Bolivia's donkey milk

The cold cuts to the bone and little puffs of steam escape from the mouths of people stopping on their walk to work to drink a glass of fresh donkey milk, believing it will fight respiratory problems during the raw winter of the Bolivian Andes.

Aymara women position their female donkeys every morning on a street corner in El Alto, a city neighboring the capital of La Paz. Then they milk them for clients lining up in the cold air.

“I had a cough for five years and couldn’t sleep,” Luz Mamani said, ordering a small glass. Mamani said she’s been healthy since she started drinking the milk.

Among the vendors is Petrona Yujra, who has sold donkey milk for 35 years.

Yujra said the milk helped clear up a problem in her lungs. According to popular belief, it can help fight colds, asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia, she said.

Elizabeth Canipa, director of the maternal milk program at Bolivia’s Health Ministry, said there is no scientific study showing that donkey milk has curative properties. “But we know that it has more protein and it could be because it has more colostrum,” a form of milk produced by mammals in late pregnancy containing antibodies that protect against disease.

Bus driver Luis Lari Huanca said his co-workers recommended donkey milk for the pains he suffers in his lungs and kidneys.

“It’s my third day drinking it,” he said. “I hope it cures me like my friends said it would.”

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In this May 22, 2016 photo, a donkey, whose milk is sold by her owner, stands with her foal overlooking La Paz and the snow capped Illimani Mountain in El Alto, Bolivia. Elizabth Canipa, director of the maternal milk program with Bolivia's Health Ministry, said there is no scientific study proving that donkey milk has curative properties. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this May 23, 2016 photo, donkey milk vendor Petrona Yugra brings her donkeys oats as she works to sell their milk to passing clients in El Alto, Bolivia. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this May 24, 2016 photo, Aymara indigenous women walk past donkeys that are used for their milk in El Alto, Bolivia. People drink a glass of fresh donkey milk, believing it will fight respiratory problems during the raw winter of the Bolivian Andes. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this May 24, 2016 photo, a man drinks a shot of donkey milk as vendor Andrea Aruquipa continues to hand milk her donkey for clients in El Alto, Bolivia. Aymara women position their female donkeys every morning on a street corner in El Alto and milk them for clients lining up in the cold air. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this June 8, 2016 photo, donkey milk vendor Petrona Yugra milks a donkey by hand to sell the milk to a client in El Alto, Bolivia. Yujra has sold donkey milk for 35 years. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this May 15, 2016 photo, Josefina Escobar carries a glass of her donkey's milk as she and her donkey walk around in search of buyers in El Alto, Bolivia. Aymara women like Escobar position their female donkeys every morning on a street corner in El Alto, a city neighboring the capital of La Paz. Then they milk them for clients lining up in the cold air. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this May 24, 2016 photo, donkey milk vendor Andrea Aruquipa, an Aymara indigenous woman, pours a glass of milk from her donkey for a client in El Alto, Bolivia. "You have to drink donkey milk with faith and you have to believe," Arequipa said. "It's cured me from pneumonia. Before I drank it all the time, now I'm feeling a little pain again so I'm drinking donkey milk again." (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this May 12, 2016 photo, an Aymara indigenous woman holds a small glass of fresh donkey milk before drinking it in El Alto, Bolivia. Elizabth Canipa, director of the maternal milk program with Bolivia's‚ Health Ministry, said there is no scientific study proving that donkey milk has curative properties. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this June 8, 2016 photo, Lorenzo Saldias and his wife drink donkey milk from a vendor in the streets of El Alto, Bolivia. "Donkey milk is medicine that heals," Salvias said. "I had pneumonia, my back hurt and I had the chills. Now it's taking effect. I drink it with my wife." (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this June 8, 2016 photo, bus driver Luis Lari Huanca drinks a glass of donkey milk in El Alto, Bolivia. “My fellow drivers advised me to drink donkey milk because I suffer lung and kidney pain,” Lari Huanca said. “It’s the third day. I hope it cures me like my friends said it would.” (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

In this June 8, 2016 photo, a man walks his donkeys home after selling their milk to clients in the streets of El Alto, Bolivia. People stop on their walk to work, drink a glass of fresh donkey milk, believing it will fight respiratory problems during the raw winter of the Bolivian Andes. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

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Text from the AP news story,  AP PHOTOS: Bolivians drink donkey milk for respiratory ills, by Paola Flores.

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