Development Project Field Trip...Mathematical!!!!

Last week, I got to do something I haven't done since I was in middle school. Something that would even make the kid with the record for most absences in a school year make sure he was the first on the bus to school the days we had em. That's right, I'm taking about a field trip man. The two words when used by themselves are cool, but when put together, they create one of the most awesome things ever invented.

Now, most of us- excluding teachers, those lucky son of a guns- never get to experience another field trip after we hit our mid to late teens. I know, tis a sad thing. However, sometimes life tosses you a gold nugget every now and then, which is what it did to me when the coordinator for my post graduate program here in Medellin told us we were going on a field trip to a pueblo, a small town, two hours outside of Medellin to see a project of international cooperation in person. This project is spearheaded by the United Nations, so you know the big dogs are involved.

San Francisco is a little town tucked away in the Andes mountains. The reason the local government sought counsel with the national government and international multilateral organizations like the UN, is because they had a problem with illicit crops-they were growing the plants that yield cocaine. Now granted, due to the black market  they were making a pretty nice living off of that. However, it brought violence and instability to the town and finally they had enough. So the idea of this new program, after clearing out all the riff raff drug lord bung holes, was to convert their crops to legal plants: Coco for chocolate and coffee.

We arrived on a rainy morning, but the rain dissipated to a drizzle within an hour of getting there and the sun came out midday. It is always strange to arrive to towns like this, far from Medellin, because you have just as many men and women riding horses or donkeys as there are cars in the street. Colombia is somewhere between a developed and developing country, so you see these contrasts more and more as you travel between cities and towns. It's kind of fun actually, I mean these guys still wear colorful scabbards that sheath large scary machetes, which I'm told is because of tradition. Good, so if you trespass on their land or steal from them, at least you get to look at something pretty before you get all sliced and diced.

After disembarking and passing through the small streets of the town, we arrived to the project headquarters in city center. There we were greeted by two men, one young and the other middle-aged, donning the famous blue and white drab of the United Nations. We have all seen the UN workers and soldiers on news clips growing up, but to see their sky blue jackets and hats with the UN's sigil in person is pretty cool to behold. So, they gave us an hour long chat about what they are doing and their goals here with the project, then set another 20 minutes for Q&A. Then, we took a break for lunch, super cheap, like 3 dollars for a huge plate of food and a drink...mmmm pueblo prices.

When lunch was over, both UN workers took us to two farms to meet the cultivators and see their ongoing results. Both farms grew many of the same things with a few slight differences. For example, the main difference being the one grew coffee and the other grew coco. Both included other crops like fruits, green platanos (my favorite baked, make great snacks and way better for you than potato chips, learn about it America!!), vegetables, etc.

The UN Team!

Alien eggs....I mean, Coco plants.

For me, to see Coco plants and learn where chocolate actually comes from was great. Totally different than I had expected. Mainly because what chocolate comes from looks like a bright bulbous colorful egg from the movie Alien, with a facehugger ready to hatch and latch onto my face at any moment. However, what actually hid  inside, was a much sweeter and non life threatening treat. Raw coco has a unique taste; it is sweet and soft, with a hint of the chocolate taste we know and love, without any fake sugar added. Obviously, just a more natural and cleaner taste.

The Coco...finally, sweet victory!

Meeting the farmer was nice as well. Hearing her story and how they are developing the region with sustainable practices that yield great produce was great. It showed me what we are learning in class can be applied in real life, often with successful results. All it takes is reaching out to these farmers, the farmers having the will to participate, and the provided teaching from the agricultural specialists from the UN or whatever agency that gives these farmers the know-how to improve their crop growing techniques.

What was also fun was hiking through the mountains to get to these farms because they were kind of secluded. Here are some photos of me and my friends Santi and Arley from class:

Practicing for carrying the Olympic torch...do it Arley.

Arley and Santi, leading the pack!

Colombian Flower Garden....never ceases to amaze.