Isabel Negreira (left) with the community
NGOs and the festive season - Tuesday December 15th 2009
We asked global NGO workers to send us a description of their work during the festive season, to show that efforts to help people overcome hardships associated with climate change, global poverty, conflict or health issues do not stop for the holidays. Isabel Negreira, working for Peace Brigades International supported by Christian Aid, says she will be joining a group of farmers sheltering in the middle of a recognised narco-trafficking route in Colombia. The farmers were forced to flee their land ten years ago after losing family members in massacres allegedly carried out by ‘cortacabezas’ – paramilitaries
I’m part of a Peace Brigades International (PBI) team, supported by Christian Aid, working at a ‘humanitarian zone’ set up by the farmers in the middle of the conflict area.
The living conditions in the humanitarian zones are pretty basic. We sometimes have electricity for a few hours a day after it gets dark, so we always make sure our mobiles and satellite phones are fully charged when we arrive.
There is no hot water, but you don’t really need it as it is so warm out. We often bathe in the river with the community. I don’t really mind the conditions, though. You tend to get into the rhythm of the farming life, you’re up at 5am and in bed by 8pm. We often eat dinner by candlelight.
It is not just home comforts that are lacking, though. As well as paramilitaries still operating in the region, the area is heavily mined. A farmer stepped on a mine only a month ago. Luckily, he did not lose his leg, but he had to be rushed to hospital.
I will divide my time during Christmas between stints in the humanitarian zones and manning the PBI house, about five hours away from the community. I’ll be on stand-by with two fellow volunteers, a French woman and a Brazilian man.
If someone steps on a mine or a community is attacked, volunteers may be dispatched to the scene while another stays in the house to relay communications between volunteers.
Some of the farmers have speakers which they hook up to the generator and I’m sure there will be lots of salsa and traditional ballenato dancing to see in the New Year. Many of the farmers write their own songs and play traditional drums and maracas too.
I will miss my friends and family over the holidays, but to be honest, I will be glad to be far away from all the commercialism that surrounds Christmas nowadays .