy as this one. Back in the day he migrated to Chile in order to get a job and support his family. He lived 13 years there. Now he is thinking of doing the same.
A kid stands next to a drawing of a flamingo on one of the houses in Llapallapani, Bolivia. Llapallapani is an Uru indigenous community that has been severely affected by the drought in the Poopo Lake.The Urus were known for their fishing skills. Traditionally, the Urus do not own big pieces of land and therefore the dried out lake directly affected their economy.
A faucet wrapped in a plastic bag in the Aymara community of Untavi, Bolivia. This is another community affected by the drought caused by global warming and the El Niño phenomenon in Bolivia. Untavi is located near the Poopo Lake and the majority of it's inhabitants were fishermen. Water is scarce in this region.
Portrait of Don Valerio. He is proud to call himself the last fisherman at the Poopo Lake. Although the lake dried out completely in December 2018, fish died out two years before that because of the small amount of water. Don Valerio now works in construction and is thinking about migrating to the city of Oruro together with his family.