In the following days, we spend most of our didactic and hands-on
training time at the top Colombian public university’s affiliated private
hospital. I learn about how the child protection team functions at Misericordia
Hospital; Miguel does a fantastic job, what he has learned in his fellowship
clearly shines through his practice, I am proud of my friend. The hospital is
impressively clean. The one case he assesses in my presence makes me appreciate
one more time how common family problems are all around the world when it comes
to child neglect; single parenthood, poverty, living in the fringes of the
society, chaotic child care although people do their best using whatever
resources they have…
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| The poor in the USA |
The last evening, after doing a presentation at a private
university hospital, Miguel and Catalina have a surprise for me. They take me
to a part of Bogota, which used to be an independent town some 30 years ago, named
Usaquen. With Bogota’s
expansion to the size of the metropole it is now, Usaquen was engulfed by
Bogota creating an oasis on the east side of Bogota. It is very clear that this
is an old, funky, adorable town. Artists of all sorts with their products line
the streets that we walk along, some in their small shops, some in carved out
spots within the lovely authentic “mall” that is also a meeting place for many
people. Some artists simply spread a
canvas on the streets and sell jewelry, textiles, ceramics, and more. I can’t
help but buy a variety of jewelry made of silver, brass, and semi-precious
stones to give as gifts to my friends, my daughter and perhaps to myself!
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| The poor in Colombia |
Usaquen Artists' Market
Jairo has become an essential figure in my trip to Bogota this time. He is an elegant, respectful, and warm middle ages Colombian man, who could never learn my name and kept calling me “Professora”. He has next to no English, and I had to use and improve my Spanish to communicate with him since he clearly was such a sweet man. He is unforgiving with seat belts, actually doesn’t start the engine until he hears all the clicks! I learn from Isabel, though that when he first started working at AFECTO, she had to tell him “I am the boss here and you have to use your seat belt” when he was resisting to put on his seat belt!
Eating an ant was fun, it didn't kill me, either!
He can’t believe I ate an ant with my meal the other night. We have some good laughs over the ant experimentation. He doesn’t hesitate to come pick me up at 4:30 instead of 5 am to make sure I make my flight to the US at the end of my stay. He is shy and loses eye contact when I give him a tip, let alone when I give him a hug at the very end. But I still can tell, I have a friend in Jairo in Bogota in addition to all my professional friends. When one gets to age 58, one can tell what is genuine love and what is attitude out of demands of social etiquette…. After my return from Peru, my hostess will be Isabel Cuadros, who is a force of nature with all the hats she wears very successfully. As expected, Isabel brings together some 200 people from all over Colombia, physicians, nurses, social workers, police force, prosecutors, university faculty, institute of legal medicine faculty, and more… All fields that are essential to build a national child abuse management and prevention program. The program is fluid, the audience’s needs determine how we modify the program in the moment just as Miguel and I did.
Lunch with Isabel, Julio and other colleagues eating monster size red snappers!
But the motivation and inspiration are tangible in the air with all the discussions we had with contributions from many critical individuals that can play a major role in changing how “business” is done in this field in Colombia. Isabel is a Spaniard by ancestry, Julio is originally from Venezuela. He is the brilliant engineer behind Isabel so that she can pull off all the projects she does and it looks like a relationship can flourish very successfully and lovingly even when partners work together day in day out.
Colleagues from Cali, Colombia, whom I will likely see next summer on my next Fulbright adventure
Another cultural observation I make is that Colombians are very warm to their partners, too. I hear all the women I meet addressing their partners and their kids with “Mi amore”, which is much rarer in American culture let alone Turkish culture. Colombian people are good and loving people all in all… Haven’t met any drug lords and their hit-men of course in this protected environment, but those I have met, I feel connected to immensely…I can’t wait till I come back to Colombia on a 4-week Fulbright scholarship to do more in depth training, both didactic and hands-on in not only Bogota but also in Medellin and Cali in the summer of 2018.
Jairo has become an essential figure in my trip to Bogota this time. He is an elegant, respectful, and warm middle ages Colombian man, who could never learn my name and kept calling me “Professora”. He has next to no English, and I had to use and improve my Spanish to communicate with him since he clearly was such a sweet man. He is unforgiving with seat belts, actually doesn’t start the engine until he hears all the clicks! I learn from Isabel, though that when he first started working at AFECTO, she had to tell him “I am the boss here and you have to use your seat belt” when he was resisting to put on his seat belt!
Eating an ant was fun, it didn't kill me, either!
He can’t believe I ate an ant with my meal the other night. We have some good laughs over the ant experimentation. He doesn’t hesitate to come pick me up at 4:30 instead of 5 am to make sure I make my flight to the US at the end of my stay. He is shy and loses eye contact when I give him a tip, let alone when I give him a hug at the very end. But I still can tell, I have a friend in Jairo in Bogota in addition to all my professional friends. When one gets to age 58, one can tell what is genuine love and what is attitude out of demands of social etiquette…. After my return from Peru, my hostess will be Isabel Cuadros, who is a force of nature with all the hats she wears very successfully. As expected, Isabel brings together some 200 people from all over Colombia, physicians, nurses, social workers, police force, prosecutors, university faculty, institute of legal medicine faculty, and more… All fields that are essential to build a national child abuse management and prevention program. The program is fluid, the audience’s needs determine how we modify the program in the moment just as Miguel and I did.
Lunch with Isabel, Julio and other colleagues eating monster size red snappers!
But the motivation and inspiration are tangible in the air with all the discussions we had with contributions from many critical individuals that can play a major role in changing how “business” is done in this field in Colombia. Isabel is a Spaniard by ancestry, Julio is originally from Venezuela. He is the brilliant engineer behind Isabel so that she can pull off all the projects she does and it looks like a relationship can flourish very successfully and lovingly even when partners work together day in day out.
Another cultural observation I make is that Colombians are very warm to their partners, too. I hear all the women I meet addressing their partners and their kids with “Mi amore”, which is much rarer in American culture let alone Turkish culture. Colombian people are good and loving people all in all… Haven’t met any drug lords and their hit-men of course in this protected environment, but those I have met, I feel connected to immensely…I can’t wait till I come back to Colombia on a 4-week Fulbright scholarship to do more in depth training, both didactic and hands-on in not only Bogota but also in Medellin and Cali in the summer of 2018.
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| My Colombian colleagues and I are all optimists and see opportunities in any inconceivable circumstances |
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