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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE June 6, 2006
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| September 18, 2004 |
Cartagena, Colombia – Sustainable development project of Arroyo de Piedra |
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| Young boy from Arroyo de Piedra welcomes Peace Boat |
From the beginning of the 16th century, Cartagena was one of the most well protected Spanish trading centers in South America. Cartagena soon became a way station of slave trading, with ships flowing into the city from the African continent. During this period, to escape the cruelty of their situation, slaves fled from their captures and gathered to form a communities near Cartagena and all along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Colombia, called Palenques. The community grew to thousands of inhabitants and in 1743, one hundred years before the official abolition of slavery in Colombia, the Spanish government recognized their existence and independence. Today the descendents of the Palenque, or Palenqueros, now live in villages scattered over this historic area. One of the communities is Arroyo de Piedra, a village that Peace Boat has been visiting and working with for several years. |
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| Village residents accompany Peace Boat to the local school |
Arroyo de Piedra
Holding onto its Afro-Caribbean identity helps Cartagena and villages like Arroyo de Piedra distance themselves from the stereotypical images of the violent Andean Colombia. Though predominately outside of the civil war that has plagued Colombia for over fifty years, the village of Arroyo de Piedra still faces its own struggles. As a poor Afro-Colombian community, poverty and economic hardship remain a part of everyday life. However, Arroyo de Piedra is making various efforts to combat this harsh reality. Two projects that are currently being undertaken are the construction of cultivation beds for shrimp and fish and the planting of mangroves trees to restore and preserve the coastal area. To promote community building along with sustainable tourism and development, Peace Boat has been aiding in this project for over a year. Working with the local NGO Kontiqui, Peace Boat helped initiate a contribution fund, where a percentage of the profits gained from Peace Boats visits by local companies such as travel agents, hotels and restaurants, are used to assist the village in projects to increase living standards. |
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| Delmis Nunez Leal addresses participants |
Culture and Economics
As a village resident, Delmis Nunez Leal is a member of the black community association ASOPIEDRA working to improve life for her community. Upon Peace Boat's arrival Delmis came to speak to dozens of participants about the current economic status of her village. "At the moment the social and economic sides of the village are very poor. We do not have proper water, sewers, or basic necessities and have very poor social care, healthcare and clinics." After gathering inside the village church for introductions Peace Boat participants then walked with Delmis to visit the village school. On the way to the school, dozens of energetic children and family members accompanied the group. Despite the bright looks on the children's faces, as the group crossed a small stream Delmis pointed to the water, again reminding the group of the hardships these children face. "All the water that you see is unable to be drunk," said Delmis. Upon reaching the school, Delmis continued to tell the group about the current educational challenges faced by the community. "Most of the teenagers only study up until the junior high school. Most cannot go further because families lack the money to send them." |
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| The village dance troop performing a traditional dance |
Cultural preservation
Throughout the day the lively atmosphere of the village was repeatedly charged with the vivid sounds of Afro-Colombian music or "Musica Africana." Today the cultural roots of the village remain strong and have been passed down from ancestors for hundreds of years. Delmis explained that one way the village is able to preserve folk music and dance is by forming community associations of like-minded young people. These groups, like ASOPIEDRA, work collectively to recover identity, history, and the legal recognition of Afro-Colombians' rights. |
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| Games are played outside the school |
Social structure and employment
Originally the settlers in Arroyo de Piedra were fishermen and collectors, not farmers. Today 70% of the community's livelihood comes from both fishing and farming. Without collecting or growing food to survive, and being outside of the social system of the Colombian government, most people in the community are unemployed or make little to no money (nearly two-thirds of all Colombians live on less than two US dollars a day). Poverty aside, other evolving threats challenge the villagers' means of survival, and recently the village has become victim to three major threats of degradation:
- Large-scale industrial development that has drained the village of its water
- The development of tourism which has changed the coastline in most areas surrounding Cartagena
- The planned building of a wastewater pipeline off the coast.
All three of these factors play into the outcome of the village to fish and make a living. And all three factors have also contributed to the villagers' decision to begin mangrove restoration and fish farming. |
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| A healthy mangrove forest |
The decision to grow fish and plant mangroves
Four years ago the government of Cartagena announced its plans to build a sewage pipeline off the village's coastal land. Knowing the results would be devastating, with wastewater washing back to the coast and polluting the waters, over twenty families began to protest the pipelines development. The NGO Kontiqui - an environmental group formed by young environmental engineers and educators of mostly Afro-Colombian descent - soon joined the families' struggle. While challenging the government, Kontiqui and the villagers also began to examine ways to create village employment, and alternatives to relying on fish from polluted waters. Assuming that the pipeline would be completed (and today the outcome is still unclear) the village came up with the idea to begin growing fish and reforesting the land with mangroves. These same twenty families, with the help of Kontiqui, Peace Boat, and others are now directly involved in the mangrove and fisheries project.
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| Participants walking to see mangroves |
Rafael Suarez and Adolfo Cortecero, two Kontiqui employees, along with several members of the village accompanied a group of Peace Boat participants to the project site to explain how the idea came about. Until three years ago mangroves were cut to make charcoal but people began to notice the impact, and decided to change it. Where most areas surrounding Cartagena have lost land because of industrial and tourist development Arroyo de Piedra has actually gained land. Making our way through the beautiful wetland, Rafael explained that, "Thirty years ago this whole area used to be sea, but the sea has receded. The ground originally was like sand. But the river brings sediment from the hills and this has slowly built up the land," said Adolfo. Now the village will take advantage of this land by planting mangroves along the coast. |
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| A view of the pond used for growing shrimp |
Throughout the world mangroves help protect the shorelines, seagrass beds and coral reefs, and give food and sanctuary to marine life, specifically young fish. In Arroyo de Piedra, fishing is not possible for five months of the year, but with pond farming and mangrove restoration, Rafael believes year round stability can be achieved. Fish farming is often seen as a high-risk practice, and many unsustainable methods of shrimp farming actually damage mangroves, but both men explained that the project is designed to work within the natural environment. "We are following the flow of the ocean, and the vegetation, and working with the landscape. Mangroves are planted following natural lines of growth. We plant the seeds, but often the tides carry the mangrove until it finds its perfect condition," said Rafael. As the project develops it will follow these lines to position the shrimp and fishponds. Now the project consists of two ponds, but the hope is to increase this number to eight in the future. Using the philosophy of local people who have been living in the area for generations, Rafael said that the mangroves are looked at as the father of a family, the protector of the land, the fish, and the environment. Eager to assist in the protection of this "family" Peace Boat participants then aided members of the community in planting mangroves seeds throughout the area. After the planting was finished participants returned to the village, reflecting on the many possibilities of the project, and the integral role that sustainable development can play to improve a community's standard of living. |
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