Child Mortality in La Guajira, Colombia
In La Guajira, Colombia, clean water shortages have fueled a surge of health complications among the region's indigenous Wayuu communities. Well water is testing dangerously high in salinity. Physicians are reporting outbreaks of adverse skin conditions resulting from bathing in stagnant, bacteria-infected ponds. Stream and river water is polluted with waste from nearby coalmine El Cerrejón. Contaminated water sources are causing severe and often fatal intestinal infections i
Coffee farmers battle rust, debt and market challenges
Colombia's smallest-scale coffee farmers are struggling to keep up. Jairo Martinez and his family were forced to flee their land and abandon their crops in 1996, as violence between left-wing guerilla and right-wing paramilitary forces escalated in his mountain village, La Secreta. Paramilitaries executed close family members and burned his house to the ground. He returned as soon as the region settled, only to confront new challenges. La Roya- an aggressive coffee fungus- w
Displaced by armed conflict on the plains, a cowboy makes a new life in the mountains.
Camarita is a 64 year-old cowboy from 'El Llano', the grasslands of southeasetern Colombia. in 2007 guerilla rebels murdered his son, threatened his life, and forced him to flee his cattle ranch. He now runs a little bbq shack called 'Camarita's', high in the lush coastal mountains of northern Colombia. He started selling smoked sausages from under a tarp on the side of the road. The fragrant, slow-smoking techniques he learned as a boy on the plains quickly attracted passin
Drummond Rallies for Public Image
Alabama-based coal mining company Drummond has battled accusations of reckless pollution and human rights abuses since beginning operations in Colombia in 1995. Drummond responded to public opposition and negative press by holding a rally in Santa Marta’s town square on February 13, 2014. The rally was attended almost exclusively by Drummond employees who chanted slogans “Drummond cares about our community!” and “Drummond in our hearts forever!” Speakers (also Drummond employ
Displaced Colombians attend information fair in Cienega
Gloria and Isabel Martinez attend a fair in Cienega, a coastal region of northwestern Colombia. Unidad de Restitucion de Tierras connects victims of armed conflict with lawyers and community organizers. Thousands of land titles and victims reparations claims remain unsettled in the wake of violent conflict in this region. Farmers from remote regions struggle to rebuild their farms, as they wait for road repairs, security, electricity and running water to be reinstated. #armed
