Gravy and Meatball with Grupo Aguacero

I am so excited to be back in Colombia for the summer, working with my students, taking photographs, and doing what I love. My first stop is Cali and my students from grupo Aguacero. They are always cooking for me, showing me dishes from Colombia, so this time I wanted them to experience something from Philly. I'm not much of a cook (but I can boil water!), so I brought down gravy and meatballs from renowned Vill di Roma Restaurant in South Philly so they could experience spaghetti like I did when I was growing up. Colombians' and many Latinos' idea of spaghetti is pasta with ketchup mixed with rice. Yuck! This time they got to try the real deal!

Reunited with Grupo Aguacero

Today I was finally reunited with Grupo Aguacero after three long years. I am so proud that the group continues to do great work in Aguablanca. We will be continuing to work together even as I begin the next phase of Cameras for Colombia next week in La Florida.

About Agua Blanca

Agua Blanca is often described as Cali's biggest slum. It is home to some 600,000 people, many of whom have been displaced from their rural homes by the violence between Marxist rebels and right wing paramilitary forces and other factors such as natural disasters. Left without alternatives they created their own neighborhoods by building makeshift shacks illegally without land titles. There was an awful period a few years ago where the government battled to forcibly dislodge the residents. Finally, the government began to provide basic services to these people and built schools and hospitals. More than 60% of the population of Agua Blanca live in poverty and earn less than US$ 2 per day. Here are a couple links:

http://www.accessallareas.org/aguablanca/background.html
http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/content/view/36/54/

Above photo taken by student Yicel Valencia.

Meeting My Students

Today I met my students near their homes in the very poor neighborhood of Agua Blanca, which reminds me in many ways of North Philadelphia where I teach. Both neighborhoods are considered by outsiders to be extremely dangerous and a breeding ground for drugs and violence. But once you are there you see that most of the people are warm and friendly, trying to make the most of their situations. When I took the above photograph in Agua Blanca I could imagine some of my students riding three on a bike down Lehigh Avenue in North Philly.

I gave the students their disposable cameras and we talked for about an hour about the project and what kinds of photographs they wanted to take. I was impressed by how seriously they are taking this project. They were really excited, most of them had never taken pictures before. I can’t wait to see them again on Monday.