Altiplano Reunion: A Twin Returns

Celia was separated from her twin sister when they were only three days old. Their indigenous parents could not afford to raise both girls along with their three older children. Julietta, the elder twin by 5 minutes, stayed with her biological family and grew up on a llama farm in Yurac Ckasa, a tiny village on the Bolivian Altiplano. Celia, now 22, grew up in a small town in Flanders, Belgium. Every three years since she was 9 years old, Celia and her Belgian family travelled back to Bolivia. These brief visits – only a single afternoon meal – were hardly enough time to get to know her biological family, especially given the language barrier (she did not speak Spanish or Quechua). Now, as an adult, Celia visits on her own once a year, trying to reconnect with her twin and birth family. She fantasizes about moving back to Bolivia, but struggles to fit in. They welcome her into their home when she is visiting but her life has been so different from theirs. She has got a life in Europe too where she is going to go back to school again when she figures out what she really wants to do.