The trip to attend the Croatian Women’s Network conference in Zagreb to receive her Croatian Women of Influence award was Patricia’s first time in Croatia. Ahead of the event she and son Carlos Alberto Rojas Avila were received by state secretary Zvonko Milas.
Bolivian architect Patricia Avila Kuljiš, president of a Croatian community organisation in La Paz, is the winner of a Croatian Women of Influence award for her work in the preservation of cultural and traditional values, presented by the Croatian Women’s Network at its conference in Zagreb this year in March.
Her grandfather Juraj Kuljiš Radišić was the first member of the Kuljiš family in Bolivia, followed by his brother Stjepan and nephew Mate. He settled first in Chile’s Iquique, where he had two brothers. They had a hotel, but when it burned down and his brothers died, he found work in the construction of the rail line from Arica (Chile) to La Paz (Bolivia). He settled in Bolivia in 1920 and married a local woman with whom he had four children. His restless spirit later led him to Buenos Aires in Argentina. He working in commerce between the three countries, later expanding into American and European markets. For Patricia the trip to attend the Croatian Women’s Network conference in Zagreb to receive her award was her first time in Croatia. Ahead of the event she and son Carlos Alberto Rojas Avila were received by state secretary Zvonko Milas.
Architect Patricia was born and lives in La Paz, and is enamoured of design. The arts, history, philosophy, nature, good cuisine, serenity and, above all, the homeland of her ancestors. She is married and has two children. Carlos (30) earned a master’s degree and is now a university professor, while Dalma (22) studies physics.
Patricia also hosts Croatian cooking classes on the Internet, and edits a number of ethnic Croatian focused profiles on the Web. She posts news and her research of all matters Croatian, and the activities in the local ethnic community. She has organised a Croatian language course in the community and has herself taken part in online courses through the Aspira University College.
Our Bolivian friends respect and value us, she says. We have a presence on television and the print media and have taken part in the top intercultural festival. Bolivia is home to some five thousand ethnic Croatians, many are active in the business community, and the current chancellor and two ministers have Croatian ancestry.
Read the full interview here: https://www.hia.com.hr/izdvojeno/intervjui/item/17537-patricia-avila-kuljis-la-paz-bolivija-hrvatsko-srce-zivi-i-ponosno-kuca-u-meni