Colombia
Colombia / Republica de Colombia
In Northern South America, flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains. 1,138,910 km2 (slightly < 2 x TX), 2% arable.
Capital Bogota (1.9M)
Population 45M (39.5/ km2)
Life expectancy 73 years
HIV/AIDS 0.7%
Literacy 93%
Lang(s) Spanish
Religions Roman Catholic (90%), other (10%)
Ethnic Groups Mestizo (58%), white (20%), mulatto (14%), black (4%), mixed (black Amerindian 3%), Amerindian (1%)
Gov’t Republic
GDP/cap $9,000
PCVs 1961-1981; education & health (TTD: 4,638)
Nat’l holiday Independence Day, 20 July (1810)
Adult Books
The Dispossessed: Chronicles of the Desterrados of Colombia
by Alfredo Molano
Paperback
Publisher: Haymarket Books,2005
Language: English
ASIN: B00MB4EZTU
Book Description
A sociologist who realizes that 'the way to understand wasn't to study people but to listen to them collects these gripping stories showing the human face of those who suffer the effects of the US "Plan Colombia" and of a state that serves the interests of wealthy landlords instead of the poor.
Gripping stories by a sociologist who interviews dispossessed Columbians victimized by economic inequality and the negative impacts of U.S. foreign policy.
Kids' Books
Celebrating the Hero
by Becerra de Jenkins, Lyll
Format: Hardcover, 179 pages
ISBN: 978-0525673996
Age Range: 12–16 years
Publisher: New York: Lodestar Books, c1993
CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 1993)
Seventeen-year-old Camila is the only daughter of an Anglo father and a Colombian mother. She has grown up in the United States and most of what she knows of her mother's heritage comes from stories her mother told about her childhood growing up in San Javier, a small town in Colombia where her father was something of a local hero. Camila's maternal grandmother was rarely mentioned in her mother's stories. After her mother's death, Camila agrees to represent her at a local celebration in honor of her famous grandfather. But there is a mix-up in the flight arrangements and Camila arrives in San Javier a full 24 hours before anyone else in her family knows she's there. And that gives her just enough time to try to find out who her grandmother was and why she is never mentioned. The details she manages to uncover reveal much about her heritage that her mother probably could never have divulged, details that Camila's status as an outsider likely sharpen and amplify. Lyll Becerra de Jenkins' brilliant novel explores the depths of human identity connected to gender, culture and age, even as she spins out all the intrigue of a great mystery story and keeps the reader riveted to the page. Ages 12 and older.
© Cooperative Children’s Book Center. Reprinted with permission.
Films
Film: The First Night
Director: Luis Alberto Restrepo
Music
Carlos Vives (EMI Televisa Music): Clasicos de la Provincia
Focus Word
Focus Word for 2010 - "Justice"
Spanish: justicia (ja-stee-cia)Colombia 2010
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin-Madison is a public charity registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States. Its EIN is 39-1669348. It is also an affiliate group of the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA).
|
|||