Emotional and Economic Reflections Two Days into My Trip to Colombia

Hello, my name is Charlie DeVries. I am 20 years old. I study both economics and Chinese at Colgate University. I have been to China, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. While I have been in many developing countries (namely China), my visit to Colombia is the first time I ever witnessed extreme poverty.

Having been in Colombia for two days, I have many impressions that I wish to describe for you. However, for organizational purpose I am going to separate them into two categories: economics and emotions.

Emotional:

The visual images and mental experiences will always remain with me. Sparing you all the sob stories, I will only say this: seeing poverty stirs something within you much more than any textbook picture can give you. Its dynamics are so much more than desperation and hunger, but rather there is the light of hope in it as well. People I’ve met are driven by a craving to succeed not for themselves, but rather for their children. Humans (everywhere) can achieve that. 

Certainly the most intriguing topic, the conditions seen in the towns have a profound effect on the individual psyche; however, it begs the most important question: what are we going to do about it?

Economics:

Although this topic is much more bland, I assert that these are the transforming issues (for me personally) as they begin to answer this big question. The business concept of Opportunity International, microfinance, works. Risking oversimplification, Opportunity provides microloans to individuals and Trust Groups, generally starting around $100-150. This opportunity allows individuals to deviate from the torrential trap of the loan sharks and receive stimulating cash when they need it. While they still must pay back their loans, the manageable amount of money and reasonable interest rates allow for educational and entrepreneurial growth for themselves as well as for their children: it is important to recognize that most values in maturity are instilled by their parents.

On another note, I believe that the fair trade method works equally as well.