10 Tidbits about the department of Tolima

I haven't been consistent with blog posts, but I thought to post some things I've learned from being in Colombia for 10 months now. My recent email update gives a more complete overview of what I'm doing in Ibague, department of Tolima.

Being here in Ibague for 6 months has given me much insight into the daily life of Colombians, and the context in which they live... continuous learning I'd call it. Here are some small things that I have observed since arriving (this picture is a view of the mountains from the church doorstep in Modelia):

• Ibague is the musical capital of Colombia, with a nationally renowned Conservatory. They teach both classical and traditional Colombian music. I've been to 1 concert and hope to take some flute lessons there in the future.

• Ibague is the city with the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 19.1%. Many people are economically displaced, as they leave for Bogota to look for work. Although one can walk in several parts of the city safely, you always have to be careful, as armed robberies are becoming increasingly common (due to desperate financial situations).

• Tolima has pine trees. I didn't know Colombia had pine trees.

• Ibague is home to a national fiesta: the Fiesta of San Juan every June. The traditional dance of Tolima is the bambuco and the Sanjuanero is danced throughout Ibague during the Fiesta de San Juan.

• Neighbourhoods in Colombia are divided into government-defined stratas ranging from 1-6 (6 being upper class). In Bogota, lower stratas are in the south and upper ones in the north. In Ibague, a strata 5 neighbourhood can border a strata 1 or 2. My neighbourhood for example, is strata 3 and is surrounded by strata 2 and strata 6 neighbourhoods. In my opinion, this system is a compromise: people pay rent and utilities according to their strata which makes it

• Ibaguereños are friendly, generally more laid-back than Bogotanos, but not as animated as people from the Coast. (many Colombians say Costeños talk with their hands more than their lips)

• Typical Tolimense dishes: lechona and tamal. Lechona is a mixture of rice, peas and pork cooked right inside the whole pig on a spittle. Think of turkey stuffing at Christmas time. It's surprisingly super tasty! The tamal is pork, chicken, beef, potatoes, peas and perhaps carrots steam-cooked in a corn flour and wrapped in plantain leaves. Caution: not daily dishes. Risk of obesity but worth it.

• The majority of displaced people in Tolima department have arrived to Ibague, as it's the department's capital. Amanda has worked with displaced communities for the past 8 years and now is working specifically with 2 neighbourhoods: Modelia and Martinica. Modelia is the main community I'm working in. There is still strong guerrilla presence in the south of Tolima, where the FARC guerrilla group was born in the 1960s. The highest displacement rates occurred in Tolima in the early 2000s, but still continues today.
  

• Cajamarca, a beautiful town nestled in the Tolimense mountains, is known as the breadbasket of Colombia, providing food ranging from carrots to tomatoes to onions, yucca, beans, corn and potatoes. Several international (including Canadian) mining companies are also scouring these same mountains for gold deposits which, if found, would begin an open pit mine close to the town. There is strong protest from both the town and Tolimenses.
• Ironically, people generally take time out to relax more than in Canada, but they drive 3 times faster, eat faster, and talk faster. It's an interesting irony: I'm slowly learning to talk faster! :)
  

Bowling pins and child workers

Last night, I went bowling - it was awesome fun. It was interesting, too, to note that you had to fill out the score sheet manually and there were humans resetting the pins, not machines like I'm used to in Canada. I'd also gone a week before with a delegation from Semillas de Esperanza's sister church in Saskatchewan and realized how fun it was to make a fool out of myself by throwing gutter balls, then randomly throwing a strike.

I was about to throw my last ball when the pin putter (person who puts up the bowling pins) came out to say I had one more throw. I was shocked. This kid couldn't be more than 10 yrs old. I didn't really know how to react.

I knew there were people behind the pins resetting them. Chiki, the pin putter who did our game, came out from behind for a break. 'It's tiring work setting up those pins', is the first thing he tells me. I took the chance to ask him a few more questions: 'How much do they pay you?' I asked him. '600 pesos per person'. We were 6 people: he earned 3,600 pesos for our game. We paid a total of 33,000 to the bowling alley. 'How many hours do you usually work?' 'Normally 11am-8pm'. 9 hours picking up bowling pins.

Child workers are very common Colombia, yet especially in Ibague, as it's the city with the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 19.1%. I've asked many people why that is: of course, there's many responses.

Ibague is also the second city that receives the highest amount of displaced people, apart from the capital, Bogota. Many (although definitely not all) people come from the countryside, and need to find a fast way to earn an income. This need for quick cash contributes to the ever-increasing informal economy, where people set up small stands of anything ranging from avocados to candy, sunglasses to cacti or clothes. Many people who have been displaced also face stigma, as people tend to label them as criminals or claiming they have done something to deserve their situation. It is harder for a displaced person to get a job than someone who hasn't lived displacement.

There is also a lack of study and training opportunities for more professional jobs, which are desperately needed. The SENA, a government funded community college - style institution, is well-known for quality training, yet focuses on technical and basic administration careers. In many cases, one can train in culinary arts, train as a computer technician, yet these types of jobs are still often informal. A recent article in portafolio.com.co also pointed out that social and government parties lack unity in their efforts to confront this problem, and lack of long-term visioning.

The article also observed that unemployment in Ibague didn't start to grow until the early 2000s due to the Colombian economic crisis in the 90s. In these years, several large factories, including a Coca Cola bottling factory, left Ibague for bigger cities. Ibague is one of Colombia's main textile producers (clothing, towels, material, etc) but most is now machine-operated and doesn't generate sizable employment for citizens.

All these factors are somehow related to child labour: if Chiki had to leave school to help support his family, this has consequences for his basic education, and future study or job opportunities. Talking with one of my friends Negiht after, she pointed out setting up bowling pins is a relatively easy job: many other kids transport sacks of potatoes, vegetables, or other goods in the plazas or work in the numerous mines that national and international companies operate here in Colombia.

If we just keep our eyes open, we can make many more connections between our daily lives and big picture problems...hey, maybe next time it'll be in an ice cream shop. I wouldn't mind that.

Photo: Martinica is one of the communities Amanda has been working with for 8 years. This community is made up of residents from Rioblanco, a town in Southern Tolima hit hard by violence in the early 2000s. Many children still study here, but there are also many who work to support their families.