On July 27, I will leave for Colombia. This will be my seventh visit since April-May of 2003, and like the others will be primarily focused on the department of El Chocó. I have had the good fortune to be awarded a Fulbright fellowship, which will allow me to develop my photography project, “El Chocó, Colombia: Struggle for Cultural and Environmental Survival,” as well as to do some lecturing on some theoretical and critical issues in photography at the National University in Bogotá and the Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó in Quibdó, the capital of the department. I will also be working with several smaller organizations in Quibdó who are developing communications and media skills among young people.
This will be my longest visit—a little over five months. It is a wonderful opportunity for me, and I’m thrilled to be going and expect to make major progress in my work there. At the same time, it will be a long time to be away from family and friends.
Some friends and colleagues have asked how I’m going to keep in touch, and the idea came up that I should keep a blog. So I’m going to try to do that. My access to broad-band, and to the Internet generally, will be a little spotty, but I should be able to make entries from time to time—I expect to enter a range of materials: stories, thoughts about what’s going on, a few photographs, lists of birds I’ve seen ☺, and who knows what else.
I’m not much of a blog reader nor a blogger, so this will be a new area for me—I hope my entries make sense…
So I invite you to check out my blog and subscribe if you want—it should be an easy way of keeping up. The URL is: www.stevecagan.blogspot.com
El 27 de julio, salgo para Colombia. Esta será la séptima visita desde abril-mayo del 2003, y como las demás, tendrá como enfoque más importante el departamento de El Chocó. He tenido la buena suerte de ganar una beca Fulbright, la cual me va a permitir seguir en el desarrollo del proyecto fotográfico, “El Chocó, Colombia: Lucha por Supervivencia Cultural y Ambiental,” además de dictar una serie de conferencias sobre cuestiones teóricas y críticas de la fotografía en la Universidad Nacional en Bogotá y la Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó en Quibdó, capital departamental del Chocó. Estaré trabajando también con unas organizaciones más pequeñas en Quibdo que están formando a jóvenes trabajar en comunicaciones y en los medios.
Esta será mi visita más larga—un poco más que cinco meses. Es una oportunidad para mi, y estoy contentísimo por eso, y espero adelantar el trabajo mío allá mucho. A la vez, va a ser mucho tiempo lejos de familia y amigos.
Algunos amigos y colegas me han preguntado como voy a mantener contacto, y surgió la idea de que mantenga un “blog.” Pues, lo voy a intentar. Tendré acceso al Internet, y a banda ancha, pero sólo a momentos. Me imagino que podré poner materiales de vez en cuando—espero poner una variedad de cosas: cuentos, pensamientos sobre lo que pasa, unas pocas fotografías, listados de aves que veo ☺, y quién sabe qué más.
No leo mucho los blogs, ni lo he hecho antes, pues será algo nuevo para mi—espero que lo que pongo tenga sentido.
Entonces, les invito a ver el blog nuevo mío, y a abonar si quieren—debe ser una manera fácil de mantenernos al tanto. El URL es: www.stevecagan.blogspot.com
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6 comments:
Hi Steve, thanks for including me in your list. Congrats on getting a fullbright and I wish you the best in Colombia. I am very curious about how your project will go. I've been doing some work with CENSAT-Agua Viva, they're Friends of the Earth Colombia. Maybe you'll run into them. Safe travels!
Analia
Hi Steve!
Thanks for your energy to come to Colombia (being in Santiago, Chile, allows me, somewhat, to use this verb), and to start out this blog.
I'm subscribing to it, so I won't miss a post.
Be seeing you,
*********
Hola, Steve,
Gracias por tu energía para venira a El Chocó (desde Santiago, Chile, puedo usar este verbo) y por comenzar este blog.
Me he suscrito, de modo de no perderme un post.
Nos vemos,
Ricardo
Ricardo.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for doing this! Finally a group letter we can chat back to! I know a little about what a burden blogging can seem, but it's also a surprisingly good way to connect folks to what you're doing. I was in Colombia for the first time this year and spent a great four days in Bogota--if you have more down time check out the Botero Museum, and wander thru the Candelaria District, home to three universities and with more bohemian and political energy than San Fran, even! Bogota also has/had a very forward thinking eco-barrios program--would be interesting to hear what's up with that, if you happen to catch wind of it.
Looking forward to hearing more about your work in El Choco--
Best to you from me and Marcus!
I am honored to be sharing your experiences in Colombia. Congratulations on getting a fullbright scholarship. I am looking forward to seeing your work. I am doing alot of photography these days - something you taught me a long time ago.
Naila
Hi Steve. I actually sent you an email but wanted to add to what I sent that I know a lot of people with really excellent contacts in the Choco region. Hope to talk to you, best and peace~
Hi Steve (again!)
Didn't mean to post that anonymously! Email is ctalero@yahoo.com. Thanks and best~
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