Long time since I updated. Two weeks ago, I visited a place called Dabeiba!
Apparently this is how Dabeiba looks like, but in truth I have no idea because we never made it to the actual town.
I am embarrassed to say that I took tonnes of photos that day. Only because all these people, especially the locals, have never seen an Asian before. Yup I was a rock star. Literally took photo after photo, and was either always stared at or surrounded and bombarded by one after another curious Spanish questions. Over-whelming! Guess I was born to be a star :D
In all honesty I was really embarrassed, until I spoke to this hippy-ish guy on the bus, who was really into karma/yin and yang and that kind of stuff. And he said today I made a difference and I helped some people understand the world out there. Well I really didn't do anything, and it really wasn't anything, but I felt quite :D.
For lunch we had hot and piping Sancocho! Cooked over a stove right on the spot!
Besides being 'representatives', we also had another mission. Product testing! Remember what I said about Tiago working on a fruit farm? They were producing a new juice drink intending to be signed to distributers in the cities, and it is time to test customer reaction to this new product.
The event ended with a mini concert and the hanging up of the banner. A symbol. Hope for a better future?
Apparently this is how Dabeiba looks like, but in truth I have no idea because we never made it to the actual town.
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| Dabeiba |
Dabeiba was a 6 hour bus ride away from Medellin - imagine going there and back in just one day!
It wasn't a tour this time, the bus stopped in front of a tunnel on a street with mountain on the right and hill on the left. It was pretty much nowhere.
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| 5am in the morning |
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| Cris and I! |
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| Stopover for breakfast |
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| Gorgeous lake |
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| Common to see (not smoke but) CLOUDS all around us while travelling around the mountains |
It wasn't a tour this time, the bus stopped in front of a tunnel on a street with mountain on the right and hill on the left. It was pretty much nowhere.
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| Nowhere |
Except there were loads of people there and policemen patrolling the place!
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| Tiago and Cris! |
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| The tunnel |
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| Us :) |
The truth about Dabeiba:
'More than 200 known civilians were displaced in 1997 by a military offensive and today find themselves in temporary shelters. They continue to demand the right to return to their land, even as new victims are added to their numbers. The tactics of destroying human life through psychological terror and actions of control continue in the municipality of Dabeiba through the development of a counter-insurgency military strategy, which although it is said to be against the FARC (Colombian Army), is directed more against the civil population.'
That day, Dabeiba hosted a gathering of youths from different cities and municipals of Antioquia. All there to spell what they wanted for the country's future. All to demonstrate support for the hurt population of Dabeiba. Cool.
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| The banner made from many squares contributed by each city/municipal |
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| Paintings all along the tunnel |
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| Picture with the locals |
In all honesty I was really embarrassed, until I spoke to this hippy-ish guy on the bus, who was really into karma/yin and yang and that kind of stuff. And he said today I made a difference and I helped some people understand the world out there. Well I really didn't do anything, and it really wasn't anything, but I felt quite :D.
For lunch we had hot and piping Sancocho! Cooked over a stove right on the spot!
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| Lunch queue |
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| Steaming |
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| Sancocho |
Besides being 'representatives', we also had another mission. Product testing! Remember what I said about Tiago working on a fruit farm? They were producing a new juice drink intending to be signed to distributers in the cities, and it is time to test customer reaction to this new product.
The event ended with a mini concert and the hanging up of the banner. A symbol. Hope for a better future?
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| Band playing |
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| Cultural performances |
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| The banner |
Cool day!
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