Paso a Paso

(For those of you who caught my error in the subject line of my email, I'm definitely in Colombia, not Ecuador. ha.)

"Paso a Paso" means "Step by Step," which is exactly what I've been doing these past couple of weeks... taking things step by step, day by day. I'm not sure how I can really describe what has been going on, but let's say that it feels like a lot has happened, and a lot hasn't. Ha! For this first month, I have three goals: 1. To find volunteer work, 2. To create a support network, and 3. To become more familiar with the city.

In order to do this last one, I make myself do something new in the city everyday, whether it's walking to the gym (20+ blocks away), taking a completely new bus, or exploring a new street/store. So far, I've already seen some very interesting things and it's going pretty well, though it's extremely exhausting. Hopefully the city will feel manageable soon!

A photo of the city...

And another...

In terms of creating a support network, the church acts as an immediate support system. Myriam, the woman with whom I live, is absolutely wonderful. She's been nothing but a blessing to me and my adjustment here in Bogota! Living with her is very comforting and she's extremely supportive. Today we went to a beautiful museum called "The Museum of Gold" which is full of gold (including copper and silver) artifacts from various indigenous groups from all over Colombia. It was very beautiful and interesting - a great way to learn about the indigenous cultures here. We just ate supper and we had hot chocolate, bread, cheese and vegetables! Me encanta! (I love it!) I've also made some good Colombian friends! These guys have befriended the other volunteers here and so I was immediately connected to them when I arrived. They're SO helpful, completely trustworthy, and very fun to hang out with. I've gone to Suesca twice with them so far. Suesca is the name of a BEAUTIFUL pueblito (little town) outside of Bogota. Here you can hike, camp, and climb. The boys love to climb, and though I tried it a couple of times, I love to sit on top of the mountains and look at the view, breathe pure air, and close my eyes in the sun. :)

My Colombian friends.

Me climbing the wall!

The plant in my hair grows all over the mountains.
Suesca is beautiful!

I've been learning a lot about the many problems here in Colombia. Second to Sudan, Colombia has the greatest problem of internally displaced persons (those who are forced to flee their home but who, unlike a refugee, remain within their country's borders). In many rural parts of Colombia, millions of people have been (and are) killed or forced out of their homes by guerrilla groups (FARC, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - an illegally armed left-wing group against the government), or paramilitary groups (illegally armed right-wing groups). Terrible human rights violations are (obviously) occurring. Take a peek here for more info: http://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/colombia

Right-wing paramilitary groups are the parties considered to be most responsible for human rights violations in Colombia during the later half of the current Colombian Civil War. Apparently, paramilitary groups and the Self-Defense Units of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) in particular, are responsible for at least 70 to 75% of identifiable political murders in Colombia, with the UN estimating that approximately 80% are committed by paramilitaries, 12% by leftist guerrillas and the remaining 8% by government forces. (Yes, government forces). Paramilitary violence is overwhelmingly targeted towards peasants, unionists, teachers and human rights workers (stole the majority of that from wikipedia).

Things are pretty safe here in the city in terms of all of this conflict. It's common to see displaced persons on the street as they've come to Bogotá seeking shelter, support, and a new life. Cali and Medellin are other cities that have received many displaced persons. I've heard that the government only gives 3 months support to displaced persons to get back on their feet (that seems like almost nothing to me). There are almost 5 million displaced persons in Colombia. The cocaine industry is heavily related in this mess. While Bogotá is pretty safe, a car bomb explosion occurred the day that I arrived (ha) as a threat to the government from the FARC. Luckily no one was severely hurt. It occurred at 5:30 in the morning near a government sponsored radio station as a warning to the new president.

I'm sure you'll be learning more about this situation as a I learn more... I'm extremely interested in these issues here in Colombia and hope to do my volunteer work with a related NGO. I will most likely not be able to continue the majority of the work that the other volunteers did because I'm by myself. Therefore, my search is taking some time since I'm looking for something new and something I can do myself. The past couple of weeks I've been meeting with some people whom I've randomly been connected to who may have some connections/information with NGOs in Bogota. I had a great meeting this past Friday with a young woman from England who's been working at an NGO here in Bogota for a few years - I think she's my lucky ticket to my next step!

On a positive note about internally displaced persons (IDP), I attended an extremely interesting ecumenical meeting with the Episcopal Church between the U.S. and Colombia about the issue of IDP in Colombia. The meeting was very inspiring and later in the week I was able to attend a meeting with the group and the U.S. embassy. In this meeting, they were challenging the U.S. embassy on what they're doing about Human Rights issues in Colombia (I'll tell you more about that later if you care to hear...). In my opinion, it was an extremely interesting meeting with some well-articulated, intense questions eloquently presented to the Embassy (and some shaky answers). The bishop actually asked me to write an article for the Episcopal News online about the first meeting and the visiting ecumenical group. Please check it out (it's short!) to learn more: Click on the Colombia article (8/26/2010). My Article I was/am happy to be connected to such a progressive and socially active group!

Hopefully by my next post, I'll have some more exciting things to tell you about my volunteer work here! I did spend one day with the little kids in Usme and it was quite the day trying to manage things by myself. Here's a photo of one of this kids - with a pillow in his shirt! Haha.

Happy Labor Day to those of you in The States! I'm sad I couldn't be at Lake Michigan with the crew! Please eat some deviled eggs for me! :)

Love,
Anna