I’ve been doing more research on Colombia again. It’s a geographic interest I developed many years ago when I met some new Colombian friends while living in Seattle. My Colombian friends are so much fun, they've infected me with their warmth, big hearts, and fun sense of humor. I finally had a chance last spring to visit Colombia myself. I fell in love with the country and the people.
Colombia is a beautiful country, rich in culture and history, with festive music, tropical delicious fruits, access to both the Pacific and the Caribbean, and with a varied topography. Famous rock stars such as Shakira, Juanes, Carlos Vives are from Colombia. And the famous painter of roly poly people and objects, Fernando Botero, is Colombian. Charming colonial cities like Cartagena now attract cruise ships and tourists. Bogota is modern, with a web of bike trails throughout the city. The overall literacy rate in Colombia is high - something like 90%+ according to UN statistics.
At the same time, Colombia has experienced a tragic 40-year internal civil war. The conflict has resulted in 3 million internally displaced refugees. Many children have fallen out of the school system as a result of the need to flee the violence.
My ongoing interest in Colombia leads me to research as much as I can about organizations that are working to address the issues of education for Colombia's internal refugees. Tonight I learned about a wonderful organization called the Genesis Foundation. This foundation has developed a program called “Empresarios por la Educacion”, or “Business people for Education”, which channels support from the business sector to support basic and middle education in Colombia. In 2007 this organization plans to give almost $2 million to fund education in Colombia. Wonderful!
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