Kamba Kua (comunidad afroparaguaya)

In the Loma Campamento neighborhood, in the northern part of Fernando de la Mora, north of the Hospital de Clínicas, lives the Kamba Kua community, one of the main touchstones of Afro-Paraguayan identity. Its big moment is the feast of San Baltasar in January: a novena, a procession and dances to the beat of drums, in red, white and orange costumes. The Kamba Kua Ballet, whose practice was declared intangible heritage by the National Secretariat of Culture, carries this legacy to stages all over Paraguay. Outside the festivities it's a residential neighborhood, not a formal tourist site.

In 1820 some 250 Afro-descendant lancers (some sources say up to 300), men and women, arrived in Paraguay accompanying the Uruguayan leader José Gervasio Artigas into exile. Dr. Francia's government granted them about 100 hectares near Asunción. In 1943, under Morínigo, and in 1967, under Stroessner, the community lost much of its land: in 1967, 50 hectares were expropriated for the National University, leaving them with just 7.