Do people go hungry in Colombia?

lanegratomasa says on Jan 24, 2005, 06:12:

PEROBUENO!! newspaper dipped in Aguapanela!!




No one dies a virgin, Life screws us all.

-Michael J. Trent

No one dies a virgin, Life screws us all. -Michael J. Trent

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dwmte says on Jan 24, 2005, 06:15:

ixent... never heard the story about aguapanela and paper...that sounds pretty tough.

as for hunger...there is indeed hunger in colombia. to my experience it is mostly in the city slums where some poor souls are forced to dig through the garbage mounds to forage for food. and certainly in the streets where people sleep below the metros and culverts. they are constantly in hunger.

in el campo, it is different. there is food, vegies, tubors, fruits, etc. so hunger is less common.

aguapanela and paper....GOD help these poor souls.

dw

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jccg says on Jan 24, 2005, 06:18:

Colombia produces food... so the "agro" products are not too expensive.
However, the level of poberty is really hig, and there are many families that can only have two (sometimes one) food at day.

"at least arroz + frijoles every day"

I doub it, frijoles are expensive. The food when there is "no food" is arroz + huevo (eggs).

Besides, I have no knolowdge of people that die of hungry here... but there are a lot of miss-feeding people (mal alimentados)
This is just the true!!

This is just the true!!

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suzannyo says on Jan 24, 2005, 06:36:

I know some people.... I know plenty of people/families that have very little, if anything, to eat each day in Bogota and Cartagena. I work with a Colombian organization that works in the poorest areas of both cities and the reality is that, yes, there are families who eat newspaper to fill their stomachs and get their only nutrients from panela.

I work with a little girl from Cartagena who was about a month away from death due to starvation when we found her and took her in...she's been with us a year now and is doing so much better physically. When I was in Cartagena in October, I met another little girl who was dying of malnutrition--she was to the point of loosing sensation due to nerve damage associated with malnutrition. Staff who work in Cartagena told me that a couple children had died of malnutrition there this year, as well as others who died of maleria and other preventable illnesses.

In Cartagena, many of the families we work with are internally displaced, meaning they've fled to Cartagena from the campo because they fear for their lives. These families live in horrifying conditions (homes frequently flood with sewage, no public services, little access to health care, fear of further violence, etc.), often with multiple generations in the same "house"/shack (up to 10-15 people), living on $2 per day (if they can find work) to clothe, feed, and shelter them all.

In Bogota, the situation is different, but the reality of the situation is similar. Families living in sub-human conditions, without hope of finding decent jobs to provide for their families. Family violence is a HUGE issue, sexual abuse of children happens frequently, crime is rampant, and there is little hope for them to make a better future for the future generations.

We are working with these folks to help them look toward the future with hope of something more. Through education, micro-credit programs, and medical care, changes are being made poco a poco.

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jaramillo says on Jan 24, 2005, 07:23:

There is hunger Malnutrition and hunger are widespread. Millions in Colombia go hungry, and in Antioquia children DIE of hunger every day. I have seen this myself. But hunger hides itself. Many people are proud, and they maintain their dignity amidst the worst conditions. My father has worked for 50 years with a children’s shelter, and I tell you it is pretty bad. And this is Antioquia, which is comparably well off.

By the way, there is much hunger in the U.S. You just have to look for it...

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YEP says on Jan 24, 2005, 07:24:

at Suzannyo
How do you implement and sponsor your micro-credit programs ??

Do you know other organisations that have micro-credit programs in other areas of Colombia ??

TIA


-------------------------------------------------------------------
Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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dwmte says on Jan 24, 2005, 07:30:

i applaud all of you.... suzannayo and jaramillo (my inlaw's name) for your efforts with the poor, attempting to aleviate their situation with food assistance and medical attention.

these are the posts i find so positive, ones which demonstrate the colombian heart.

GOD BLESS YOU AND OTHERS OF LIKE MIND

dw

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elmodefoque says on Jan 24, 2005, 07:37:

i used to eat sand, but to be honest i still don't know why, maybe i was just a dumb little f--k, or maybe it was to ease hunger pains. i do remember buying a bon bon (candy). sometimes that was dinner.

over 5 million colombianos in USA and only 27 barranquilleros, i'm one.Curramba, el mejor vividero del mundo!

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jaramillo says on Jan 24, 2005, 07:59:

Hunger in the U.S. Well, it depends on what we mean by “much hunger�. Data from organizations such as Second Harvest indicate several million children in the U.S. go without enough food.

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Chuck says on Jan 24, 2005, 08:36:

Communist or capitalist? In the good old Soviet Union everyone had hunger (exept the politbureau I guess), but no one was malnourished. In Colombia supermarket shelves are packed 15 ft high but poor folks don't earn enough to buy. Some of these folks used to grow coffee, or cotton, or rice or... but General Foods managed to obtain their coffee cheaper from Vietnam cause they need higher profits for their shareholders. (was Vietnam a US enemy?)

The moral is: If you see a gringo on vacation in Italy, South Africa, Thailand or Cancun.. it's because he has plenty disposable income (from his GF shares maybe) and our campesinos have no income!

Right folks?

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LaloG says on Jan 24, 2005, 09:33:

While there may not be sufficient internal agencies to deal with the hunger here in Colombia, there is a more human generosity among the people. I see it all the time, in the gift of pesos, and or food to the homeless. Also, I think (This is my opinion guys) that Colombians have no tolerance for the homeless who are that way because of drugs, alcohol, or glue sniffing. Those down and outs are often maltreated by the public as well as the police. Their addictions are not aceptible.
While there are plenty of homeless who go hungry, I would say there are thousands more who are just too poor to afford more than one meal a day. However, there are plenty of cheap and or reasonable foods available. As some one else in this thread has pointed out, most vegies are usually cheap, and rice is cheaper, but you need a way to cook it. As in the US, the cooking is often the problem with the poor. Remember the stories of frozen turkeys handed out at Thanksgiving to people with no gas or electrictiy to cook them? Short sighted to say the least, but it is just like a well to do American not to be able to imagine poverty of that depth. Think Bush.
We do see people going through the garbage bags on the curbs at night, but we saw the same thing happening in LA, Hollywood, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale, in the US, and I´m sure it goes on elsewhere in other cities in the US as well. Poverty of this nature is a world problem, not just a Colombian problem. The shame is that the richest country in the world has it in larger proportion than a Country like Colombia has with a supposedly more "humanistic" attitude toward the poor.
Best,
LaloG

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LaloG says on Jan 24, 2005, 09:35:

While there may not be sufficient internal agencies to deal with the hunger here in Colombia, there is a more human generosity among the people. I see it all the time, in the gift of pesos, and or food to the homeless. Also, I think (This is my opinion guys) that Colombians have no tolerance for the homeless who are that way because of drugs, alcohol, or glue sniffing. Those down and outs are often maltreated by the public as well as the police. Their addictions are not aceptible.
While there are plenty of homeless who go hungry, I would say there are thousands more who are just too poor to afford more than one meal a day. However, there are plenty of cheap and or reasonable foods available. As some one else in this thread has pointed out, most vegies are usually cheap, and rice is cheaper, but you need a way to cook it. As in the US, the cooking is often the problem with the poor. Remember the stories of frozen turkeys handed out at Thanksgiving to people with no gas or electrictiy to cook them? Short sighted to say the least, but it is just like a well to do American not to be able to imagine poverty of that depth. Think Bush.
We do see people going through the garbage bags on the curbs at night, but we saw the same thing happening in LA, Hollywood, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale, in the US, and I´m sure it goes on elsewhere in other cities in the US as well. Poverty of this nature is a world problem, not just a Colombian problem. The shame is that the richest country in the world has it in larger proportion than a Country like Colombia has with a supposedly more "humanistic" attitude toward the poor.
Best,
LaloG

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LaloG says on Jan 24, 2005, 09:35:

While there may not be sufficient internal agencies to deal with the hunger here in Colombia, there is a more human generosity among the people. I see it all the time, in the gift of pesos, and or food to the homeless. Also, I think (This is my opinion guys) that Colombians have no tolerance for the homeless who are that way because of drugs, alcohol, or glue sniffing. Those down and outs are often maltreated by the public as well as the police. Their addictions are not aceptible.
While there are plenty of homeless who go hungry, I would say there are thousands more who are just too poor to afford more than one meal a day. However, there are plenty of cheap and or reasonable foods available. As some one else in this thread has pointed out, most vegies are usually cheap, and rice is cheaper, but you need a way to cook it. As in the US, the cooking is often the problem with the poor. Remember the stories of frozen turkeys handed out at Thanksgiving to people with no gas or electrictiy to cook them? Short sighted to say the least, but it is just like a well to do American not to be able to imagine poverty of that depth. Think Bush.
We do see people going through the garbage bags on the curbs at night, but we saw the same thing happening in LA, Hollywood, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale, in the US, and I´m sure it goes on elsewhere in other cities in the US as well. Poverty of this nature is a world problem, not just a Colombian problem. The shame is that the richest country in the world has it in larger proportion than a Country like Colombia has with a supposedly more "humanistic" attitude toward the poor.
Best,
LaloG

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LaloG says on Jan 24, 2005, 09:36:

While there may not be sufficient internal agencies to deal with the hunger here in Colombia, there is a more human generosity among the people. I see it all the time, in the gift of pesos, and or food to the homeless. Also, I think (This is my opinion guys) that Colombians have no tolerance for the homeless who are that way because of drugs, alcohol, or glue sniffing. Those down and outs are often maltreated by the public as well as the police. Their addictions are not aceptible.
While there are plenty of homeless who go hungry, I would say there are thousands more who are just too poor to afford more than one meal a day. However, there are plenty of cheap and or reasonable foods available. As some one else in this thread has pointed out, most vegies are usually cheap, and rice is cheaper, but you need a way to cook it. As in the US, the cooking is often the problem with the poor. Remember the stories of frozen turkeys handed out at Thanksgiving to people with no gas or electrictiy to cook them? Short sighted to say the least, but it is just like a well to do American not to be able to imagine poverty of that depth. Think Bush.
We do see people going through the garbage bags on the curbs at night, but we saw the same thing happening in LA, Hollywood, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale, in the US, and I´m sure it goes on elsewhere in other cities in the US as well. Poverty of this nature is a world problem, not just a Colombian problem. The shame is that the richest country in the world has it in larger proportion than a Country like Colombia has with a supposedly more "humanistic" attitude toward the poor.
Best,
LaloG

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LaloG says on Jan 24, 2005, 09:37:

While there may not be sufficient internal agencies to deal with the hunger here in Colombia, there is a more human generosity among the people. I see it all the time, in the gift of pesos, and or food to the homeless. Also, I think (This is my opinion guys) that Colombians have no tolerance for the homeless who are that way because of drugs, alcohol, or glue sniffing. Those down and outs are often maltreated by the public as well as the police. Their addictions are not aceptible.
While there are plenty of homeless who go hungry, I would say there are thousands more who are just too poor to afford more than one meal a day. However, there are plenty of cheap and or reasonable foods available. As some one else in this thread has pointed out, most vegies are usually cheap, and rice is cheaper, but you need a way to cook it. As in the US, the cooking is often the problem with the poor. Remember the stories of frozen turkeys handed out at Thanksgiving to people with no gas or electrictiy to cook them? Short sighted to say the least, but it is just like a well to do American not to be able to imagine poverty of that depth. Think Bush.
We do see people going through the garbage bags on the curbs at night, but we saw the same thing happening in LA, Hollywood, San Francisco, Phoenix, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale, in the US, and I´m sure it goes on elsewhere in other cities in the US as well. Poverty of this nature is a world problem, not just a Colombian problem. The shame is that the richest country in the world has it in larger proportion than a Country like Colombia has with a supposedly more "humanistic" attitude toward the poor.
Best,
LaloG

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ARMacleod says on Jan 24, 2005, 12:28:

This is a strange one. Walking round a ‘Parc' in Bogota with my novia, the kids were show dancing to some very loud music, I saw an old guy rifling through the waste bins and pointed this out to the lady.

"Pay no attention" was her reply.

Of sterner stuff, I went to a street vendor locally and bought a bag of buns and things, which I quietly put in front of the old guy, opening the bag for him to see.

Not what I expected then. He picked up the bag and dropped it behind the bin, continued his search, in the bin?

Only recently do I think I know why he would not take them. I think

Being of unsound mind and dubious disposition, I cannot be held legally liable for any indiscretions."¡El diablo me hizo hacerlo!" But don't worry, be happy.

The brain is like a parachute, it only functions correctly when it is open. Pax vobiscum.

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juanalejo says on Jan 24, 2005, 13:52:

Cartoneros James, one of the reasons why the guy did not take it, was that probably this guy was a cartonero, which are the people who make a living out of finding things that can be recycled. Mostly paper and cardboard. They then do the job of taking it to the buyer and making a profit out of it. Some years ago these people were invisible to society as they worked in the dumpsters, yet during the first term of Mockus as mayor he took them out of the dumpsters and organized them in "cooperativas" which ran through the city collecting their products and then in trucks took them to the buyer. If you notice they appear on the garbage collection day, they gather their products in carts then they take it to specific points of the city and around 1 or 2 a.m. a truck comes and collects the product. Mayor Lucho had promised a campaign for people to set apart the recyclable products and hence helping avoid these people having to go through the garbage and rather simply collecting the products, but unfortunatelly this campaign has yet to be materialized.

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suzannyo says on Jan 24, 2005, 14:41:

DW Thanks...its nothing that I am capable of doing on my own...its all the Lord working through me. Dios te bendiga.

Suzanne

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LaloG says on Jan 24, 2005, 14:58:

Sorry for the multiple posts of the same comment. We had some sort of glitch occur. It kept telling me it hadn´t gone through.
LaloG

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utopiacowboy says on Jan 24, 2005, 15:17:

What absolute nonsense: "The shame is that the richest country in the world has it in larger proportion than a Country like Colombia has with a supposedly more "humanistic" attitude toward the poor."
I know you never let the facts interfere with your opinions but for the sake of anyone else reading this: 59.2% of people in Colombia live below the poverty line, 23% in extreme poverty while 11.3% live in poverty in the US. In fact even if you look at absolute numbers, there are almost as many people living in poverty in Colombia (25 million) as in the US (31.1 million). As an aside, it is not my intent to put down Colombia in any way.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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Chevere33 says on Jan 24, 2005, 17:21:

Hunger in Colombia Not fair! One person gets four of the same post, and the one I sent earlier on this thread disappeared.

Yes, people do go hungry in Colombia, some of them living in fairly nice neighborhoods. We have been supporting a friend in Cali because she can't find a job. About a year ago, her son fainted from anemia because all they were eating was rice and a few veggies, in an attempt to get the bills paid. There are some helping agencies, but normally reserved for people living in really depressed areas. I would venture to say that with the outrageous unemployment there, coupled with unbelievable age discrimination, there are more than a few hungry folks.

Rice is cheap and while I ate it everyday while I was there, you need other stuff *besides* rice. After all, man cannot live by rice alone . . .

Constancia

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Cerealkiller says on Jan 24, 2005, 17:51:

I was getting some take away hamburgers once, a couple of years ago maybe, and this girl, she mustave been somewhere under 17 with a baby asked me for some money to feed the kid and get some "bread and tinto" so I handed out one of the hamburgers -it was for my brother anyways, so it didnt really matter, i was cool with that- She took it and asked me to swear on my moms name that it wasnt poisoned or anything. It made me feel quite bad...Ive read about death squads and I dont know if that is still an issue in Colombia but I think thats probably why most homeless people dont accept food and if they do they tend to distrust. Which is a huge problem because I often feel a little weird giving them the money.
I worked with very poor children in Cali -aguablanca- and it is quite sad realizing that not too far away from there there is a totally different world. We used to give basic training to Communal Homes and although it was a very rewarding experince, I do think it makes you hate the world a little bit. Seeing these 3 or 4 yos having to wake up at 5 am and cook breakfast -usually coffee and bread, thats if theres bread, or aguapanela with some milk- for their younger sibblings on top of four bricks because they havent got a proper stove... Yes, people do starve Ive seen it myself. It might not be as widespread as in any Sub Saharian nation, but it is there indeed.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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Gomezman5 says on Jan 24, 2005, 18:27:

Of course people go hungry in Colombia Look...people go hungry in every country of the world. Colombia is no exception. There are big problems with hunger in Colombia. But I am sure there are cointries with more and countries with less hunger problems than Colombia

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crispeta says on Jan 24, 2005, 22:05:

People go Hungry In Ohio I remember seeing long lines og people lining up at 5am in the morning at the local food bank. Ohio lost milliones of manufacutring jobs during the recent slump in the U.S economy. How odd because Ohio was the important electorial college vote for BUSH.

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ARMacleod says on Jan 25, 2005, 11:53:

juanalejo.Thanks for the reply I had not thought of that and my novia did not enlighten me in any way, but I don't think it is the reason.

This unfortunate man was eating things from the bins, he looked like a hobo and had no trolley, bag or anything eles that would suggest that he was doing anything other than searching for food?

I just felt realy sorry for him, my lady does not ever want to become involved with such things. She is afraid I am quite sure of this. Sad.

The brain is like a parachute, it only functions correctly when it is open. Pax vobiscum.

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