Caribbean Peace and Resilience Project in Colombia
2020 Student Media Grant Program
Fredy Vergara Murillo, a PhD Environmental Toxicology student at Universidad de Cartagena n Colombia is completing this project in coastal rural areas of Colombia.
About the Project:
The
Colombian Caribbean has colorful nuances amid large gaps in social inequality.
Coastal rural areas have problems, that contrast with the lack of interest from
the state and the resignation of communities to disappear and preserve their
identity. Lomas de Matunilla, Leticia, Recreo and Bocacerrada are four coastal
communities which will be the target areas for this SMGP project. The first three on the Dique Canal, an artificial channel that
allows river transport in connection with the most important river in Colombia
(the Magdalena River), very close to the Caribbean Sea. The fourth town is a
fishing community in the department of Sucre away from urban centers, more than
2 hours by sea or three hours by car on roads in very bad condition. These
four populations have music in common, the Bullerengue survives in voices that
sing history and show the strength of ethnicity and culture.
The
main objective of this project is to to capture in photographs a record of their struggles while conducting their normal daily tasks. Fredy will be making a photographic record of each population and a short documentary that
shows the history and living conditions of these four populations. He plans to look at fishing activities, diet, health conditions, education, childhood, old age, community, architecture and festivities. He wants to capture their resilience strengthened from culture, and demonstrate how they are generators of peace and
development in communities apart from urban development and state aid.
Blogs and pictures to be published soon.
Follow Fredy on Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/fredvergaraph/