(English follows).
Las últimas dos fin de semanas invitó mi mismo a ir con mi amiga (gracias Paola!) a "tag-along" y, si posible, ayudar con el proceso de conocer las familias quienes podrían de beneficio de la programas de UTPMP. He estado muy interesado en los procesos de la organización y yo estaba interesado ayudar y estar más involucrados con la organización.
Entonces, qué hemos estado haciendo? En esencia, fuimos a los barrios del sur do Bogotá para buscar para las familias quienes no tienen vivienda suficiente o adecuado. Del inicio lo fue un muy diferente experiencia. A diferencia de la construcción, esta vez fuimos solo seis personas (tres grupos de 2 personas), tomando busetas locales y sin la comodidad de un grande grupo. Cuándo llegamos es simple, caminamos a través de el barrio hablando con la gente del barrio, preguntando si ellos conocen familias sin vivienda suficiente, y mirando para ranchitos. Cuándo encontramos una familia preguntamos a ellos si les gustaría hacer una encuesta para una casita. Tenemos un documento de tres páginas (Encuesta de Detección y Asignación), cual ayudamos la jefe de la familia completar.
Miramos a una variedad de diferentes cosas, incluyendo la historia de la familia como de dónde son y por qué has salido su ciudad anterior, la condición de su actual de la vivienda y la terreno, quien vive allá y las condiciones de sueño, y la condición económica de la familia. Además, aprendemos los desafíos que la familia ve todos los días. Damos esta información a la directora de la programa para decidir cuales familias necesitan la vivienda más. En este proceso aprendemos muchos sobre la familia, su historia y su vida.
Pensé que yo compartiría algunas de estas historias. Primeramente, la primera familia que conocí. Una joven madre quien vive con sus cuatro hijas. El padre había salido y la madre tiene que cuidar los niñas. Ellos viven en una vivienda no más grande que una pequeña habitación, un piso de tierra y los muros y techo de zinc. Cuándo llueve (con frecuencia en las montañas de Bogotá), las inducciones pequeño ranchito. Con un poquito o no dinero es muy difícil para la familia avanzar de estas condiciones. Aunque muchas familias de estos barrios tiene una vivienda con un piso de cemento y muros de bloque, hay mucha gente quien no tiene los recursos pagar para mejores condiciones.
Además las problemas de viviendas para estas familias, tienes muchas más problemas con salud y seguridad. Con la falta de higiene es común encontrar niños con gripe, y a menudo más graves problemas de salud. Ayer conocimos una joven madre quien había contraído sífilis de su esposo/novio (padre de sus hijos). La madre había dado la enfermedad a su joven bebe. El padre había salido y el había dejado nada para su familia. La madre tenía no dinero, no trabajo y no podría pagar por medicina para su o su bebe. Una enfermedad que podría ser tratados y prevenir problemas de salud más posible en el futuro para ellos, pero ella no tiene el dinero o recursos ser tratados la enfermedad. Una historia de muchas.
También, estoy interesado aprender lo que causó estas problemas. Un grande razón vine a Colombia estaba aprender más sobre el país que más viajeros no ven. He conocido el Colombia que amo, la Cartegena, La Candelaria y Zona Rosa, El Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona (todos de cuales amo mucho!), pero esta vez quise ver el otra Colombia y aprender las causas de las desplazamientos y pobreza en Colombia. Hablando con la gente desplazamiento, hablando con los otros voluntarios y otros Colombianos, y de mi investigación personal, una cosa que me parece es cómo equivocado las políticas del Plan Colombia de Estados Unidos es. Por supuesto, Bogotá es mucho más seguro que hace diez años. Pero claramente cuándo hablas con la gente desplazamiento de rurales de Colombia, no es más seguro para ellos. Claramente el enfoque militar no es mejor para más Colombianos. Con Plan Colombia, una iniciativa conjunta de el EE.UU. y Colombia empezó de Clinton, continuó de Bush y ahora Obama contra narcóticos, billones de dólares ha estado poner al militares de Colombia, causando millones de personas desplazamientos y miles de muertes de civiles. Mientras la cantidad de drogas estando exportado no había reducido las mismas políticas continúan estar implementado. Es mejor para el Estados Unidos, para ganar elecciones, para en beneficio de BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Glencore (quienes propia el más grande del mundo mina de carbón, cual es en Norte-Este Colombia) y para en beneficio de Occidental Petroleum (quien controla mucho del operaciones petroleras en Colombia). Para hacer los ricos más rico a expensas del pobres. Para hacer la disparidad en Latinoamérica más grande. Pero con la tercera más personas desplazamientos en el mundo (después Iraq y Sudan), es lo vale? Colombia recibe la tercera más dinero en la ayuda militar de los Estados Unidos (Israel es la primera). Lo parece que el dinero militare podría usado más eficientemente si lo gastó en proyectos social para ayudar prevenir causes del violencia en lugar de alimentar la violencia y efectuando millones de civiles colombianos inocentes.
Claramente una tema muy complicado y sólo mi opinión. Para mis amigos colombianos, desde más de mi información viene de los colombianos, entonces por favor dimi lo que tu crees y tus opiniones...
After the construction with Un Techo Para Mi País five weeks ago I have been lucky to become more involved with UTPMP, but this time from a very different perspective.
The last two weekends I invited myself to go along with my friend (thanks Paola!) to "tag-along" and, if possible, help with the process of meeting the families who could benefit from the programs of UTPMP. I have been very interested in the processes of the organization and I was interested to help and become more involved with the organization.
So what have we been doing? In essence, we went to the neighbourhoods south of Bogotá to help look for families who do not have sufficient or adequate housing. Right from the beginning it was a very different experience to anything else I have experienced so far. Unlike the construction, this time we were only six people (three groups of 2 people), taking local busetas and minus the comfort of a large group. When we arrive it's quite simple, we walk through the neighborhood talking to people who live in the area, asking them if they know of families who lack adequate housing and may be able to benefit from the programs of UTPMP. On top of this, as we walk around we are continually looking for other families that appear to have inadequate housing. When we come across them, we simply knock on the door and explain who we are (most people are already aware of UTPMP) and ask them if they would like to complete a request for housing. We have a three-page document, which we help the head of the family complete.
What do we look for? We assess a variety of different aspects, including family history, where they are from and why they left their previous city/town, the current condition of their housing/land, who lives there and sleeping conditions, and family's economic situation. We also learn the everyday challenges that the family encounters on a regular basis. We give this information to the director of the program who decides which families have a greater need for housing assistance. In this process we learn a lot about the families, their history and and their general life challenges.
I thought I would share a couple of these stories. The first family I met was a young mother who was living with her four young daughters. The father had left and the mother has to care for the girls. They live in a mountainous neighbourhood in a small hut that is no bigger than a small bedroom, consisting of a dirt floor and tin walls and roofing. When it rains (which is very often in the mountains of Bogotá) the small hut floods. With little or no money it is very difficult for the family move away from these conditions. Although many families in these neighborhoods have a house with a concrete floor and brick walls, there are many people who can not afford to improve their conditions.
The last two weekends I invited myself to go along with my friend (thanks Paola!) to "tag-along" and, if possible, help with the process of meeting the families who could benefit from the programs of UTPMP. I have been very interested in the processes of the organization and I was interested to help and become more involved with the organization.
So what have we been doing? In essence, we went to the neighbourhoods south of Bogotá to help look for families who do not have sufficient or adequate housing. Right from the beginning it was a very different experience to anything else I have experienced so far. Unlike the construction, this time we were only six people (three groups of 2 people), taking local busetas and minus the comfort of a large group. When we arrive it's quite simple, we walk through the neighborhood talking to people who live in the area, asking them if they know of families who lack adequate housing and may be able to benefit from the programs of UTPMP. On top of this, as we walk around we are continually looking for other families that appear to have inadequate housing. When we come across them, we simply knock on the door and explain who we are (most people are already aware of UTPMP) and ask them if they would like to complete a request for housing. We have a three-page document, which we help the head of the family complete.
What do we look for? We assess a variety of different aspects, including family history, where they are from and why they left their previous city/town, the current condition of their housing/land, who lives there and sleeping conditions, and family's economic situation. We also learn the everyday challenges that the family encounters on a regular basis. We give this information to the director of the program who decides which families have a greater need for housing assistance. In this process we learn a lot about the families, their history and and their general life challenges.
I thought I would share a couple of these stories. The first family I met was a young mother who was living with her four young daughters. The father had left and the mother has to care for the girls. They live in a mountainous neighbourhood in a small hut that is no bigger than a small bedroom, consisting of a dirt floor and tin walls and roofing. When it rains (which is very often in the mountains of Bogotá) the small hut floods. With little or no money it is very difficult for the family move away from these conditions. Although many families in these neighborhoods have a house with a concrete floor and brick walls, there are many people who can not afford to improve their conditions.
Besides the housing problems for these families, they have many more problems with health and safety. With the lack of hygiene, it is very common to find children with influenza and other illnesses, and often much more serious health problems. Yesterday we met a young mother who had contracted syphilis from her partner (the father of her children). The mother had then passed the disease to her young baby. The father had gone and had left nothing to help support his young family. The mother had no money, no job and could not pay for medicine for herself or her baby. A disease that could be treated and prevent many possible health problems in the future for them, but she has no money or resources to treat the disease. Just one story of many.
I am also interested to learn what caused these problems. One of the principal reasons I came to Colombia was to learn more about the country that most travellers don't see. I have been lucky enough to see and enjoy the Colombia that all travellers love, the Cartegena, Tayrona National Park and La Candelaria and Zona Rosa (all of which I love!), but this time I wanted to see the other side of Colombia and learn the causes of the displacement of people and the poverty and economic disparity in Colombia. Talking to internally displaced people (IDP), speaking with other volunteers and other Colombians, and through my personal research, one thing I have found is how misguided the policies of the U.S. driven Plan Colombia is. Of course, the comfortable financial districts and northern suburbs of Bogota are much safer than they were ten years ago, there's no doubting that. But clearly when you talk to IDPs that have been forced from their homes in the rural regions of the country, Colombia is in no way safer for them. Clearly the military approach that has been taken is not better for the majority of Colombians that live outside the comfort bubble of the wealthy areas of the major cities. Under Plan Colombia, a joint initiative by the U.S. and Colombia, initiated by Clinton and continued by Bush and now Obama as a counter-narcotics initiative, billions of dollars have been put into Colombia's military to fight a war on drugs. Since 9/11, when the FARC was added to the US anti-terrorism list (what the FARC has to do with 9/11 is anybody's guess), this money has then been used to increase the military initiative against the leftist guerilla group. This has left millions IDPs and thousands of civilian deaths. And while the amount of drugs being exported has not reduced the same policies continue to be implemented. Through these policies it is better for the US government to win elections and for the benefit of corporations such as BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Glencore (who own the world's largest open-pit coal mine, which is in North-East Colombia) and for the benefit of Occidental Petroleum (who controls much of the oil operations in Colombia). To make the rich richer at the expense of the poor. To make the already enormous disparity in Latin America even greater. But with the third largest population of IDPs in the world (after Iraq and Sudan), is it worth it? Colombia is the third greatest recipient of military aid from the US (Israel is the first). It seems that this military spending could be used much more effectively if it was spent on social projects to help prevent the initial causes of violence, instead of fuelling more violence and effecting millions of innocent Colombian civilians.
There's my rant for the day. Clearly a very complicated issue and only my opinion. For my amigos colombianos, most of my information comes from Colombians, so please tell me what you think and what your opinions are...
