A Little Bit about Land

“Proof again of the contradictory human being. So much good, so much evil. 

 Just add water.” 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

As I mentioned in the entry on A Little Bit about Colombia's Conflicts, land is at the root of much of the conflict in Colombia.

Land in Colombia is valuable. After Brazil, Colombia is the most biodiverse country in Latin America and the entrance to South America for other countries. Colombia has coast and ports on both the Caribbean and the Pacific. It is also a country very rich in petroleum, natural gas, and many other minerals. However there is a lot of international involvement in these industries. For example, 80% of the coal mined in Colombia leaves Colombia. The Colombian government itself invites these companies in with enticing tax breaks and easy access with the idea that foreign investment is good, however these companies have their own interests in mind, not those of the people living off the lands they now use. One effect of this is that it takes land away from indigenous communities and leads to the disappearance of groups, languages, knowledge, and cultures that have developed for centuries. There are also a lot of cases of foreign companies involved in mineral exploitation, human rights abuses, and little interest in development of Colombian economy.

Not only do the difficulties with land involve economic and cultural struggles, but much of the violence in Colombia is related to these land struggles as well. The largest massacres in Colombia occurred in places with most natural resources and most narcotrafficking. Paramilitaries have also been known to force people to move off land to gain land for multinational companies.

One of the communities that I work with is an example of a community that has been directly affected by paramilitaries taking their land. Even now, when they have a court order to return their lands, they are faced with many challenges and hurdles to actually move back because of the value of the land that is rightfully theirs.

Another community that I am working with did not leave their homes when the paramilitary came, however many people did sell their lands. A good portion of the community still lives by farming, but since they don’t have their own land, many of the farmers clear land for the owners with the deal that they can plant and harvest on it for one year, for example. Afterwards, the land owners use the cleared land for cattle grazing. The community is struggling for lack of owning their land.

These are just two examples of how land is a complex and violent topic in Colombia. Another teammate of mine is working in land issues as well and sent me this information about Las Pavas, another community affected by violence due to land. Read it here.

This is a complicated topic and I am learning more and more about it every day, I will try to update as I learn.

Information thanks to several Colombian academics and farmers who have 

researched and lived these conflicts.

A House for Lani!

“There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.” 

–Alexander Wollcott

I feel like I have been transitioning since August.

In August I spent time moving between Denver and St. Louis.

September was spent in Minnesota.

October I arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and then Bogota, Colombia.

December I moved to Sincelejo and finally Libertad. However, in Libertad I was living with an awesome family until just last week, January, when I moved into my own house!

I have never had my own house before and I would definitely consider this one a mansion. It is weird to the people here that I would live by myself. Everyone asks me if I am scared to sleep alone and many people have offered to keep me company. It is very kind of them, but it is also nice to have my own space and privacy. Though, privacy is relative really… there is hardly a moment when a kiddo is not playing cards on my floor (I don’t have a lot of furniture), looking at the map of the world on the wall, or climbing my tamarind tree in the back to eat fresh tamarind with salt.

The house also serves as the office for the Sembranopaz and a meeting place for the Community Council of Libertad, the leadership board that I support and that supports me. This week in my backyard we even had a cocinado- like a potluck, where everyone brings something and all cook together. We made a really awesome sancocho (soup with meat, yucca, ñame, plantain, potato, corn… whatever you want!)

A quick tour of the house:

My two favorite colors!

Welcome! So spacious with no furniture, but it is good for council meetings!

Here is the kitchen. My kitchen is inside and I cook with gas, but they made me a stove outside so I can cook outside as well. They don’t want me to feel left out! Seriously, they take such good care of me!

Here is the bathroom. It looks like I have a shower, but that’s only partially true. The water only comes to town sometimes, usually in the morning, but a tube broke and last week we went three days without water. Let’s just say that makes for a challenge. Luckily for me, my host family let me go to their house to bathe. After running in the morning and playing Frisbee in the afternoon, it would be really gross to not shower. The lack of water also makes cooking a challenge. Again, luckily for me, my family continues to give me food (as well as the neighbors, the Community Council, and other members of the community).

Here is my room! There was a little bit of a struggle over which room I was going to sleep in: there are three rooms in the house and my host mom wanted me to take the one in the front and I wanted the one in the back. She was totally set against me being in the back room and I was totally against the front room. Naturally, I ended up in the middle room. It actually seems like the best choice because it is the largest and the coolest of the three.

Of course, I had to hang up my discs! :)

This is the backyard. It is super big and a bit dirty. (Actually the idea of doing the cocinado in my house was to clean the yard, and while we did a little, we most just talked about how we should do another cocinado to clean the yard…) That big tree is the tamarind tree that the kids like to climb. We have some big dreams for planting here! I hope it works out!

And, of course, the flowers from the kids to make it beautiful!

I am very happy in my house and it feels really good to have my suitcases unpacked and things a bit more organized. And as I tell everyone in town, a la orden! Everyone is welcome whenever they would like! I have an extra bedroom with a double bed…

:)

More Classes for Lani

“If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.” –Ludwig Wittgenstein

Since my last entry on my many lessons in everyday life in Libertad, I have learned a ton more. Since it seems like I don’t have any basic skills whatsoever here, they were very impressed with my natural ability to shell beans. I was glad to have one skill that I could show off a little, even if it’s something as simple as popping beans out of their shell. They look pretty too:

Cleaning Fish

A skill that I learned this week that will come in handy in my future here in Libertad and in the United States was how to prepare a fish from the moment it is caught to the moment it is put in the frying pan. (My 8 year old host sister still is supposed to teach me how to fry it… though it seems to follow the pattern of most of the recipes here: lots of oil in a pan, flip, remove, eat.)

They were hesitant to give me the knife to clean the fish with, worrying that I would cut off a finger or my entire hand, but I convinced them that I’d be careful. My host mom patiently showed me how to scrape off the scales, how to make the slits to… I’m not sure what the slits are for, and how to slit open its belly to pull out the guts. Pulling out the guts is the best. I love getting my hands dirty and inspecting the insides; one can see the stomach, heart, liver, lungs… I thought that lungs didn’t exist in fish (and I’m still sure that they don’t) but they insisted that one could see the fish lungs. After pulling out the guts, you clean out all the blood and rinse it off in clean water. Then you squeeze some lime, put some salt in the cuts to preserve it and give it some good flavor, and set it aside to fry (next lesson).

Besides preparing fish, I’ve also learned how to peel and de-heart yucca, peel ñame, and peel plantains. I definitely got made fun of a lot in these processes because I usually ended up peeling off more meat of the plant than the skins. Unfortunately peeling plantains stains your hands brown. Apparently lime juice is supposed to take away the stains, but it didn’t work for me.

Washing Clothes

In Mexico, my host mom also taught me how to wash clothes by hand, but she didn’t trust me and always rewashed my clothes after I had “washed” them.

Here, we have a washing machine, but it only does part of the work. We put the clothes in the washing machine (which we borrow from our neighbors; they just carry it over) and then pull them out sopping wet and rinse them in another big bin, then another bin with fabric softener. Lastly we hang them wherever we find space, inside out, so as not to let the bright sun damage the colors. It’s not that hard, but the process is long and with about ten people in the house there is an awful lot of clothing. They always laugh at me when I help with the laundry, but I don’t like just sitting around and watch. 

 One plus of helping with the laundry is that it cleaned my plantain-stained hands right up.

Truco

This was my most entertaining lesson of late.

Libertad recently celebrate its 81st birthday. Part of the festivities was teaching traditional games such as dominos. I was pulled into a game of truco by the older generation of men. It was 7 old men and me. They wouldn't explain anything because they said I would catch on as I played. The first round went like this: three cards dealt out to everyone, then we passed our cards all around, then there was yelling, cards thrown down, and pieces of corn taken from the center. Super.

Second round: three cards passed to each person, all the cards handed around again, then we each said a number, and then we each played our turn one card at a time. Again, a bunch of yelling and then a rock taken out of the center.

After a few more variations of this I had to put feathers in my hair. 

Let's just say it was confusing as heck. 

I eventually figured it out a little bit more but after three hours I was pretty tired. I asked them when the game is over and they said “Oh, never.” Ha! I asked for a replacement so I could go home, eat, nap, and shower. When I came back they were still playing and I played for two more hours. They probably played for 8 hours straight! Impressive stamina.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of this lesson.

Still many more classes for me to go including cow milking and kiosko building!

The Tapestries of Mampujan

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” –Osho

I am living and working in Libertad, but Mampujan is another community that I will be supporting during these next two years. To get to Mampujan, I have to take a motorcycle for an hour to the highway, then a man named Surdo (Lefty) helps me get the right bus for the right price to take me about another hour to the town right off of the highway to Cartagena: Mampujan.

Before 2000 most people had no idea that Mampujan existed. Now it is one of the most famous communities in Colombia on a national and international level. NGOs and governments from around the world are interested in Mampujan, its history, and human rights developments in the town.

Why is everyone so interested?

When I was in Mampujan between Christmas and New Year’s, I was fortunate to hear a bit of their story.

In March of 2000, paramilitaries arrived at Mampujan and told everyone to go to the town square. There they divided them in two lines, one of men and one of women. They said that they were going to kill them. They told me that then the paramilitaries changed the orders: instead of killing them, they commanded that everyone leave the town by the next morning.  Many people believe that this is the work of angels.

The people of Mampujan obeyed, grateful for their lives since similar encounters were happening in towns nearby and massacres occurred. They entered into many hardships in the following years. The displacement of an entire village added many stresses to the town that they were relocated to. Shelter, food, and basic necessities were difficult to access and for a long time the residents of Mampujan struggled.

Eventually, the people began to construct new homes and a new Mampujan by the highway where it is now located. Some people continue to return to their lands in Mampujan Viejo (Old Mampujan) to work, but the homes are now deteriorating and falling apart, with trees growing in them and no roofs. Still, most people hold on to the goal of returning to their homes that they were forced to leave over 13 years ago and reconstructing Mampujan where it originally was located.

There are many communities that have faced this same struggle in Colombia, but Mampujan has received so much attention because it is the first and only community to receive reparations through the Law 975, the Law of Justice and Peace, created in 2005. While the families have received the individual reparations due to them, they are still in the process of receiving community reparations and the restitution of their lands. It is a long and complicated process, but there are many different organizations working to support the community.

It was powerful to hear the stories of their displacement first hand. It was also amazing to be invited to participate with a group of women from Mampujan in another activity that separates them from other displaced communities: tapestry making.

 MCC and Sembrando Paz saw the effects that the trauma of being displaced was having on the people of Mampujan and wanted to provide psychological resources. What developed was a quilting project to provide a space for the women to process their trauma. The women of Mampujan took this initial project and adapted it to their needs; instead of quilting, they began to create tapestries telling their stories, starting from how their ancestors lived in Africa, to being brought to Colombia as slaves, to the development of their own communities here, to how life was before, during, and after their displacement. 

 
The tapestries are beautiful as is the process of creating them. They women sit, sew, share, and laugh. Many of the women say that they feel good when they are creating the masterpieces; they help each other talk through problems, share memories, and dream about the future. It is a group of strong women who support each other and help the community process what happened to them while sharing it with the world. 

It is a creative way to enhance the beauty of this world after trauma and tragedy. 

 

It truly is beautiful.

Running ... or ... My War with the Dogs

“If you listen too much to the suffering, the anger of other people, you will be affected. You will be in touch with only the suffering, and you won’t have the opportunity to be in touch with other, positive elements. This will destroy your balance. Therefore, in your daily life, you have to practice so that you can be in touch with elements that do not constantly express suffering: the sky, the birds, the trees, the flowers, children- whatever is refreshing, healing, and nourishing in us and around us.” 

–Thich Nhat Hahn

During my stint at the University of Denver, I learned about the importance of self-care. In the Social Work program we spent a lot of time talking about the subject and creating plans to take care of ourselves so that we could best take care of others. One aspect of my plan was running. I haven’t always enjoyed running, but in the past few years it has become a main way of distressing and staying sane.

When I arrived in Libertad I was happy to learn that there was a two kilometer road to La Sabanatica, the town that sits directly on the beach. I was even happier to learn that there was a woman who already walked part of the way to the beach every morning.

The first morning, we got up at 4:45 am to walk to the “Y” and back. It was tough to wake up so early, but worth it to see the stars, feel cool air, and enjoy the company of a new neighbor. That afternoon the girls I live with found out that I went and said that they wanted to join us the next day. I was impressed the next morning to find four 13 and 14 year old girls up at 5:00 am to go jogging. They jogged about 100 meters and then decided to walk.

I made it all the way to the beach that second morning. I took off my shoes and stood with my feet in the shallows of the shoreline and gazed out onto the moonlight waters. It is a fabulous way to begin the day. When I turned around, the sky was just beginning to redden with the rising sun over the Montes de María.

The girls and my neighbor were waiting back at the “Y” and the girls ran a little ways back with me. After I made it to the soccer field in town, I went back until I found them and made them run with me to the field. I am amazed that they have woken up almost every morning with me to run and continue to run more and more every day.

There is just one small thing: the dogs.  There is a house about halfway between the “Y” and the beach that has four dogs. 

And they are out to get me.

The first day they barked at me.

The second day they chased me.

The third day they got close enough to touch my leg.

I was not about to see what the next step was in their attack, so on the fourth day I took the offense. I armed myself with a stick and a rock. I don’t like being violent (after all, I am supposed to be embracing Mennonite values) but I also don’t like being bitten by animals.

When the dogs heard me they came running at me at full speed, barking as if I were prey. But I was ready. I swung my stick, I yelled as loud as I could (poor people who live there), and I took aim at the dog in the middle. I threw the rock and the dog squealed and ran back. The other dogs followed suit, still barking like mad. I didn't hit the dog, so I didn't feel bad. I felt proud. I won the battle that day.

I hid the stick nearby so that I can use it again the next time I pass through the danger zone.

Still, it is a beautiful way to start the day: friends, running, stars, ocean, sunrise… I live in a wonderful place!

Classes for Lani

“Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown.”

-George Shinn

When one moves to a new place, there are many things to learn and discover. I am a big fan of this initial time in places because I love meeting people and I love learning how they live.

The people of Libertad have opened their homes and hearts to me in a way that makes me incredibly grateful. Libertad is a town in the area of San Onofre, in the state of Sucre, in the country of Colombia. It is an AfroColombian community that has historically proven itself resistant and resilient in front of the violence that has affected the country. When most people come to Libertad they leave saying that it is a place filled with happy people. This is where I will be living for the next two years.

All the signs point to me not belonging here: I am white, I am a foreigner, I come from the suburbs, I don’t know how to drive a motorcycle, I’m better with a Frisbee than a soccer ball, I don’t dance, I cook with gas…

But the people here have embraced me. And every day I am learning something new.

Class 1: Stoop Sitting

I am a fairly active person so this first lesson has been a struggle for me, but I am improving (at first I could only last about ten minutes, but on Christmas I stoop sat for almost five hours!). Libertad is fairly small (I’ve heard estimates between 6,000 to 8,000 people) and due to the closure of the shrimp farm there is not a lot of work available. Plus we are in fiestas right now. A big part of the day is spent on the stoop. Luckily for me, the house that I am living in currently is on the corner of an intersection and there are a lot of passersby. We sit, some in rocking chairs, some in plastic chairs, and talk with people who come by; some stay and chat before continuing on their way, and others come specifically to stoop sit with us. Another aspect of stoop sitting is observing what is going on in town. One can observe quite a lot from the stoop. It’s a good way for me to learn about the town both through watching and listening.

Class 2: Bracelet Making

On one of my first days in Libertad, a neighbor showed me his stash of homemade bracelets that he sells in Cartagena and Barranquilla in order to earn some money. I asked him to teach me his trade, so one afternoon I escaped the stoop and went over to his house (the same place where the señora made me chicharrones on Christmas). He showed me how he weaves string to make his art and I successfully made this bracelet:

Of course, the jewelry he makes is much more intricate and beautiful, but I had to start somewhere, right?

Class 3: Frying Plantains

I am a little disappointed in my fruit selection in this town. While the coast is known for fruits and fruit juices, it is difficult and expensive to get those fruits here. The fruit we do have plenty of access to is the plantain. And boy do we eat plantain!

Fried.

Always.

So, I had my host mother teach me how to cook tajadas. This is the easiest of all types of fried plantain because you just cut up the plantain, put it in hot oil, and take it out. I’m hoping she gets a little more faith in me and teaches me something a little more difficult next time. A new challenge for me is cooking over an open flame. It really gives a new meaning to putting the stove on high or low.

Class 4: Champeta

Most people know that I am not much of a dancer. I enjoy a good meringue or a salsa, but even that mostly depends on how well my partner leads me.

Dance is a major part of the culture here. In the first week of my stay in Libertad, I was taking out to the cantina to dance twice, and to two picos (the word for big stereo systems set up to dance and enjoy music at full volume). Mostly the music that they play is champeta.

There are a lot of mixed feelings about champeta. It tends to have very sensual lyrics and dance moves. People in Libertad embrace champeta as part of their culture and identity. I endorse that idea and I am happy to learn about it. However, when it comes to dancing it, there are few moves that I will actually do. The men here are realizing that and respect it. After refusing a dance with one partner, the same song came on again and he said, “Ah, this is the song with the move you will only do with your boyfriend.” Exactly right my friend.

The most popular song right now is “Dame tu mano” (“Give me your hand”). It is pretty much on repeat on every corner. Since it’s played so often, I have learned the words. During the learning process I was verifying a word with my eight year old host sister. I couldn’t understand what she was saying and I was completely entertained when I figured out that she was shouting “SEXO” at me while we were sitting on the stoop. (I've recently learned that he is not even saying "sexo" but "esto."  Easy mistake.)


I’m still lacking in many areas of survival here and I have been promised motorcycle driving lessons, fishing lessons, and woodworking lessons, among others. I have lots to learn!

Keeping Old Traditions, Trying New Things

“I learned that people everywhere are basically the same and have similar goals that we do. They want health and happiness and the opportunity to provide for their families.” -Steve Kerr

Leaving my family and friends right before the holidays does not make for the easiest of transitions. However, I am learning to find the balance between sharing traditions from my own home and embracing customs here in my new home.

HALLOWEEN

At Halloween, cultural differences in terms of its significance and celebration were brought up; some of my companions were raised in homes that did not celebrate Halloween on the grounds of its origins as a satanic celebration while others remember it simply as a fun time to wear costumes and walk around the neighborhood. Our leaders opened a space for us to discuss how each of us felt about the day and, for those of us who do celebrate the holiday, to share a little about our traditions. While Halloween is not my favorite holiday, I do enjoy dressing up and eating candy (though I really enjoy those things at any time of year). I have fond memories of carving pumpkins with the entire neighborhood and this was something that I wanted to share with my new friends. Luckily, I found a pumpkin and a Colombian friend who wanted to join me. Simon never had celebrated Halloween before, but he really enjoyed carving a face into the gourd (which he called his son). We also baked some pumpkin seeds and used the pumpkin guts to make pumpkin coffee (which turned out a little gross, but still made me happy) and pumpkin muffins (which turned out really good!)

THANKSGIVING

At Thanksgiving, my Peruvian roommate, and I decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner. Rut was so excited to celebrate a new holiday and kept asking me what we do on Thanksgiving. The morning of, she asked me, “So do I give you a hug this morning to celebrate the day?” Of course, I said yes!

We had a pot luck Thanksgiving with the entire team. We had chicken (Hey! At least it’s a bird!), salad, hard boiled eggs, guacamole, bread, flan, and cinnamon rolls (in my home in Minnesota we always make cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving morning). Everything was delicious and it was great to spend the evening in a community that we had just formed but already was incredibly tight-knit and caring. To end the evening, we went around the circle saying what we were grateful for and exchanging gifts (since we would be apart for Christmas).

CHRISTMAS

Christmas… I arrived in Libertad, the community that I will be living in for approximately the next two years, five days before Christmas. The community is fantastic and I am very happy to have been placed here. Of all the holidays, the Christmas celebration was the most different from the way that I celebrate at home.

One Christmas tradition in Libertad is eating chicharron. On Christmas Eve morning you can hear pigs being killed all over town and you can see pigs being butchered in the streets. I never have liked chicharrones, but let me tell you, after being invited to a breakfast of chicharron that morning and eating the freshest chicharron in my life (the pig was literally alive two hours before), I have decided that chicharron can be delicious. However, this Christmas I have eaten enough chicharron to last until next year.

Good and fresh for Christmas day!

Preparing...

Finished product: chicharron! 

Looks kind of gross, tastes super good!

Libertad is a community known for their music and dancing. Especially Champeta. I think it is fantastic that the community has embraced this part of their culture and I like to learn about it and watch (because they are really good dancers). On Christmas Eve and Christmas day, the main event is the pico (or picof, a word that comes from “pick up,” as in “pick up truck,” because of the tradition of mounting speakers in the back of trucks and bringing their music to other parts of town). In Libertad, they brought two picos to town. One was set up directly in front of the house that I am staying at. We sat on the stoop and watched them set it up, test it out, and watched the people begin to arrive. I spent most of Christmas Eve watching the youth of Libertad walk back and forth between one pico and the other, depending on the song each DJ put on. I went to bed at midnight (the music was even louder in my room because the roof is metal, making the sound bounce around) and when I woke up on Christmas morning at 7:00 am the music was still playing. They finally took a rest around 8:00 am, only to start again at 4:00 pm. The plan was for the same thing to happen on Christmas night, but the beer delivery never came and so the pico by our house was shut down. One of my host sisters and I went to the other pico for a while and danced a little, but as I said, I prefer to watch them dance than to dance myself.

Pico all ready to party!

Pico at night... There's lot of people there, you just can't see them.

Another tradition that they have is to give all of the children new clothes to show off on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was adorable to watch all of the kids arriving with their new outfits (shoes and all!). When I woke up on Christmas day, my youngest host sister ran up to me to show me her new doll: it was as big as her and could answer certain questions when asked. I was super entertained when the doll could not understand my sister because the Spanish here is so mumbled, letters are dropped, and words are invented. The doll would respond to her questions with, “Are you from Mars? I cannot understand you!” I couldn’t help laughing; at least I understand more Spanish than the doll! On the stoop that day, I observed many children walking the streets – boys pulling their new trucks with the new dolls of their sisters inside. I couldn’t help but notice every doll was white and blond.

New Clothes!

I wanted to share some of my Christmas traditions as well, so I decided to make Fried Cornmeal Mush, the breakfast that my dad makes every Christmas morning. It is really similar to some of the food here so I thought they might like it. Plus it gave me a chance to try my hand at cooking over an open flame like they do here!


Mixing... just guessing ingredient measurements. Dad, you'd hate it!

Cooking up the batter over an open flame.

Getting ready to fry it up...

Frying! (That other pot is coffee, FYI)

Finished product! 

NEW YEAR

New Year is a repeat of Christmas. The pico comes back to town on the 30th and the nights of dancing begin. They dance on the 30th, the 31st, and the 1st. At midnight, everyone goes home and wishes their family and friends a happy new year with hugs and tears and then goes back out dancing. My host mom let me go out with two of the guys from the town leadership team making them promise to watch out for me and not let anyone near me. True to their word, they stood on either side of me like body guards all night. It was fun to get out and be a part of the festivities though!

Another New Year tradition is that everyone goes to the beach to swim on New Year’s Day. They even bring one of the picos to the beach for everyone to keep dancing! My eight year old sister and I swam and splashed about until I was nicely sun burnt and she got a cold. It was fun to see so many people at the beach. Normally, no one but the fishermen go into the ocean here.

One tradition that my family in Minnesota has for New Year is drawing pictures of all the important things that happened in the previous year. I decided to keep that tradition here and invited several people to join. No one accepted, but I did it anyway. It’s been a fantastic year filled with weddings, birthdays, road trips and vacations, a visit from a special Argentine, an MSW, a move across the Caribbean, and the start of a very important and special relationship. :)

Happy New Year everyone!