Colombia. Land of our Future Home
Colombia will be our new home in a couple of short years. This
poor war torn country is struggling to become a full fledged democracy
while also fighting off guerrillas that have been active since the 60's.
These guerrillas currently control around 40% of the country, mostly the
south, southwest, (FARC), and the some of the east (ELN). While this
has made travel between cities relatively dangerous unless flying, travel
around the cities is still relatively safe. We plan on working in
the capitol city, Bogota, which itself is outside the warzone and so is
relatively safe. Though it does suffer from the problems that all
large cities do, it also has many modern areas, including large malls,
supermarkets, and other amenities that Americans are used to.
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Here is some other information that we learned on our recent trip to
work in Bogota.
Approximately 95% of the country claims to be Roman Catholic, though of that 95% most have rarely, if ever, actually been inside a church. About 3-3.5% claim to be evangelical Christians (Protestant). There are also small percentages of Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. (LDS) Average income for families is approximately $6000 (US) a year. While there is a middle class, there is a growing lower class, including many that have been displaced by the fighting. Bogota's population is now nearly 8 million- around 20% of the whole country's population! Colombia's money system is based on the Peso. During our trip the approximate exchange rate was 2300 pesos to 1 US dollar. The people are very friendly and neat.
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Pictures coming soon- as soon as I can get them back from family members
borrowing them!!