Greetings from a Community Economic Development Response Volunteer
- by Andy Lamb (PCRV, CED) Hey Friends of Colombia, I am writing desde the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where the sun is always bravo and the neighbor's vallenato is never-ending. I'm part of the 10 person Peace Corps Response Volunteer team assigned to the region with the task of establishing the Community Economic Development (CED) sector. We are spread out across the coastal area, operating in four departments: Atlántico, Bolívar, Magdalena, and La Guajira. The first three months of our time in site was dedicated to performing a community diagnostic, in which we were able to better understand the
Documenting Daily Life in Colombia Through Illustration
- Sarah Shaw (CII-5) Less than two weeks ago, I finished my Peace Corps service in a peri-urban fishing community called La Boquilla, located 25 minutes north of Cartagena, Colombia. I’m still thinking about scenes that I need to draw—the lime green cart filled with fritos surrounded by red plastic tables and chairs, the aggressive hat vendors in the Centro, and the bustling, chaotic Bazurto Mercado. Cartagena continues to inspire me. Throughout the last 27 months in Colombia, I documented my experience through a series of full-color llustrations and daily drawings. During training, before I knew much about Colombia, I began making collages of
¡Viva la Piña! – A Community Development Story
By: Ron Burkard In 1965 I became regional director for the CARE-managed Accion Comunal Peace Corps program in Colombia, moving from Guadalajara, Mexico to Barranquilla. The wonderful area I covered was the then-departamentos of La Guajira, Magdalena, Atlantico, Bolivar and Cordoba. There were about 50 urban and rural volunteers in the region at the time. Several of them are still friends, more than 40 years later! CARE's contract with the Peace Corps ended on short notice when I had been in Barranquilla for less than a year. This was one of the shortest but most meaningful of 17 assignments during
Observations From A Recent Month in Bogota and Santander
By Mike Eubanks Group VI, July 1963 - February 1965 I would like to share with you some observations from a recent months stay in Bogota and Santander. Most of what we saw represented success of what all of us worked for and hoped would result. Apart from the continued growth and development of the middle class, the campesino is sharing in the countrys prosperity. Caminos vecinales is extending paved farm to market roads deep into the countryside. Commercial quality vegetable crops and fruit are being grown everywhere. Milk for urban markets is regularly collected from even small farms. Fish