Colombia - An Awakening

September 22, 2007

Dear family, friends and supporters of HBI,

I just ended a whirlwind trip to Colombia – specifically my trip was to the Caribbean city of Barranquilla (for more information about this fascinating “hidden gem” of a city, please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barranquilla); and, I must admit – I am a bit disappointed.

Let me explain - Colombia is an absolutely fascinating country. There is so much prosperity and strategic economic development – it seems like it should be a model for socioeconomic development for Latin America. Colombian’s have a thriving middle class and a very rich history of intellectual, artistic and cultural pursuits. At this point you are probably bracing yourself for the “but” part of my statement – well . . . please don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy visiting Colombia. In fact, I count Bogotá as one of my absolute favorite cities in the whole world. I love the Colombian people – they are sophisticated, urbane and very generous.

My issue is not with any one person or group of people, or any country for that matter – it is with the societal structures that allow abject poverty and disenfranchisement to continue in our modern age. You see, my disappointment is rooted in the number of people that I witnessed living on the “fringes” of the Barranquilla “society.” My issue is with the number of homeless people I encountered, I witnessed in my brief stay in this tropical paradise.

I had a couple of hours before my flight back to the States to walk around Barranquilla – and what I saw caused me great distress. Let me state from the very start, Colombia is a safe country for international travelers. I feel very secure exploring the streets and cafes of most cities I have visited in Colombia; and it is never a good idea to walk around a “foreign” city by yourself. With that said, I like to walk around the cities I visit. I feel it gives me a great chance to jump into the cultural equivalent of the “deep end of the pool.” I think of these walkabouts as an anthropological experiment. I can see how life really unfolds for the people making their “lives” amidst the chaos.

Barranquilla is a port city of over 2 million people (in the entire metropolitan area). There is a thriving industrial base and a few well respected universities. Barranquilla can also lay claim to the music mastery that is the global pop phenomenon Shakira (see: http://www.shakira.com/)– yes, she hails from this Caribbean paradise. I was staying at a cultural landmark – the Hotel Prado (see: http://www.cotelco.org/hotelprado/), in the downtown section of the city. During the first ten minutes of my cab ride into the city from the airport, I was amazed at the number of people living on the streets. This “amazement” was later brought to a real angst when I ventured out on my walk.

My walk consisted of a leisurely (make that a sweaty) stroll lasting about 2 hours – through "good" and "not-so-good" sections of the city. Yet, wherever I went I witnessed people living on the streets. People lying on the sidewalks, people curled up in card board boxes, people standing with blank stares. People living on the margins of this society. People living amongst the mass of humanity, but invisible to the eyes of so many passersby.

As many of you know, I am very much attuned to the plight of homelessness and disenfranchised people. I have spent my entire professional career working with homeless young adults. Perhaps this is why I saw so many marginalized peoples? Perhaps the Caribbean climate of Barranquilla makes it “easier” to live outside? I am not above a biased thought or two, but this homeless “epidemic” seemed a bit above the average for what I have witnessed in other Latin American cities.

Now, as I write this journal entry from the seat of the plane that is carrying me back to Portland, I wonder what messages I can take back from my experiences. I wonder what steps HBI can take, can implement, to help build bridges for some of the most marginalized citizens of Barranquilla and other developing country cities. I know that my first response (emotion driven response) is to want to “jump in” and develop a homeless drop-in center, perhaps even partner with the Colombian government to develop a street outreach program that works to bring people from the streets to a center where they can receive social service advocacy. I don’t know that this is the best way to approach homelessness in Colombia. It may be more profound to invest in the development of a systematic model to delve into the numerous factors that lead to marginalization. A program that is sustainable, culturally appropriate and based on the needs, desires and wishes of the people who are most impacted by the program – the homeless.

What we are trying to do at Health Bridges International is bring creativity, pragmatism and collaboration to everything we are involved with. Our next steps in Colombia may be as simple as researching the current state of outreach and assistance to the homeless in Barranquilla and working to support these efforts. Whatever we do, it will be driven by our deep respect for God’s plan and the belief that partnerships are the basis for sustainability.

I am profoundly impacted by my experiences in Colombia – and I know that we at HBI will be lead to use that impact to bring hope to “invisible” members of our society.

Thank you for reading about the work of HBI; and thank you for your continued support.

Blessings,

Wayne Centrone
HBI Board President