Peace Corps Colombia Final Volunteer Report

Transcription

1 Peace Corps Colombia Final Volunteer Report PCRV Name James H. Fisher Project Community Economic Development Municipality & Department Aracataca, Magdalena Dates of Service November 2, 2015 September 9, 2016 Date Report Submitted August 1, 2016 (Revised: September 9, 2016) The purpose of this report is to help staff enhance the Site Development process by building a history of the site, and support future Volunteers who potentially may serve in your site. Take time to reflect upon the following questions and answer them in the most detailed fashion possible. Feel free to highlight any particularities or to recommend contacts and areas for improvement. If you feel there are other questions we should have included in this report, please make note of them for future revisions. This information only would be shared with Peace Corps staff and future Volunteers. Part 1: Site Information Question 1. Please describe your site (topography, weather, population, etc.) How do people earn a living in your site? What are the typical economic activities? Does your site have any special social, cultural, or historical characteristics? *(Rural & peri-urban areas only): Where is your site located in relation to major cities and roads? Response Detailed information is available at and Summary: Aracataca is located 1 hour south of Santa Marta on highway 45 between Rio Tucurinca and Rio Fundación. The population is estimated to be 27,000 in town and an additional 12,000 in outlying communities, though some estimates are 20% higher. Most of the population in the plains is mixed racial Hispanic. There are four indigenous communities in the Sierra, most notably the Arhuacu village Gunmaku and a smaller cluster of Kogi in Vereda La Fuente. The geography is large, including extensive plains as well as the western flank of the Sierra Nevada. The plains are largely flat, but transition to very steep flanks of the Sierra. Temperatures are hot, with average highs of 32º C or 90º F. This varies very little year round, though rain moderates the heat for short periods. Temperatures in the sierra are progressively cooler with higher elevation eventually reaching the snow-capped peaks. 2. What services are available in or near your site (police, Most of the land surrounding Aracataca is dedicated to growing African Oil Palm where there is irrigation and beef where there is not. Major employers include palm oil presses, a rice mill, schools, hospital, retail, services and a rice mill. Aracataca has a robust municipal structure with a full range of the basic public services and commercial enterprises. These include five large public

2 health post, schools, banks, utilities, Internet access, etc.)? How would rank your access to goods and services in your site, one (1) being poor access five (5) being excellent? 3. What means of transportation are available to and from this site? Please include names of buses, schedule, and fares. Are there any special travel concerns related to safety or weather? 4. Are there restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, etc. to buy prepared food from? What places would you recommend? 5. What are the unique qualities of the community? Are they known for something in particular? Do they have any special festivals or events? high schools, approximately public fifteen elementary schools and several private schools, one Bank (Banco Agrario), numerous internet café s, a public library with WIFI, hotels, restaurants, and an Olímpica grocery store due to open in July. Fundación provides a larger number of retail establishments, but not a lot more breadth. I would rate access at a 4, because I occasionally go to Fundación for things I don t find in Aracataca or because I hope prices will be lower. Shopping in Aracataca is much more pleasant. Some volunteers would venture to Santa Marta for specific food items, but I have felt no need. I have resorted to the larger cities only for very specific items like musical instruments and recycle bins. Aracataca has several options for transit. Local buses travel between Aracataca and Fundación every 10 minutes from early morning until dusk. The trip takes 10 minutes and costs about $ Berlinas provides excellent direct bus service from 4:30 AM to dusk to Santa Marta every 30 minutes ($12.000), Barranquilla every hour to two hours ($16.000) and limited direct service to Cartagena ($31.000). A puerta-a-puerta service operates one or two times per day to Santa Marta ($15.000). Brazilia buses pass by the outskirts of Aracataca with service to Bucaramanga and Bogota. There are several other buses between Aractaca and Santa Marta that cost a little less than Berlinas, but tend to stop for longer periods of time. The condition of these buses varies from excellent to rough. They are useful if the last Berlinas has run for the day or you want to get off in Zona Bananera. Aractaca has many restaurants, but I have almost never gone to any. I am a vegetarian, so they often have nothing I will eat. I generally have not had enough money to eat in restaurants. A few that may be considered better include the pricey Patio Magico de Gabo y Matiz, La Maná, and Hojarasca. I can t recommend any of these due to lack of experience. I m sure they are all fine if you eat meat. My preference when I eat out is to visit one of our many excellent bakeries to purchase bread and yogurt. I also frequent the fruit and vegetable vendors. I don t buy many prepared foods other than bread, yogurt and powdered milk. The Olimpica will probably satisfy most volunteer needs when it opens. Aracataca is best known as the birth place of Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, author of 100 Years of Solitude and other novels. His birthplace has been rebuilt as a museum that draws a steady trickle of tourists. Other tourist stops include the Casa Telegrafísta and the Railway station. Aracataca is also the birthplace of award winning photographer Leo Matíz. There are many, many festivals and events including seasonal favorites like Navidad, Año Nuevo, Carnival and many others. There are many cultural events sponsored by the Municipality, the churches, concert promoters, and foundations. There are also events commemorating Gabriel García Márquez. These events feature music, dance, poetry, lectures, panel discussions, artistic presentations and more. One thing that is lacking is a community theater. That would be a fun project. It is a challenge knowing when and where these

3 6. Coolest thing about your site events will occur. A great project for a volunteer would be to help the town launch a community calendar. It is seldom cool here. One way people stay cool is swimming in the rivers and canals that surround and bisect the community. Kids particularly love to play in the water. I have not joined them though as the water quality ranges from dubious to dangerous depending on rainfall and failed sewer lines. My favorite activity, by far, is mountain biking. There is an extensive network of unpaved roads that connect Aracataca with neighboring towns, the great Cienaga (estuary) and the Sierra Nevada. I have yet to meet a local person that wants to join be on the pounding, hot, dusty rides. My wife loves the rides during her visits, which is a lot of fun. I try to take at least one challenging ride every weekend as well as making all of my trips to Fundación on bike. I also use the bicycle extensively to visit with farmers and rural corregimientos and Veredas. Part 2: Safety & Security Question 1. Please describe how safe you felt in your site. What are the common crimes? 2. Are there any places/areas events that are particularly dangerous? 3. What advice would you give to a new PCV in terms of keeping safe in this site? 4. Please note if you think a Volunteer of the opposite sex might experience a different security situation if placed in your site. Response Aracataca is a bit rough and tumble. There are several risks including criminal activity, transportation crashes and infectious disease. In my time here I have not once been threatened, robbed or molested. People have been exceedingly nice 100% of the time. However, around me I have witnessed plenty of problems ranging from snatch and run to armed robbery, even gunfire. There have been murders, theft, vandalism, public intoxication and drunk driving. The police have asked me not to enter Barrio 2 de Febrero and for the most part I have followed that advice. However, one of the priorities of our municipal government is to improve livability in 2 de Febrero which will involve more contact. Other areas including Barrio Raices, San Martin, El Base, Corregimiento Buenos Aires and Sampues have also been flagged as risky, but I have entered these areas many times and have had no bad experiences. The extensive rural road network in the larger territory of Aracataca has been flagged by some as risky, but I have been virtually everywhere in this larger network other than well up into the mountains and never experience any difficulty. I would say you are almost always very safe during light hours. Risks increase after dark. I have walked almost everywhere at night too, but I try to be more vigilant at these times. Isolated areas should be approached with caution, particularly along the banks of the rivers and canals. If you have a fancy cell phone, don t use it in public where there is any chance of snatch and run. Finally, be cautious when you are passed by two young men on a motorcycle. This is the most common configuration for robbery. I think women are at greater risk than men for everything from sexual taunts to theft and assault. Women may want to be more cautious, particularly the first month. Most cell phone thefts, for instance, appear to be perpetrated against women. I have heard repeatedly that being in a group 2 or more people is a much safer configuration than being along.

4 Part 3: Work on CED activities Questions Name of the activity Did you receive funds to implement this activity? How much? Tell Your Story Every project has a story. Please describe any anecdotal evidence/stories from a community member or your personal experience that attest to the project's success. This vignette may be used to highlight your exemplary work when reporting to stakeholders. CED activity N. 1 Aracataca Recycles I applied for and received a $1,000 / $3 million peso SPA grant to implement a program of plastic recycling. This is a priority of the municipality and an important prerequisite to growing our share of the tourism market. We are using the funds to purchase recycle bins for all of the schools in the built up area and possibly some in outlying rural areas. We are also creating a roadshow to encourage recycling in the schools. Recycling will happen only when very elemental cultural norms have changed. Changing behavior from throwing unwanted items on the ground to carrying them to disposal containers is not trivial. After 9 months of dialog, presentation of health risks, gifts of trash cans and liner bags, I still find members of my family throwing trash out of their living room window onto the street, leaving bags where their dog will rip and spread garbage and sweeping together organics, plastics and everything else into one container. Having failed to move my family, I suspect that moving all of Aracataca youth is a tall order. Still, some progress is evident. Kids will show me an empty plastic bag they have been saving for a recycle bin. The store owners understand the economic and health benefits of reducing waste and know that some customers would rather not use plastic bags. A youth group has formed to promote environmental projects and wants to carry on the recycling program. Municipal leaders understand that one way or another they have to rise to this challenge. Goals Achieved, Changes in Initial Objectives, and Community Feeling I have documented my activities in detail at Our goals were to: 1) Education: Provide classes in schools about the benefits of recycling Status: Achieved more than 2,000 students attended classes presented at four area high schools. However, this is not a once and done process. Annual presentation will help to reinforce the message and encourage recycling. 2) Infrastructure: Provide recycling stations or bins in schools to enable recycling Status: Achieved We originally budgets for five high priced Puntos Ecologicos. A student group is focused on paper recycling, so we have purchased larger single use barrels for recycling plastic. A team of volunteers and municipal staff worked with me to create 30 large and colorful recycle bins that have been placed in most of the local, public schools. Custom signs were attached to each barrel at a significant savings. Consequently the program will reach 20 schools with 30 recycle bins.

5 Questions Capacity and Skills Built 3) Service: Develop a process for transporting and recycling plastic Status: Progressing We have been fortunate that local buyers have been identified that will pay a very modest price for transparent plastic bottles and plastic bags. Each school will need to decide how they want to proceed, but an easy solution will be to invite a local recycler to pick up the plastic without profit motive to the school. It is also possible that a student organization can take this on. A group of approximately 15 students from the Universidad de la Costa worked with me to create their power point/video presentations for the schools. They gained knowledge about recycling and also how to create more effective presentations. Students in the schools gained knowledge about recycling. Sustainability Unexpected Events and Recommendations Lessons Learned and Promising Practices (include Counterpart Strengths or Weaknesses) Following up activities recommended for next volunteer Municipal staff learned about opportunities for marketing recycled plastic and methods for doing additional processing of plastic. This is not an easy program to sustain. Provided a market for recycled plastic continues to operate in Fundación, there is a chance that his can survive. Much will depend on commitment from the Red Nacional de Jovenes Ambientales, school leadership and willingness of schools and the town to partner with the private sector. I didn t expect to have such great infusions of energy at critical points in the project. I didn t know how I would reach all the schools with classes and by some stroke of good fortune the University Students arrived needing to complete a community service requirement. I was also fortunate to receive help from the Red Nacional de Jovenes Ambientales / Network of Young Environmentalists and employees at Millenium Hardware at critical junctures. Go with local priorities. Recycling was not my first choice, but the municipality felt that they had to educate children about litter and the need to keep the city clean. Their commitment was essential to completing the project. Never close the door. Some of our original partners were pulled away from recycling by other priorities, but other groups seemed to be waiting in the wings. A compelling idea at the right time will gather momentum. Be cautious about great new ideas. If your plan and budget are set, it is still possible that leaders will come in with different agenda or simply prospecting for money with a new idea that is not consistent with the proposal, poorly defined and likely to be a flash in the pan. This is very important. I hope that the next volunteer will expand this initiative in several directions: 1) Help to commercialize recycling. Plastic is an asset that has been treated like waste. If people can make money recycling we can solve the problem. Some high school students are interested in the science of recycling plastic. 2) Continue educating youth and adults. This kind of basic cultural change will take time and constant reinforcement. 3) Work on municipal policy to target important tourist destinations for intensive clean-up programs. Also work for policies that encourage

6 Questions Other observations households to recycle. 4) Investigate creating potable water fountains in the schools. The best way to deal with plastic is to eliminate the demand for it. Kids need safe water, but they are spending precious change on bags of water when it should be free and without bags. This is a classic public services project to improve conditions for tourism, public health and quality of life. Everyone acknowledges the importance, but they feel overwhelmed by the amount of waste in their lives and the lack of cultural and municipal practices to manage it. The long-term public health cost of nightly burning of plastic waste is likely to be many, many times greater than the perceived benefits. Questions Name of the activity Did you receive funds to implement this activity? How much? Tell Your Story Every project has a story. Please describe any anecdotal evidence/ stories from a community member or your personal experience that attest to the project's success. This vignette may be used to highlight your exemplary work when reporting to stakeholders. Goals Achieved, Changes in Initial Objectives, and Community Feeling Capacity and Skills Built CED activity N. 2 Tourism in Aracataca No. I requested a second SPA grant, but was informed that only one grant for $1,000 was permitted. I have been trying to work around the need for funding, creating public/private partnerships and sponsorships. Aracataca has one established attraction, a museum devoted to the life and writing of Gabriel Gárcia Marquéz. The museum is well managed and tourism operators from Santa Marta well organized to bring people for short visits. Municipal leaders were well aware that visitors were not staying long-enough to have a significant impact on the economy. In addition to elected leaders, a number of private foundations have worked to expand tourism opportunities in Aracataca. Most of these plans are extremely ambitious, including theme parks, large sculptures and cultural events. Rather than wade into those waters, I went with a need that local businesses and artisans repeatedly expressed. Aracataca has more than the Marquez museum, but there are no maps, websites or itineraries. I have prepared several drafts of a modest map brochure. We are now considering ways to draw sponsors in order to make a significant printing. We are also looking for ways to push this information online. I have documented my activities in detail at Goals expressed in the unfunded SPA Proposal 1) Prepare an online presence for Aracataca Partially achieved, but not ported to the municipal website. 2) Create map-signs that can be posted in key locations around town 3) Print map-brochures with ideas for visitors for longer stays in Aracataca I have been encouraging municipal staff to join me in the effort to harness the power of Geographic Information Systems for identifying assets, showing public priorities and using that information for every possible application including tourism itineraries. Most of the graphics work is being composed using open source software, including GIS using Google Maps, Google Fusion Tables, InkSpot, a graphics layout program, and Microsoft

7 Sustainability Questions Unexpected Events and Recommendations Lessons Learned and Promising Practices (include Counterpart Strengths or Weaknesses) Follow up activities recommended for next volunteer Expression (Free website management program). I had hoped to run a class on computer applications for small business, and may still do so, but haven t been able to program the space. The tourism effort has to evolve with changing markets and services. Sustainability is clearly a challenge. There is a larger regional effort called Ruta Macondo that held several meetings and is expected to produce a report in September. My recent efforts to contact them have not been successful. The business community appears not to be organized around tourism. The Casa Museo de Gabriel García Márquez is well run by Universidad de Magdalena. The Casa Telegrafista is well managed by FundePalma. The three communications strategies have mixed life-expectancies Information on the municipal website needs to be updated periodically Permanent wayfinding signs have a reasonable shelf-life and should be a simple, sustainable effort. Brochures run out and need to be reprinted. Sponsors need to be updated. The Fundación Realismo Mágico collapsed halfway through my contract. They were in debt and the leadership was frayed. No other group has emerged with a specific focus on tourism. The municipality has a Secretary of Education and Culture, but he is in constant motion and difficult to pin-down for specific projects. The next volunteer may need to help bring together organizations and businesses. A lot of events are happening, so there must be some organizational strength that I have missed. Be cautious affiliating with foundations, particularly small ones that appear unstable. Take time to understand the leadership structure, financial wellbeing and mission. Some are opportunistic, some are well meaning but weak. The municipality holds most of the resources but can also present challenges for volunteers being included and getting information in a timely fashion. It helps to be a team player in the municipal staff and join them in meetings when invited. Work with socios in Planning (Wilfrido Mercado, Breyner Moscote, Andres Fergusson) Ongoing project oversite, evaluation of Project UMATA (Alvaro Uribe, Alvaro Mejia) Agriculture cacao, traditional crops, rural development, SENA courses Education and Culture (Sec. Wilson Hernandez, high school principles) School projects, cultural events, Ruta Macondo, Casa Telegrafísta / Fundepalma (Katarina Saavedra Ortiz, Yenny Patricia Salazar Corredor) Casa Museo de Gabo (Universidad de Magdalena) Artesanos (Rodolfo Rodriguez, Donald Ramos)

8 Questions Other observations This is a primary activity that has moved haltingly. There is an opportunity to connect this with English classes for Aracataca Bilingue. Questions Name of the activity Did you receive funds to implement this activity? How much? Tell Your Story Every project has a story. Please describe any anecdotal evidence/ stories from a community member or your personal experience that attest to the project's success. This vignette may be used to highlight your exemplary work when reporting to stakeholders. CED activity N. 3 SENA Educational Programs No Before joining this Peace Corps Response mission I was an adjunct professor with Eastern Maine Community College. The community college system in the US and SENA in Colombia play a critical role in Community and Economic Development. They are the bridge for people with limited means to upgrade their skills and productivity in the workforce. Some of them go on to create new businesses. I pushed hard to establish a working relationship with SENA, meeting with professors, coordinators, and traveling to Santa Marta to meet with program directors. Despite concerns of the Peace Corps staff, I forged a joint mission statement with SENA that enabled me to co-teach two classes, one in Aracataca and the other in Fundación. The process nearly went off track when I attempted to fill some un-planned hours of a class on agronomy to engage students in entrepreneurial studies. After a somewhat humiliating take down, I stayed with the group and created a useful niche by combining agronomy, environmental science and technical English. This combination worked for the first class in Aracataca and worked even better for my second group in Fundación. I understand that this is not the long-range plan for Peace Corps CED, where the goal will be to participate in entrepreneurial studies. I believe that Peace Corps staffers need to broaden their understanding of economic development which is about much more than entrepreneurship and starting small businesses. I believe that volunteers need to be willing to do the entrepreneurial act of finding new combinations to meet the demands of their customers. In my case, combining agronomy, ecologically sustainable production systems and communication skills for trading partners in English

9 are at the core of economic development. Students that improve their productive capacity will return the cost of education many-fold whether they build small businesses or work for big ones. In my two rounds with SENA I worked with more than 40 students. Virtually all of the students completed their class, learned a lot about agronomy and will be assets for employers fortunate to hire them. Goals Achieved, Changes in Initial Objectives, and Community Feeling Capacity and Skills Built Sustainability I have documented activities and included links at: The Work Plan we signed had six objectives: 1) Collaborate in course design Course instructors and I worked to integrate the parts they would teach and parts I would teach. They were in command. I was happy to fill in where I could. 2) Teach basic materials I think this part went very well. We covered technical materials and the required English component, particularly in Fundación. 3) Teach basic materials in entrepreneurship This part didn t work to the degree I hoped, but I was able to incorporate some of the basic entrepreneurial thought process. For example, students were asked to negotiate with a hypothetical customer to sell their abilities and the quality of their products. 4) Increase the percent of students that complete the class Virtually all of the students completed the two classes in which we collaborated. 5) Evaluate student progress We collaborated in how to evaluate students. In the end we used the Colombian process of recuperación to help a few students over the finish line. 6) Evaluate the Peace Corps-SENA collaboration We concluded in both cases that the collaboration was a big success. The students enjoyed our very different teaching styles. I was encouraged to continue teaching, but felt I should move on to other projects while time remained. I encourage future volunteers to work with SENA, and to seek a middle path between Peace Corps programmatic priorities and the needs expressed by SENA and SENA students. SENA curriculum had a list of specific technical learning objectives as well as a broader concept of formación. Formation is a mix of professionalism, ethics, self-respect, and motivation to learn. The students came through this class learning a range of technical skills, passing a required English curriculum, gaining insight into the environmental challenges ahead and how their skills responsible agricultural production will make them more valuable in the workforce. Formation is more difficult to measure. Students made mistakes, violated dress code, skipped classes, arrived late, but they learned over the course of the semester and I think were making strides toward responsible adulthood. SENA has to be understood as a large organization that is not available everywhere equally. SENA only produced one course in Aracataca during my 10 months in the Response position. A volunteer in Aracataca cannot work with a program that isn t present. It is possible that having a volunteer in Aracataca will help to bring SENA, but this is a tall order. On the other hand, Fundación has a busy campus that feels more like a small town community college. A volunteer that is accepted by SENA faculty and staff could

10 probably work full time and have a big impact on the lives of hundreds of students. Unexpected Events and Recommendations Lessons Learned and Promising Practices (include Counterpart Strengths or Weaknesses) Follow up activities recommended for next volunteer Other observations SENA will continue to function with or without Peace Corps, but we can have a positive impact on students and collaborate with faculty, sharing teaching substance and methods to produce stronger hybrid. I have already answered this above. Be flexible and seek a middle ground between Peace Corps, SENA, the students and yourself. This has been covered above. I had a very good experience working with SENA while several other CED Response Volunteers had a more difficult time. Finding good counterparts is essential. Several professors appeared to be skeptical of my status and ability to contribute. I am sure that my stumbling ability in Spanish contributed to their concerns. I was fortunate that some recognized the potential of collaboration without feeling threatened by my presence. My years of experience as a college professor and my PhD were probably helpful in overcoming this skepticism. This will depend on the volunteer. Some of us love to teach, love the academic environment and are highly tolerant of different teaching and learning styles. I encourage future volunteers in Aracataca and Fundación to take the initiative to make repeated visits to the campus in Fundación and set up a meeting with academic leaders in Santa Marta. Plan to spend some time attending a class primarily to listen and learn, but also to help as possible. Put together presentations and be prepared to give them will little warning or oversight. Bring your technology. Teachers will love you and invite you to every class if you can solve some of their problems of internet access, laptop computers with sound and projectors. Be persistent. Curriculum at Questions Name of the activity Did you receive funds to implement this activity? How much? Tell Your Story Every project has a story. Please describe any anecdotal evidence/ stories from a community member or your personal experience that attest to the project's success. This CED activity N. 4 Cacao for Peace / Cacao Para La Paz No Historically Aracataca has produced a significant amount of cacao. One rural vereda is names Theobromina after the primary alkaloid found in cacao. Most of that land was converted to banana plantations and then to palm oil. Currently only about 30 hectares of this area are devoted to Cacao. Theobromina and the surrounding area have good access to irrigation. The low altitude of just 40 meters above sea level works because ample water is can be

11 Questions vignette may be used to highlight your exemplary work when reporting to stakeholders. purchased. The cacao plantations in Theobromina and Cauca range in size from 1 hectare to 8 hectares, with 5 being a sort of cutoff between enough to generate significant family income versus more of a part time, secondary activity. There are additional, very small plantations in the sierra at altitudes between 100 meters and 400 meters. Rising above 400 meters one is more likely to find coffee. Efforts are underway with UMATA and with Cacao Para La Paz to encourage additional planting in the sierra and the low-lands. My former role as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador was agriculture extension, so my perspective of how to assist Cacao para la Paz was primarily how to help existing farmers and encourage new farmers to grow Cacao. I visited a handful of local farmers by bicycle every few weeks to see how they are doing, what problems they are confronting, their plans for future planting and their interaction with others working in this crop. I spent several morning working with them preparing cacao for market, learning to prune, telling the varieties apart and how to deal with various disease threats. I also interviewed many other farmers that do not grow cacao to see whether they are interested in growing cacao. I participated in several visits to the coast coordinated by the US Department of Agriculture. We met with farmers, but more often with the facilities that have been springing up to ferment, dry and ship cacao. I met several times with the Escuela de Cacao in Rio Frio and learned about production from their perspective. I also attended a day long workshop sponsored by ASO Tucurinca for Cacao production. Putting together these two elements, I have written reports on the current state of cacao in Aracataca and recommended a number of activities that I think future Peace Corps volunteers can promote, including engaging more farmers, improving quality of the product, identifying markets and product innovations. Goals Achieved, Changes in Initial Objectives, and Community Feeling Capacity and Skills Built I have documented my activities in detail at Cacao para la Paz has two objectives: Objective 1 Strengthen Colombian capacity for Cacao Research Objective 2 Strengthen Colombia s capacity for Cacao Extension and other Cacao priority areas Four volunteers in our group investigated Cacao production in different locations. I worked primarily with existing farmers that grow cacao and a local processor that purchase most of their harvest. The system was up and running, so my goal was primarily to document the process, identify opportunities and threats and suggest how future volunteers can assist in achieving Cacao para la Paz objectives. As noted, I have created a number of documents that are online. This effort was primarily investigative. I built my capacity in Cacao and

12 Sustainability Questions Unexpected Events and Recommendations attempted educated USDA and other investigators about production in this region. I probably contributed little to capacity on the part of the farmers or the existing production centers. Cacao has a long history in Aracataca, but has diminished to a handful of small farms. There are powerful economic players that have moved most of the irrigated land to palm oil. Reversing this trend and establishing sustainable cacao will be challenging. Cacao Para la Paz, UMATA and ASO Tucurinca, among others, are just launching programs for cacao. UMATA is committing for one year, while cacao is a multi-year crop. Peace Corps volunteers can help to make this a sustainable initiative. I have been trying to monitor parallel cacao promotion efforts in this region. Cacao Para la Paz appears to be concentrating efforts in coastal locations between Santa Marta and La Guajira. Recommendation: Pease Corps should serve as a bridge from the research and production programs on the coast. A volunteer in this region can organize farmers, training opportunities, new production, and other activities outlined above. UMATA counterparts are moving ahead with promotion that I think would benefit be greater coordination. Recommendation: Peace Corps volunteers can help to create continuity and farmer follow-up that is often lacking in UMATA programs. The critical time for follow-up is during the dry season when farmers stop watering and the trees die. Volunteers can also compliment UMATA by giving more support for financial analysis and marketing. ASO Tucurinca also organized a program in Zona Bananera. A conference was held, but communication fell-off afterward. This project may be tied to the UMATA effort, but it is unclear. Recommendation: Volunteers will need to be persistent in tracking whether this project has moved ahead and ways that volunteers can complement the effort. Lessons Learned and Promising Practices (include Counterpart Strengths or Weaknesses) Follow up activities recommended for next We should endeavor to promote cooperation and avoid competition among the many cacao programs. Much as I like this program, the process has been slow. Repeated visits by delegations from Bogota to the same locations Last minute communications with Peace Corps Volunteers Lack of specific project objectives and strategies (these are coming) Parallel cacao projects launched by UMATA and other groups with no apparent coordination Organizational challenges in the early stage of any project may be expected, but it is time to get the information into a public forum, coordinate this project with other cacao projects, nail down some specific goals, objectives and strategies and on our part identify opportunities for volunteers. This is a great project from start to finish. Volunteers should have some specific training in order to assist in:

13 volunteer Questions Other observations Agronomy: assist with enlisting new farmers, training in agricultural practices, organic and integrated pest management, creating plant stock, keep records on productivity by variety, assist farmers in financial accounting Post harvest production: work with processors to fine-tune schedules for collection, research and document best practices processing systems, value of cacao by variety, new and appropriate technologies, capacity of farmers to do post harvest processing and value added production, and agri-tourism. Markets: Research new markets for products, opportunities for farmercustomer relationship marketing, fair-trade and organic markets, local and export alternatives Artisanal products: Identify value added opportunities for farmers and local processers, innovative products, intermediate and final goods Questions Name of the activity Did you receive funds to implement this activity? How much? Tell Your Story Every project has a story. Please describe any anecdotal evidence/ stories from a community member or your personal experience that attest to the project's success. This vignette may be used to highlight your exemplary work when reporting to stakeholders. CED activity N. 5 Support for Artisans and Small Businesses No Aracataca has a substantial artisanal sector that includes crafts people, creative artists, small businesses and educational programs. The products of artisans are not front-and-center as they are in San Jacinto or Santa Marta. A few vendors maintain stands in front of the Museum of Gabriel García Márquez, but the majority produces items for sale in the local stores and by contract. The largest group, with which I have limited contact, are the indigenous Arhuaco and Kogi women that produce hand-made bags. These bags are sold in numerous shops in Aracataca and exported as well. Working with this group would require the volunteer to travel well into the Sierra, still in Aracataca, but as much as a full day s journey including hours climbing on foot. It would also require permission from the village elders. I visited two indigenous villages, one of them being more than 3 hours by bicycle, spoke with women that make the bags about production time, materials and prices, but didn t have time to do much more. I would have loved to spend more time living and working with these communities. The products are very interesting that might benefit from more aggressive export marketing. I met many times with the artisans making and selling goods in front of the museum. We discussed ways to market their goods online, new products that would have a broader appeal, raw materials, financial record keeping, use of

14 Questions computers and other business support. We have agreed to put some of their products online. I have created a sample website with photos and information, but this is not a sales platform ( We looked into other platforms and decided to post two items on Peace Corps covered transportation costs for me to make a technical exchange with Jo Anne Cohn in San Jacinto where I met with Artisans and learned more about their businesses. Peace Corps also provided transportation for Jo Anne and I to attend an American Chamber of Commerce Conference on E- Commerce. These trips were helpful in exploring options for Aracataca. Goals Achieved, Changes in Initial Objectives, and Community Feeling Capacity and Skills Built Sustainability Unexpected Events and Recommendations Lessons Learned and Promising Practices (include Counterpart Strengths or Weaknesses) Follow up activities recommended for next volunteer Other observations I am finishing out my final month with a few new efforts. I m helping a small hardware store ( owner to develop a business plan, website and work on some marketing details for imported ceiling tiles. My goal was to identify opportunities for Peace Corps Volunteers to work with artisans in Aracataca and to pilot one or two small projects in this area. I hoped to offer a few classes on use of computers for small businesses and artisans, but in the end have only worked one-on-one. My goal to put products online has also been elusive, primarily due to lack of time on my part. The artisans remain interested in working with Peace Corps and interested in adopting better technology. They too are quite busy running their businesses. I introduced some methods for online marketing and held preliminary discussions about products that might draw more interest on the internet with people not connected with Aracataca or Gabriel García Márquez. There is a lot of potential in this area, but the volunteer may need to focus more than I have. Artisans will continue what they are doing. That much seems sustainable. If Peace Corps volunteers can enhance the work of artisans through marketing, financial management or other business services I think it will be appreciated. SENA has played a role in this in other cities including Fundación, but has not been active in Aracataca. I recommend that the next volunteer make another effort to set up training in financial management and computer applications for small businesses. There are two centers in Aracataca that should be available with planning: 1) Casa Telegrafísta- central location, good to collaborate with FundePalma there. 2) Colegio Fossy Marcos Maria brand new, very large but not centrally located I haven t developed a good counterpart relationship for this program. I think it should be feasible. The five high schools, SENA, CERES and FundePalma are all potentially good counterparts. FundePalma is particularly interesting because they are targeting women s groups and have resources and field workers. 1) Get to know the artisans. Learn how they get materials, do their work and market their products. 2) Get to know the institutions that have resources including the high schools, the municipality and FundePalma. 3) Work one-on-one with the more promising artisans (eg. Donald Ramos, R For months I was convinced there wasn t any organization, such as a gremio

15 Questions for Artisans in Aracataca. One day a group of about 30, mostly women, turned up in the municipal office representing artisans. I haven t heard from them since. There may be an organization waiting for a volunteer to provide financial and entrepreneurial classes of start a savings group. Questions Name of the activity Did you receive funds to implement this activity? How much? Tell Your Story Every project has a story. Please describe any anecdotal evidence/stories from a community member or your personal experience that attest to the project's success. This vignette may be used to highlight your exemplary work when reporting to stakeholders. Goals Achieved, Changes in Initial Objectives, and Community Feeling Capacity and Skills Built Sustainability Unexpected Events and Recommendations CED activity N. 6 Economic Development Plan No Very four years municipal and departmental governments are elected and immediately write an economic development plan. I was fortunate to be involve in some phases of this plan, though I would like to have done more. We arranged to meet in many of Aracataca s 33 +/- barrios and a number of corregimientos, verdas and caserias. Through this series of meetings we posed a number of questions to local leaders and interested residents. While I tried to steer the conversation to assets, the planning department move quickly to a discussion of problems, followed by assets that would help barrios to overcome the problems. I took notes in Spanish and forwarded these to the planning team. I created a GIS database an mapped some of the information that we gathered indicating where water, sewer, security, transportation and other issues appeared to be highest priority. Maps: The plan is largely complete, though I am not sure the degree to which my efforts were incorporated. Certainly we came to an agreement about the fundamental important of water and sewer in most communities, with floods being very important in some riverside barrios. The details are elaborated in the plan and the municipality is already working hard on solving these basic needs problems. I certainly exposed planning staff to the potential of free GIS tools like Google Maps, Google Earth, and Fusion Tables. I would like to have built their skills in this area, but they have not made it a priority. I think to some extent they defer to the national government to provide these services a mistake in my eyes. I think I had some subtle impacts on their group meeting format and the balance between assets and deficits as the meetings appeared to improve over time. The plan will serve for the next four years, though the planning department committed to hosting more barrio meetings in the future. Failure to continue engaging the public will weaken projects or make them unsustainable. Each phase of this planning process has had unexpected turns. There were truly fascinating moments, like a long meeting with Arhuaco mamo or village

16 Questions Lessons Learned and Promising Practices (include Counterpart Strengths or Weaknesses) Following up activities recommended for next volunteer Other observations leaders. Other times I have been discouraged when my offers to help the planning staff have been ignored. Recommendation: Read the plan (which eventually will be posted on the municipal website Become familiar with the goals, objectives and strategies. See if there are elements in which you can help. Encourage the staff to really do the follow up meetings and try to participate. Sometimes your offers of help will go unheeded. Be persistent, but try to detect when you really aren t wanted on a project. There are times when you will be considered to be a boat anchor. If you have technical skills that they need, be aggressive in showing them examples and offer to take on elements of a project. Sometimes it works out. Read the plan Dig into implementation Encourage your counterparts to join you. Meet with Barrio leaders to discuss the plan and how they can help with implementation. CED Contacts: Which counterpart contacts did you work with most? Please include their names, position, and contact information. Name Position Phone Pedro Javier Acalde alcaldia@aracataca-magdalena.gov.co Sánchez Rueda Wilson Hernandez Secretaria, Educación y hernandez-w@hotmail.com Cultura Wilfrido Mercado Arias Secretaria de Planeación secretariadeplaneacion@aracatacamagdalena.gov.co Breyner Moscote Planeación Intern Breyner breynermoscote@gmail.com may or may not be working in Aracataca in the future. His internship ended about the time I departed. Andres Fergussen Daconte Planeación anfefer15@hotmail.com Alvaro Uribe Pabon UMATA Director, Aracataca Alvaro Mejia UMATA, Aracataca alvaromejia1962@hotmail.com Dilver Daza Romero Instructor, SENA dildaro09@hotmail.com José Francisco Instructor, SENA jofravimi2006@hotmail.com Villalba Miranda Gary Escorcia Coordinador, SENA Jairo Tamariz Subdirector Programas Agropecuarias, SENA (035) / 68

17 Part 4: Community Contacts & Additional Projects/Secondary Activities Community/Secondary Activities: What community/secondary activities did you accomplish? How much time did you spend on these activities? Activity Time Brief Community Contact Recycling, solid waste, reforestation and environmental education (some of this is included as a primary activity above) 10% Used a SPA grant to purchase recycling bins for approximately 20 public schools in the population center. Distributed bins and provided motivational presentations with a team of youth environmental leaders. Also held community litter clean-up. We have started a seedbed and Wifrido Mercado (above) Wilson Hernandez (above) Breyner Moscote (above) Hernán Gutierrez (above) nursery for reforestation. Bicycle Tourism 5% I traveled to the limits of a one-day round-trip bike ride in all directions from Aracataca, creating annotated GIS maps and photo-travel logs. This information will contribute to the outdoor-recreation portion of my tourism project. All rides were taken on weekends and national holidays. Community Music and Dance 5% I attended numerous rehearsals and performances of community musicians and dance groups. I interviewed leaders and members. This information is also part of the tourism marketing effort. Various depending on the community. Manuel Barcelo, Composer Donald Ramos, Dance Leader Leonid Mendoza Suarez, Dance Leader Jorge Cruz, Musician Community Contact Information: Please list community contacts and the outside organizations that you worked with (if applicable). Copy and paste the template as needed for additional organizations. Contact Name Phone and Organization Name (if applicable) Type (NGO, governmental, etc.) Main Results & Comments Contact Name Phone and Organization Name (if applicable) Type (NGO, governmental, etc.) Main Results & Comments Contact Name Phone and Organization Name (if applicable) Type (NGO, governmental, etc.) Main Results & Comments Katarina Saavedra Ortiz, Cordinadora / proyectos@fundepalma.org FundePalma NGO Foundation of the Palm Oil Industry Coordinates programs for FundePalma. Based in Santa Marta. Yenny Patricia Salazar Corredor, Directora Ejecutiva / directoraejecutiva@fundepalma.org FundePalma NGO Foundation of the Palm Oil Industry Director of FundePalma. Based in Santa Marta. Darliz Marina Caceres Herrera, Coordinadora Casa Telegrafista / darkay31@hotmail.com FundePalma NGO Foundation of the Palm Oil Industry Manages the Casa Telegrafísta with a useful classroom and computer lab. They have CED programs of their own and are