more moralising and sociological bullshit

To close off on my time in Colombia, here´s an extract from the final report that I submitted as part of my work:

To close, I would like to impart a few thoughts about this conflict, the people it affects, and my hopes for the future. I’ve seen a lot of tears shed by and for the victims of this war (and I’ve cried a few myself); sometimes you need to cry, and it’s important that you do, but I can’t help but think that if I cried a tear for every person whose life has been destroyed by this war then I too would in effect lose my life to the war, and become yet another victim of what is a disgusting, brutal tragedy. Those of us who have been lucky enough to be spared a life that’s ruled by bullets have a chance that many people never get – the chance to act without fear of violent retribution. The good people who stand by and do nothing are in some ways as accountable for this situation as those who carry out the massacres and the crop eradications, and the key to winning the fight against social injustice is the mobilisation of those who don’t like what’s happening, but have never taken the time to do anything about it. These are good people, with good hearts, and together they can make a difference. The harsh reality is that going to the occasional protest or signing the occasional petition is not going to lead to long-term, meaningful change - what is required is a sustained, well-resourced, well-directed effort on the part of the entire community. As the steps must be small, every small victory must be celebrated, and people must accept that there are no easy answers. The question being asked needs to change from ‘What can we do?’ to ‘What are we doing?’, and Colombia – indeed, the world – needs less talk and more action. Such an effort requires a united people, one that is prepared to put politics, race, religion and class aside, and one that refuses to stop until it has achieved the ultimate: a Colombia in which the goal of ‘not one more victim’ is not a dream, but a reality.

in Brazil

Right, now that I´m finally in Brazil - and officially unemployed - I´ve got a bit of time to bring you all up to date on what I´ve been up to...

My last month or so in Colombia was pretty hectic, and mostly consisted of finalising things with my work and saying a series of goodbyes to people, and then finished up with a conference in Bogotá that brought together all the project´s participants from the 10 different cities of Colombia where we were working, which was good...

After that I went back to Bucaramanga for a few days, where I pretty much just bummed around, but I had a few days left before my flight to Brazil, and Bucaramanga´s a better place to be a bum than Bogotá - it´s smaller, warmer, and the beer is cheaper...

Now I´m in Brazil (where the beer is better, but more expensive), and I´ll be here till the first few days of March, so it should be a good break...