I just got back today from a trip to the Caribbean Coast with my Colombian YEO and his family. Though this wasn't my first time to the Colombian shoreline, this trip was remarkably different- not just because I got to see a different place, but because I got there by car, not plane. Thus, I got to drive through the heart of Colombia, and I got to see some very beautiful and very disturbing things. Not all of Colombia is like the Eje Cafetero- it's not all beautiful coffee fields high up in the mountains dotted with Paisa-style fincas. In fact, most of Colombia isn't like that. I just happen to be lucky enough to live in the part that is.
That's not to say that the rest of Colombia isn't beautiful- the landscapes I've seen here, no matter where I've been, have been stunning. The disturbing part of what I saw isn't that- it's the poverty. Poverty isn't fun to discuss and it certainly isn't fun to witness. But it's real and it needs to be talked about. As I traveled through Medellin with my YEO's family and on to northern Antioquia and the coast, the fincas became more and more sparse and the mountains taller and more jagged. No more picturesque pueblos- what I saw instead were tiny, one room shacks made from sticks with plastic tarp and garbage bags for roofs and walls. I saw fincas perched on the ledges of cliffs, looking as if with one gust of wind they would teeter off. Big families all crammed into a one room shanty. People would send out their sick family members, more likely to garner the sympathy of drivers, to beg for change. It's heartbreaking to see- and it goes on and on and on. It's poverty that I'd never seen before in my life, nor had imagined.
My YEO told me that this region, less than ten years ago before the peace accords, used to be completely unsafe and full of guerrillas and paramilitaries. Even today, it's still not great- there's gold in those mountains, and with gold, comes violence. But it's crazy to think how far this country has come in so little time- and yet it still has so far to go. Maybe the FARC is gone (in that region), but the poverty still has a tight grasp on this country. It is horrible to see- but I'm glad I saw it. It has changed how I see everything. Sure, I've heard about severe poverty on the internet or TV- but seeing it face to face is a totally different experience. I have so, so much in life, and so often, I take it all for granted. I wish I could help those people I saw, those people who would give anything for the chances and opportunities that have been handed to me just because of where and to whom I was born. It's heartbreaking to know that just because of where many of these people live, they won't ever have opportunities to a good education, or to escape from the poverty that surrounds them.
I wish I could end this post with some kind of rallying cry for change- I wish I could say "Donate to this charity!" and solve the problem- but it's not that easy. This kind of poverty can't be fixed with donations nor volunteering- it's something that all of Colombia needs to focus on to change. I believe that it all starts with access to good education- but even making that happen here seems almost impossible. I hope that I can help in some way, some day, but I also know that this problem isn't just in Colombia. It's the whole world. I've grown up in such a sheltered environment in a developed country, but most of the world isn't as lucky as I am. The first step to solving this problem of poverty, globally, is just awareness. Seeing the things I have seen has planted thoughts in me that will never go away. And the more people with an itch for change, the better.
This post has been hard to write. Seeing people living in extreme poverty is something that's hard to see. But it's real and it's out there, and I want everyone who's reading this to know that.
