In this converstaion with Mark Poehner (Marco), we cover a few topics such as his experience as a foreigner growing up in Colombia during a time of inmense violence . We also talk about his family dynamics and upbringing and his approach to parenting. We talk as well as his passion to reforestation and conservation of endagered forest species in Colombia. And how everything in life is intricately interconnected.
Here is more about him in his own words:
"It wasn’t until I was in my 50s and read Third Culture Kids, by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken, that I understood how growing up in Colombia and going to Colegio Bolívar molded my identity and social adaptation. Like many other CB students and alumni, I am a hybrid of two or more cultures, having entered Colombia at age 5, in January 1961. It was a bewildering introduction to a society at war with itself, with extremes and contrasts between wealth and poverty, ethnic diversity, natural beauty and abundance and the ugliness of the Violencia.
My father, who had been born to missionary parents in Pereira, Caldas (1926, prior to the secession of Risaralda), also felt “called” to minister to the poor and downtrodden, so he ventured into the most remote regions, jungles and marginalized neighborhoods, where the refugees settled; and he took me with him. I formed deep bonds with the forests and pueblos of Colombia. I became a “grincolombiano” or “grindio.”
On my 17th birthday I left home, Colegio Bolívar and Colombia, to make it on my own. Borrowing my airfare, I went to the USA, where I began working as a farm laborer, a dock worker, and even a janitor at my high school, to subsist. It took four years to afford college, where I felt out of place socially. I worked a few years as a journalist, then turned to teaching, first adults, then children.
In my early 30s, in a crisis of identity, I returned to Colombia to explore my national affinity. Teaching some wonderful 4th grade classes at CB, from 1988 to 1991, I realized that I was both Colombian and USAmerican, and that it was my choice to embrace both.
During that time I was offered an abandoned farm in upper Pance, above the town and the end of the road. I bought it in February 1989, borrowing from my retirement account. I devoted it to reforestation with native species, and to the conservation of endangered forest species. I learned the hard way, that the idealism of “self-sustained” farms takes 26-hr. workdays; so I kept the project going on my meager teacher budget.
Dealing with the violence of my upbringing (frequent fighting in my neighborhood, ongoing disturbances in the countryside and the city), I pursued a different approach to relationships and communication. After marrying and becoming a father, I was given a mentor in “Effective Communication and Relationship Building.” I studied under Selwa Saíd for 17 years, learning how to teach and raise children without coercion, punishment or yelling, and to listen to the intent and desire of others in conflict. I thoroughly changed my approach to teaching and parenting.
Now retired, I live between my two countries, between Cali and Central Coast California. Between forestry and surfing. As a hermit in the Farallones de Cali and as a dad on the Monterey Peninsula. As many other CB alumni, I’m a hybrid, a bridge builder, and hopefully a resource for a more peaceful and healthy future."
Contact Mark Poehner
FB: Marco Poehner
[email protected]
WA: +1 831-512-2880
316-562-6627 (when I have a signal)
Contact Kendra Rinaldi: https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/
