Colombia Calling - The English Voice in Colombia

Creative writing has hardly ever been my forte, I am a journalist by trade and therefore try as best I may to stay within the limits of creativity as defined by the facts of the story as it is delivered or suggested by a source, so, it was a great pleasure some weeks ago to be invited to participate in a sit down and feedback session with the Bogotá Writers (http://www.bogotawriters.com/). I suppose these groups exist all over the place, but this was my first time participating in something of this nature and how exciting to know that something like this exists in Bogotá.

The Bogotá Writers group consists of eight individuals – all of them published authors – who share a desire to write, perhaps to enable them to be lifted away from the monotonous grind of Bogotá’s traffic or perhaps to facilitate an escape from the reality of the 9 to 5. There is the quirky self-proclaimed “professional geek” who seems to be inspired by the more sinister aspects of writing (you’ll have to buy the book), the author who was stifled in her youth by the glaring failures of the English schools system in weeding out an uninspired educator (you know who you are), the ubiquitous Irish writer (we’ve had her on Colombia Calling) and the incredibly well-travelled and well-informed academic amongst others. It’s an interesting group to say the least. In French you would call it a perfect métissage des cultures. 

Tune in to hear of an example of why Bogota boasts such an educated citizenry.

The ongoing peace dialogues between the FARC guerrillas (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the Colombian government began in November 2012 and so to mark almost exactly two years to the date since they began, we sit down with Gwen Burnyeat and Andrei Gomez, two academics and intellectuals involved in a group called Rodeemos el Dialogo (https://rodeemoseldialogo.wordpress.com/).

ReD is a group of Colombians, and friends of Colombia, resident in the UK and Colombia, who wish to express their interest in, and active support for, the peace negotiations between the Colombian Government and the FARC.The name of the group – ‘Rodeemos el Diálogo’, ‘Let us surround the dialogue’ – draws its inspiration from a popular Colombian saying referring to the need to provide support to an important cause in difficult times.

ReD is convinced that the path towards the end of the armed conflict in Colombia can only be assured through negotiations between the Colombian Government and the FARC, which should be based on the principles of truth, justice and reparation. They also believe that a lasting peace in Colombia has to be built on the active participation and wishes of the whole of Colombian society.

I have had the opportunity to attend a couple of their meetings and it has been refreshing to listen to people from all sectors of society voicing their concerns and hopes for peace in Colombia. So, if you want to hear about the peace dialogues and what is going on, tune in!

Several years ago author Brian Kevin came through my little town of Mompos and stayed in the Casa Amarilla. I had no idea he was following in the footsteps of one of my favourite authors, the forefather of gonzo journalism, Hunter S Thompson. I had no idea that Thompson had travelled South America in 1962/63 and as a shrewd observer of political events, his journey during the height of the Cold War and during dictatorial latin american regimes was partially reported in the now defunct National Observer newspaper and in his collection "The Proud Highway". 

Kevin speaks to us from Maine where he currently located and tells about the journey in writing this book, his reflections on "the gringo trail" through South America and his reflections on the nature of travel in his recently released "The Footloose American: Following the Hunter S. Thompson Trail Across South America".

Read more about the interview with Brian Kevin on my blog (http://www.richardmccoll.com/footloose-american/) and buy the book (http://goo.gl/edaGX8) for a fascinating insight into contemporary South America seen through the eyes of someone who clearly has found his voice as a pioneering writer of his generation.

This week we sit down with renowned Dutch Photographer and Journalist Fetze Weerstra who has just been to Mompos for the 3rd Jazz Festival as a guest of the Colombian tourism board. Can you imagine that in his time here in Colombia, Fetze was an innovator in creating a line of postcards with which to promote through their sale in major hotels and bookstores. So, in doing this he has been able to provide picture perfect images to the long overlooked tourist public and has been, albeit amusingly, very successful in perfecting an old concept and reconsidering it for the twenty first century. Check out his work here http://www.fetzeweerstra.com/

Of course, taking full advantage of his time to Mompos where, as you well know, I run my own little hotel, I get to discuss with him the various phases of tourism in Colombia and indeed the importance of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and how he found the town. As a photographer one hopes that he was able to capture the picturesque and authentic nature of out garcia marquian town.

This week we catch up with Maryland native Matt Aaron and speak about how he came to be in Colombia - full time now since 2010 - and his work over the years here. Aaron initially worked for a volunteer project and so we get a good insight into the realities of that world here in Colombia, before experiencing an epiphany and deciding to live his life in a more healthy fashion. 

From 2011 Aaron has been working on creating health food products for both sale in Colombia and for exportation in the United States. His initial plan was to sell coca leaf tablets, but, realising that he faced an uphill battle on this for the obvious reasons, he turned his attentions to panela. 

For those unfamiliar with panela, it is the unrefined whole cane sugar derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Aaron has taken the bricks of panela, ground them down and has created a new organic energy drink containing panela and mixed with various fruits such as lulo, passion fruit and red fruits. The result is flavoursome and natural and soo he will be exporting to stores in the Miami area. Check out his product at http://www.panelamix.com/ if you are interested. Aaron can also source exotic products for you via his other enterprise http://www.valorfoods.com

Following our desire to keep on delivering high editorial content here for our listeners on Colombia Calling, we sit down with Boston native Natalie Southwick in Bogota and discuss her life as a journalist in Colombia, as the editor in chief of the new Latin Correspondent site (http://latincorrespondent.com/) and her work in social projects that has taken her all around the country. 

Natalie provides us with a frank yet insightful conversation and insight into the world of journalism, being a freelancer and the challenging yet ultimately rewarding experience of heading a fresh news site dedicated to providing a focused and interesting view of what is going on in the region. In her words, she is sourcing stories and journalists out there who are prepared to research and report on the issues that are perhaps not covered in the mainstream international press. Of course, we think this is fantastic and are betting on Latin Correspondent to become a major platform for informed news from our part of the world which is perhaps a little too overlooked. 

Later, we get to speak to Natalie about her work in the impoverished Pacific region of Colombia. You may have heard of or read about the atrocities taking place in the port city of Buenaventura. Tune in to hear some good news about social advancement!

At this point in time when Colombian politicians are talking only of reconciliation and of a post conflict phase to the situation in-country, we here at Colombia Calling have the opportunity of taking a step back and finding out who are these international people actually investing time and effort into improving the lives of the most humble. Alice Dow and her husband Agustin are two of these people. 

In a fascinating interview we get to sit down with native New Yorker Alice and talk about their foundation Healing Colombia (www.healingcolombia.org) and the work they have been doing for over a decade with some of Colombia's most needy communities. What makes this most timely and poignant is that they have been at the fore of launching a mentor program - similar to those in NY and London - where Colombians and/or foreigners can commit to a year of being a mentor with an individual from a marginal barrio in Bogota. 

This has been a roaring success and now Alice and Agustin and their team are embarking on the second phase of the mentor program. Tune in to hear about a foreign couple giving back to Colombia.

Can you dance like a Colombian? Sadly I have to admit that even after eight years here I am a poor imitation of any Colombian, so imagine how British writer Neil Bennion (www.wanderingdesk.com) felt when he decided to train himself up in a six month stay in Colombia and write a book about his travails. 

Bennion begins his journey in Colombia's de facto capital of dance, the city of Cali, takes lessons, suffers, succeeds and then takes off around the country. In what is an informed, digestible and enjoyable travel novel, Bennion details a history of Colombia and her regions through the music discovered and explored. His travels take him through a variety of destinations including Medellin, Bogota, the Eastern Plains and up onto the Caribbean coast where he finds himself in San Basilio de Palenque, a community of former African slaves with their own independent identity separate to that of the rest of Colombia. 

We catch up with Bennion in Poland and grill him about "Dancing Feat: One Man's Mission to Dance Like a Colombian", his first book and find out if, after his lengthy stay here, he is in act able to dance like a Colombian and how this skill benefits him now. Download his book here on Amazon http://goo.gl/e6Qv3n .

As troubles continue in Venezuela, we in Colombia are becoming more aware of how this is directly affecting life, the economy and our society here. So, it is time to focus on the situation in Venezuela once again and this week we hear from a former officer in the Venezuelan National Guard, Javier Nieto. 

Nieto now runs an executive security outfit (http://www.enkelson.com/) and is of course up to speed and informed on the security issues currently afflicting our sister country. We speak about the porous borders between Colombia and Venezuela, the influence of Colombia’s FARC and ELN guerrillas within Venezuela and indeed the politics of President Maduro. 

Tune in to listen to a firsthand account of the reality of Venezuela not covered by the mainstream media and form your own opinion of the contemporary ills in this region of northern south america.

Did you know that there are psychoanalysts out there treating patients through something known as and referred to as “Geek Therapy”? This week we sit down with Josue Cardona in North Carolina and discuss his role in this emerging practice and his recent trip to Colombia, invited to present Geek Therapy (http://www.geektherapy.com/) to Colombian students, health workers and the like. Given that Colombia is a relatively conservative country in her practices and traditions I am particularly interested to hear how the lectures and workshops were received and how Josue found Colombia on this, his first visit. Tune in to hear a truly fascinating insight into the Colombian psyche and of course all about Geek Therapy itself.