Hi All,
as most of you already know I have returned safely to Brighton and have had a bit of a crazy time since I last wrote. I am updating this blog anyway just for memory's sake and in case anyone is interested in what we actually did in those two weeks I was incomunicado.
The day after my last post we set off to Lago Agrio in the province of Sucumbios which is about half an hour from the Colombian border and accordingly receives quite a lot of Colombian refugees. The bus journey was one of the worst and best of my life at the same time. The road was bumpy, the music rubbish and the bus stunk of cow dung, but we had a good laugh with all the people. My Italian friends decided that it was time to sing some Italian songs and they did their best - but it was not really appreciated as everyone was trying to sleep. Anyway, it was an unforgettable moment and I have already wound them up about it more than they deserve ;-)
We arrived in Lago Agrio at 4am which is when I finally managed to get some sleep folded up like a blind passenger - accordingly sleep was not exactly invigorating. We then had breakfast and eventually went to a meeting with FORCOFES which should have started at 8 but did not actually start until 9 and so we ended up not having a great deal of time with these people. Still, it was interesting to present NP to these people - they are farmers fighting against the Coca fumigations of the Colombian government which affects their crops and health - and learn something about their struggle.
From there we went to ACNUR - which I thought was some local NGO dealing with refugees but it is actually the UNHCR; so much for feeling like I knew anything about the world... We were all actually falling asleep by then and were only managing to stay awake throughout the presentation because of the coco cookies that went round. It was really interesting to hear about the security measures ACNUR takes, as this was one of our main concerns.
From there we went on to the Ecuadorian Red Cross - must admit that I don't remember much of their presentation as the guy spoke really fast and blurry and my eyes were REALLY dropping by then. Still, I slipped in some of the "Oh, I used to work for the Red Cross - do you work with the Swiss Red Cross by any chance blah blah blah" - it made me feel more important though.
After the Red Cross we went on to the refugee alberge where people can stay for a few weeks until they find somewhere else to live. There was only one woman there with her children. This was a kind of weird situation, as we were all cornering her and asking questions about her escape from Colombia to the point where the poor lady started crying. I felt very bad and intrusive, even though I did not ask any questions. It was a very touching experience as I have never been confronted with people who have had to leave everything behind including some more children. At the same time it was an important experience as I have realised that there is so much work to be done in the area of conflict resolution and I really want to dedicate myself to this type of work.
After all these visits we could finally go and have some food and guess what? We went and had Pizza!!! it was actually quite horrible but at the same time when you're on an involuntary rice and potato diet anything that remotely tastes like pizza tastes like a slice of heaven. After that feast we even got some REAL coffee - I mean coffee made from beans, rather than some freeze-dried s**t that does not even have caffeine in it. It felt like so much luxury...
Towards the end of the afternoon our smelly bus - which by then had taken on the smell of tired and sweaty people and their stuff - took us to the puente de San Miguel which is actually the border to Colombia. We walked across the bridge and spent an amazing 10 minutes on Colombian territory. We never actually left the bridge but we took some pictures of the river and the bridge and it was actually quite a nice place. However, you can never quite forget the fact that this country is at war and that people are going through such a hard time there.
After another hour or so in the village by the bridge we set off back towards Quito in the "Rincon del Amor" (the bus) - with people dancing to the most hideous cumbia song the world has ever had to endure - "que calor que calor, ooo e ooo" - well, it does not sound funny now, but had you been there you would be laughing or at least smiling now.
Round about 1am we finally arrived back in the campamento... it was an interesting but extremely tiring trip.
as most of you already know I have returned safely to Brighton and have had a bit of a crazy time since I last wrote. I am updating this blog anyway just for memory's sake and in case anyone is interested in what we actually did in those two weeks I was incomunicado.
The day after my last post we set off to Lago Agrio in the province of Sucumbios which is about half an hour from the Colombian border and accordingly receives quite a lot of Colombian refugees. The bus journey was one of the worst and best of my life at the same time. The road was bumpy, the music rubbish and the bus stunk of cow dung, but we had a good laugh with all the people. My Italian friends decided that it was time to sing some Italian songs and they did their best - but it was not really appreciated as everyone was trying to sleep. Anyway, it was an unforgettable moment and I have already wound them up about it more than they deserve ;-)
We arrived in Lago Agrio at 4am which is when I finally managed to get some sleep folded up like a blind passenger - accordingly sleep was not exactly invigorating. We then had breakfast and eventually went to a meeting with FORCOFES which should have started at 8 but did not actually start until 9 and so we ended up not having a great deal of time with these people. Still, it was interesting to present NP to these people - they are farmers fighting against the Coca fumigations of the Colombian government which affects their crops and health - and learn something about their struggle.
From there we went to ACNUR - which I thought was some local NGO dealing with refugees but it is actually the UNHCR; so much for feeling like I knew anything about the world... We were all actually falling asleep by then and were only managing to stay awake throughout the presentation because of the coco cookies that went round. It was really interesting to hear about the security measures ACNUR takes, as this was one of our main concerns.
From there we went on to the Ecuadorian Red Cross - must admit that I don't remember much of their presentation as the guy spoke really fast and blurry and my eyes were REALLY dropping by then. Still, I slipped in some of the "Oh, I used to work for the Red Cross - do you work with the Swiss Red Cross by any chance blah blah blah" - it made me feel more important though.
After the Red Cross we went on to the refugee alberge where people can stay for a few weeks until they find somewhere else to live. There was only one woman there with her children. This was a kind of weird situation, as we were all cornering her and asking questions about her escape from Colombia to the point where the poor lady started crying. I felt very bad and intrusive, even though I did not ask any questions. It was a very touching experience as I have never been confronted with people who have had to leave everything behind including some more children. At the same time it was an important experience as I have realised that there is so much work to be done in the area of conflict resolution and I really want to dedicate myself to this type of work.
After all these visits we could finally go and have some food and guess what? We went and had Pizza!!! it was actually quite horrible but at the same time when you're on an involuntary rice and potato diet anything that remotely tastes like pizza tastes like a slice of heaven. After that feast we even got some REAL coffee - I mean coffee made from beans, rather than some freeze-dried s**t that does not even have caffeine in it. It felt like so much luxury...
Towards the end of the afternoon our smelly bus - which by then had taken on the smell of tired and sweaty people and their stuff - took us to the puente de San Miguel which is actually the border to Colombia. We walked across the bridge and spent an amazing 10 minutes on Colombian territory. We never actually left the bridge but we took some pictures of the river and the bridge and it was actually quite a nice place. However, you can never quite forget the fact that this country is at war and that people are going through such a hard time there.
After another hour or so in the village by the bridge we set off back towards Quito in the "Rincon del Amor" (the bus) - with people dancing to the most hideous cumbia song the world has ever had to endure - "que calor que calor, ooo e ooo" - well, it does not sound funny now, but had you been there you would be laughing or at least smiling now.
Round about 1am we finally arrived back in the campamento... it was an interesting but extremely tiring trip.
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