I decided to do a website on this country today (Monday, September 26th 2005) after getting an e-mail (down below) from a Filipino missionary-Romy. I met him at a conference several years ago in the Twin Cities and I've been keeping in contact with him ever since...
From : Romy S
Sent : Monday, September 19, 2005 10:40 AM
To :
Subject : Bienvenidos colombia
Greetings from Colombia!
I thank God that I arrived safe and sound. i��m so excited to tell you my
three days adventure so far. I��m so happyand excited as I was exiting Bogota
airport. until I get out but no body there to pick me up, I waited for an hour
because I assumed they ��re gonna be late ( they are latinos)heheheh . anyway
a lot of taxi driver were asking me if i need a ride or to make phone calls.
well i decided to call YWAM Bogota and Alex gave me an instruction but I dont
quiet understood so I let him talked to taxi driver. so we took off from the
airport, however my first encounter, Manila and Bogota drivers are the same
very crazy beat the red light etc.. I told the driver Im not in a hurry, It
will be fine. Im kinda nervous and got scared when we almost hit the guy on the
bicycle driving in the middle of the road funny. heehehe..finally we reached the
ywam base the funny part the taxi driver asking me for a tip and asking US$2 in
particular hhehehe, and all the lovely kids helped out to carry my luggages in.
I love these children I will tell you more about them later cuz I��ll be coming
back to Bogota again next week.
anyway saturday night taking off to Cartagena, 9 pm we were at the bus station
they told us bus leave 10 pm but it came late so we left 11 pm. 5 am sunday I
was sleeping I heared somebody screamed, our bus crashed to another bus thank
God nobody hurts and its a mild collission. so we waited for the police to
arrive and after 3 hours police came and investigate but it takes another 3
hours for us to wait, they keep talking and talking.
finally 10 am we took off again I enjoyed my viewing time because I see the
other side of Colombia. here as coffee is everywhere the cops and military as
well. In my journey I learned there��s a lot of poor towns and people like
parties and dancing and go to the park, in Baranquilla we stopped I think
this is the longest park that I ever seen whitin the city and many people there
do their own things, and speaking of this city, we transfered here to other bus
which 2 hours away from Cartagena. now there are 3 police start checking and
video taping each passenger , so when its my turn they ask my name , what
province I am from and I said Im from the Philippines and they asked my
passport, however I left my passport in Bogota in my other suitcase I told
them that and I showed my driver licences both US and Phil. but they kinda hard
and ask what i do and I said I��m missionary and then asked me again if I��m a
pastor Im kinda hesitant to say cuz. I know one pastor got killed in Cali
hehhehe but I said yes, and Im going to teach in Cartagena, and I tried to
explain to them with my broken spanish, I ��ve been travelling for 24 hours
and I��m tired, dirty and hungry and 2 hours more to reach my destination��. I
was thinking they will put me in the jail beacuse they hold me for awhile and
they finally let me in the bus and the other cop was keep filming. I feel like
Im so popular hehe .. just kidding. but to tell you honestly I was so scared
but I do know God is control of everything and He is giving me peace in my
heart and smile on my face. Cartagena 12 midnight. and finally met marcus ywam
director here in cartegena and he is from Switzerland but spoke very well
spanish and english.
today is sept. 19 , 10 am Monday
with much love and blessings in Christ Romy
Movie: Maria Full of Grace
I just saw the DVD movie of this dramatic movie, which I had to immediately write about it this late evening of Monday, September 4th of 2006. I was very touched by the story, which I wanted to share my thoughts to folks I feel this will have a various impact....
-immigrants
-drug lords/dealers, drugees, "mules" (drug smugglers),etc..
-Latino community
Reviews:
HBO Films
IMDB
Nicks Flick Picks
Rotten Tomatoes
-History of Drugs
Chemical Warfare in Colombia, from colombia journal
"
After providing a brief overview of the history of the U.S. war on drugs, the book focuses on the implementation of Plan Colombia in Putumayo (embassy of Colombia). O�Shaughnessy and Branford describe in detail the health and economic consequences of the aerial spraying on farmers and their families. They raise serious questions about the chemical concoction being used and dispel the myth propagated by the U.S. and Colombian governments that glyphosate is no more toxic than �common salt, aspirin, caffeine, nicotine and even Vitamin A.�
...Tests conducted on Colombian refugees who fled across the border after being sprayed and on Ecuadorians living close to the border who were also affected by aerial fumigations showed a dramatic increase in chromosome damage. As a result, those victimized by the spraying now face a heightened risk of �developing cancer, mutations and congenital malformations.�
The book makes evident that Plan Colombia is failing to achieve its stated goal of reducing the flow of cocaine to the United States. It also, however, notes that the war on drugs is proving somewhat successful with regard to achieving Washington�s broader goals of protecting and furthering U.S. political and economic interests in the region. Given that these interests are threatened by Colombia�s leftist guerrillas, Plan Colombia is as much about counterinsurgency as it is a strategy to combat illicit drugs.
Chemical Warfare in Colombia is a must read for anyone interested in discovering the brutal realities that lie behind the media headlines and the official rhetoric of the war on drugs. It illustrates the futility of trying to combat illicit drugs at the source, unless of course, as the authors point out, ending illicit drug production is not the principal objective. Most importantly, Chemical Warfare in Colombia makes evident the plight of impoverished Colombian farmers who are little more than pawns in Washington�s geo-political strategy to preserve its hegemony in Latin America.
Colombia History, from iexplore.com
"Meanwhile, a third potent force emerged during the 1980s, in the form of organized drug traffickers (known as cartels and identified generally by their cities of origin � hence �Cali cartel�, �Medell�n cartel�). Their control of large sums of money now began to be turned into political power and leading politicians increasingly became tainted by their connections with drug money.
War on Drugs, from wikipedia
"
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