Colombia Calling - The English Voice in Colombia

The last time Irish singer songwriter Kevin McCaffrey joined us on the Colombia Calling podcast, it was September 2016, the peace accords in Colombia hadn't been signed and we were discussing parallels between these and the accords in Ireland. Fast forward from Ep157 to Ep294 and McCaffrey has now lived in Cali for 10 years, performed before an immense crowd at a huge music festival and will be releasing his new EP "Confressions" on November 20

After a chance meeting in a restaurant in Cusco, Peru, Susana Bueno Lindo and Tony Aiello married a few years later and life has brought this native of Colorado to live in his wife's home city of Bogotá, Colombia. But, this serendipitous tale does not end here, now, the husband and wife team are working hard to ensure that they can learn from and also teach new practices to rural midwives in some of the most impoverished, conflict affected and isolated regions of Colombia

October is almost upon us and with it comes Colombia's local and regional elections which should be a litmus test for President Ivan Duque's popularity and mandate. So, we at Colombia Calling reached out to Sergio Guzman of Colombia Risk Analysis (www.colombiariskanalysis.com) to provide us with a breakdown of what to expect and what machinations are in the works

When we think of traditional medicines from the Amazon, our thoughts immeditately turn to vines of Yage or Ayahuasca, and so, while we do discuss this vine with Colombian Anthropologist Hernando Echeverri, we also explore more of the varities which grow in the region of the Putumayo. Speaking with the authority of Michael Taussig, Echeverri shares with us experiences about his period of investigating and studying traditional medicines, and learning from shamans in the region

On Ep290 of the Colombia Calling podcast it's a great honour to welcome Calgarian, Kaleigh Kuchinski on to the show to talk about her work with Agriteam Canada Consulting, an agency which enables communities in zones designated for extractive industries to reach a greater transparency and best practices

For those of you familiar with my work, you will know that I am fascinated by local elections here and the machinations taking place in the barrios, not just in Bogotá but all over the country. This week on the Colombia Calling podcast we have a great opportunity to hear all about local elections with a hopeful candidate running for the Alianza Verde party, Diego Laserna, giving us the inside track

Many of us have dreamt of making the move overseas and opening a small business, there are those of us who have done and those amongst who sit idly by, but Australian expat in Bogota, Darren Crockett is far from the latter

This week on the Colombia Calling podcast, we talk to Sam Castañeda Holdren, a transplant from the US to Medellin where he has launched the successful, "Out in Colombia," travel agency. Out in Colombia (www.outincolombia.com) is a socially responsible LGBT travel and tourism agency specializing in tailor made and concierge-style travel to Colombia. We discuss how people have responded to a LGBT travel agency in this part of the world and some of the challenges faced.

On the Colombia Calling episode this week we get to speak to Colombian science journalist Tania Valbuena in Bogotá. After spending time in the Colombian military, she moved into public health policy and epidemiology before decided that journalism was her true passion. Now, she works in ensuring that the projects and discoveries made by scientists in the global south can be shared and communicated to the people

On Ep285 we welcome back Wally Broderick (Ep135 Prisons in Colombia) who is now involved in a fascinating project of brewing craft beers with ex FARC guerrillas now reincorporated into Colombian society