Black Lives Matter and the Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Fundraising Campaign in solidarity with La Toma, Cauca-- La Red de Solidaridad Afro-Colombiana (ACSN) y Las Vidas Negras Importan campaña de recaudación de fondos en solidaridad con La Toma, Cauca

Black Lives Matter and the Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network Fundraising Campaign in Support of the Ancestral Black Communities of La Toma in Northern Cauca, Colombia

The Afro-Colombian Solidarity Network and Black Lives Matter are initiating a fundraising campaign in solidarity with black communities in Cauca, Colombia. We are calling on you to support the efforts of the courageous leaders and community of La Toma in Northern Cauca. Since 2009, the community of La Toma has experienced ever growing threats to their territory and livelihoods. The people of La Toma have worked in traditional mining and safeguarded their environment for nearly four centuries. Today, despite various constitutional protections including the right to collective ownership of their ancestral lands, the community is experiencing massacres, sexual violence, forced displacement and constant death threats by armed paramilitary groups.

We ask for your solidarity, both financial and spiritual, in helping the community raise US $25,000 to support two important community projects.

Your support will go toward two efforts that have been vital for the local struggle in La Toma:

- Aiding the Black Women’s Movement in Defense of Life and the Ancestral Territories in developing a community radio station;

- Helping to purchase a truck to carry out a self-sustainable  agricultural program. The goal of the agricultural program is to strengthen the bonds between rural black communities and displaced black community members in the city, by building access to organic, community-grown vegetables and fruits at affordable prices.

This fundraiser is your opportunity to make the expression “another world is possible” real.

Like in the US, Black communities in Colombia are facing death, on multiple dimensions. Please seize this opportunity to support the struggle and solidarity building efforts of the Global Black Family.

Click here to donate!!

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La Red de Solidaridad Afro-Colombiana (ACSN) y Las Vidas Negras Importan están iniciando una campaña de recaudación de fondos en solidaridad con las comunidades negras de La Toma, Norte del Cauca, Colombia. Convocamos su apoyo a los esfuerzos de la valiente comunidad de La Toma y sus líderes y lideresas en el Norte del Cauca. Desde el 2009, la comunidad de La Toma ha vivido las crecientes amenazas a sus territorios y sus vidas. La gente de La Toma ha trabajado la minería tradicional y cuidado del medio ambiente por cuatro siglos. Hoy, a pesar de varias protecciones constitucionales, incluyendo el derecho a la titulación colectiva de sus territorios ancestrales, la comunidad está sobreviviendo masacres, violencia sexual, desplazamiento forzado y amenazas de muerte constantes por parte de grupos armados paramilitares.

Pedimos su solidaridad espiritual y financiera para apoyar a la comunidad a recaudar US $25,000 para apoyar dos proyectos comunitarios muy importante.

Su apoyo ayudara dos esfuerzos vitales para la lucha local en La Toma:

1)      Asistir al Movimiento de Mujeres Negras en Defensa de la Vida y Los Territorios Ancestrales a desarrollar una estación de radio comunitaria

2)      Ayudar a comprar un camión para desempeñar un programa de agricultura auto-sostenible. La meta del programa agrícola es fortaleces los vínculos entre las comunidades negras rurales y las personas de la comunidad desplazadas en la ciudad, a través de proveer acceso a vegetales y frutas orgánicos, sembrados y cosechados por la comunidad, a precios al alcance de las comunidades.

Esta campaña de recaudación de fondos es su oportunidad de hacer realidad la expresión “otro mundo es posible”.

Tanto como en los Estados Unidos, las Comunidades Negras en Colombia se están enfrentando a violencia estatal en muchas dimensiones. Por favor aproveche esta oportunidad para apoya la lucha y los esfuerzos de crear solidaridad con la Familia Negra Global.

Oprima aquí para donar!!

Black Lives Matter website , facebook
ACSN website , facebook
Colombia Land Monitor, website
La Toma, facebook

Videos:
We Shall Remain
The War We Are living
Black Land Journey through Afro-Colombian Territory
PalenquesYQuilombos

Mesoamérica Resiste in the Quichaya Indigenous Reserve (Silvia, Cauca)

We met with the teachers from the Educational Institute of Quichaya, them wanting to know about the current reality of Latin America, us with the desire to hear new words and voices that would inspire us to strengthen processes of social transformation.

So we decided to invite the participants to divide into 5 groups, two studied the “Plan Mesoamérica” banner and the other three the “Mesoamérica Resiste” banner. Some teachers showed interest in analyzing the processes of colonization that continue today in their territory, like the ways that small farmers become indebted through the economic and environmental policies of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Interamerican Development Bank, and World Trade Organization. It was much easier to explain and share stories with each other without any kind of manual, but through shared observation of the illustration and understanding how these policies affect us directly.

It was also illuminating for everyone to reflect on the consumer culture that we are so immersed in, and how we are not viewing critically what food we're eating or what culture we are consuming. While talking about the importance of the traditional market as a live seed bank, they told us that the Silvia market, known for its colorful diversity, isn't as strong anymore. They are seeing less and less local products and more products from afar, and say that this is a measure of what people are planting and producing, however we recognize that unlike other communities it still continues as a gathering space, of seeds, of local foods, and exchange of other products from the low lands.

In the birthing scene, all of the participants spoke of the importance of natural childbirth, and that these were medicinal plants. We asked the men which plants these were, some indigenous men knew and others didn't, but definitely the men who weren't from the community didn't know, though in Silvia (in the urban areas) midwives and their services are very much in demand! They began to talk amongst themselves about what these plants were, and what they meant by “cold”and “hot” foods.

For everyone it was important to talk about the assembly, a space that is still very important in some communities but that has been weakened, maybe by the abuse of some leaders, however the men and women of the community continued to defend it as the maximum authority, as the primary space for making decisions.

After analyzing, laughing, and crying “Mesoamérica Resiste” we watched the documentary “Minerita”, that tells the story of the mine in Potosí through the life stories of three women, and how they suffer much more than the men: to get by, to protect themselves from violence from the male miners at any moment. The female teachers were impacted and spoke of the berraquera  (bravery and resilience) of these women, but they also talked about how this same situation happens in the community of Quichaya, how this violence against women keeps happening, many times as if it were something “normal” and it's not discussed as seriously as it should be.

Our intention, more than to “teach” was to share and listen to the words of people who are building community day to day, and well, we're not going to lie, not all teachers are involved in this, but at least to leave a spark of something in the hearts and minds of each person there, something of dignified rage.

Mesoamérica Resiste en el Resguardo Indígena de Quichaya (Silvia, Cauca)

Nos encontramos con los docentes de la Institución Educativa de Quichaya, ellos queriendo saber sobre la “realidad latinoamericana” actual, nosotros con ganas de escuchar nuevas palabras y voces que nos inspiren para fortalecer procesos de transformación social. Decidimos entonces invitar a los participantes a dividirnos en 5 grupos, dos analizaron el telón de “Plan Mesoamérica” y los otros tres el telón de Mesoamérica Resiste. Algunos docentes mostraron su interés en analizar de cuáles son los procesos de colonización que siguen sucediendo en su territorio como las formas de hacer endeudar al campesinado en su tierra, como las políticas económicas y ambientales del Banco Mundial, Fondo Monetario Internacional, Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y la Organización Mundial de Comercio que fueron mucho más fácil de explicar y compartir entre todos y todas sin ningún manual pero sí con sentido común observando bien la ilustración y comprendiendo como esas políticas nos están afectando directamente.

También fue esclarecedor para todos y todas que la cultura de consumo está tan inmersa en las comunidades que no estamos viendo críticamente que alimentos estamos consumiendo y que cultura estamos también consumiendo. Hablando de la importancia del mercado, como un banco de semillas vivo, nos cuentan que el mercado de Silvia, conocido por su diversidad y colorido cada vez se ha ido debilitando, se ve allí que cada vez son menos los productos propios y más los productos externos y que esto es una especie de “medidor” para saber que está sembrando la gente, que estamos produciendo, sin embargo reconocimos que a diferencia de otros pueblos sigue siendo un espacio de encuentro, de semillas, de alimentos propios, de intercambio con otros productos de la parte baja.

En la escena del parto todos los participantes hablaron de la importancia del parto natural y que esas eran plantas medicinales, listo! Preguntamos a los hombres cuáles eran esas plantas, algunos compañeros indígenas sabían otros no, pero definitivamente los docentes hombres que no son de la comunidad no sabían, a pesar de que en el Silvia (su caso urbano) las parteras y sus servicios son muy solicitados! Comenzaron entonces a preguntarse entre ellos cuáles eran esas plantas, que es eso de alimentos “fríos” y “calientes”.

Para todos fue bien importante hablar de la asamblea, un espacio muy importante aun en algunas comunidades pero que se ha venido debilitando, tal vez por abuso de algunos dirigentes, sin embargo los compañeros y compañeras de la comunidad lo siguen defiendo como la máxima autoridad, como el espacio primero para tomar decisiones.

Después de analizar, reír y llorar “Mesoamérica resiste” vimos el documental “Minerita”, que cuenta la historia de la minería en el cerro de Potosí a través de la historia de vida de tres mujeres y como ellas tienen que sufrir mucho más que los hombres: conseguir para subsistir y cuidarse de ser violentadas por los mineros en cualquier momento. Las mujeres docentes estaban impactadas hablando de la “berraquera” de esas mujeres, pero también se dijo de cómo esta situación pasa en la comunidad de Quichaya, como esa violencia hacia la mujer sigue sucediendo muchas veces como algo que es “normal” y que no se está discutiendo a profundidad. 

Nuestra intención más que “enseñar” era compartir y escuchar la palabra de la gente que día a día está construyendo comunidad, bueno y  no vamos a decir mentiras, que no son “todos” los docentes los que están metidos en esto, pero al menos dejar algo de picante en el corazón y el pensamiento de cada uno y de cada una, algo de digna rabia.

A return and re-encounter of pollinators in Wuampia

In 2008, when Polinizaciones first toured through the Department of Cauca, we got to know a community that we were able to visit again this time around, the Misak People of the Indigenous Reserve of Wuampia. It was wonderful to be able to return to Misak territory, see a few old friends, and make new friends; a friend that is involved in Misak environmental and land projects helped coordinate our visit as part of this tour. Besides returning to spaces we'd been in years before to present the Plan Colombia banner, this time to present Mesoamérica Resiste, we were also able to visit the Kizgó community for the first time, in the same municipality of Silvia. During this stay we stayed in the traditional medicine center in the Misak Reserve of Wuampia, surrounded by gardens of many kinds of healing, curative plants. Much of the land of the reserve is liberated land, that was recovered from large landowners in the 1970s by those who are elders in the community now. In this visit, like those before, we had the opportunity to share our work in many spaces, with young girls and boys, older youth, adults, and elders.

In 2011 the council of the Indigenous Reserve of Wuampia and the Misak People, became concerned about issues dealing with environmental and land degradation and the politics of the state. More specifically the wants to dismantle the traditional authorities on the national level, claiming that they are not environmental authorities in their own territories; not recognizing the ancestral originality of the Misak People, or the historical processes of struggle for their land, and also not recognizing national and international agreements and rights of indigenous peoples regarding their territoriality and originality.

Coming from the Elders words and the ancestral duty of the Misak in recent years there has been a process of organization and development of strategies for the protection and conservation of the spaces of Misak life, coming from their own vision of natural balance, with environmental processes that seek to put the management of natural resources into the communities' own hands, with the goal of the Misak Peole having control over their own environment, based in fundamental Misak principles of reciprocity and integrality, for the permanent survival of the Misak People. The objective of this process is to reclaim their own way of thinking, to revitalize the harmony and balance of the land that allowed their ancestors to survive, through nurturing and strengthening Misak territory.

The first day was a spectacular morning with fresh air coming down from the high mountain moors and the sun shining strong, so we decided to do our workshop in the soccer field of the Tranal Educational Institute of the Wuampia Reserve.  All of the students participated and each group presented part of the graphics to the other groups. In the workshop we learned that since we last visited there have been problems with people coming in to colonize this area, pushing gold mining and bringing in drainage equipment that has caused great environmental, cultural, and social conflicts. There are currently 31 mining proposals for the municipality of Silvia given by the government´s geological entity,  INGEOMINAS, two that are within Misak territory, taking up 650 hectares of the high mountain moors of Mama Dominga, the water shed of the Junambu creek, and in the Peñon Peak, all sacred sites of our territory. 

Mining brings many problems; it contaminates water, which is life; dries up water and the mountain moors; destroys sacred sites that are part of our territory; brings in people with weapons and transnational companies. Mining in the Wuampia Reserve is prohibited by traditional authorities; as well as any intervention by extractive industries like transnationals and private companies interested in making a profit off of the environment. A previous Governor of the Misak People, Tata Misael Aranda, explained in 2012, "The practice of mining is like the cultivation of opium; at first it brings in money and happiness, but in the end it only leaves behind poverty and social problems, for that reason we say no to both small and large scale mining.

In the afternoon of that same day we were able to do a storytelling of the Mesoamérica Resiste graphic with students from the Namuy Misak Educational Center (in El Salado) of the Kizgó Reserve, with some teachers joining in, as well as our pollinator friends from the Colectivo Libre Colibrí; in this area of El Salado there are also mining projects affecting the river, and they told us that some youth from their own community are involved in the mining without looking at the consequences that it brings (easy money, but destruction of ecosystems and water contamination), so this space to reflect together, using the Mesoamérica Resiste banners, is one of many important spaces needed to rethink this model of development and look for community alternatives. Coming to visit the Kizgó Reserve was made possible by our hummingbird friends from Colectivo Colibrí who participated in the first Beehive tour we did here in 2008.

The second day we returned to the same auditorium of the Guambiano Agricultural Education Institute in the Wuampia Reserve where students from many different classes participated in collectively studying and analyzing the scenes in the graphics, and taking turns explaining and sharing about what they saw with the whole group. In this workshop we heard that the armadillo, which in the graphic represents an elder sitting with youth around a fire in the community celebration scene, is a sacred animal for the Misak People and represents working the land, and its shell represents weaving (the warp and the weft). That afternoon we returned to the Kizgó Reserve, this time to the Tengo Educational Center, where we met up with the Colibrí Collective who again helped us tell the stories of Mesoamérica Resiste and relate them to what is happening in this region. We talked with the youth about the importance of water, in the Kizgó Reserve are the headwaters of various rivers that flow to and cool down many different farming and indigenous territories (like the urban center of Silvia, the farming zone of Usenda and the municipality of Caldono-Río Ovejas). One of the threats is the implementation of the Departmental Water Law, already approved by the Mayor's Office of Silvia, that some communities don't recognize, and it is still unknown what its reach will be in terms of privatizing natural springs, rivers, and ravines in this area.

For our last day of workshops we were able to return to the place where we did our first Plan Colombia presentation in Guambia, a place as special as it is beautiful, in the house of "Tampal Kauri." This time it was a school day for Misak University, an initiative of the Misak People to create its own educational space after high school, with its own values, perspectives and realities. It was without a doubt the largest and most participatory workshop we've done on this tour, with more than 5 very full hours of interactive storytelling and collective analysis, group presentations, and a final summary of all their work, with more than 100 people participating. People spoke up with a lot of enthusiasm, most of them were bilingual in Spanish and in their own language, Nam Rik, and participated in both languages, and they spoke about local issues inspired by the scenes in the banner, like the threat of genetically modified crops and the loss of their traditional clothing, and also about the importance of the fireplace, that is at the center of the university as well as at the center of their homes. They congratulated us for the work of the Bees, and we left Mesoamérica Resiste posters at Misak University like we do with all educational institutions and teachers, collectives, and places where we do workshops. After the workshop, like we did on our last visit, we did an interview on Namuy Wam, the indigenous community radio station of the Wuampia Reserve, where we talked about our work and also issues related to megaprojects, indigenous communities, and the environment in our entire hemisphere.
 

Like all of our visits to see our friends from the Misak community, this visit was so lovely and welcoming that we hope we can return to Wuampia and the surrounding areas of Silvia soon, to keep walking together with the Misak People. As much as we are able to, we will continue to accompany them and support educational processes through our illustrations and other artistic expressions that highlight the importance of land and autonomy. To be able to return here after so much time reassures us that our buzzing around continues to be welcome, and that there is still a long way to go and much work to do.

Un retorno y reencuentro de polinizadores en Wuampia

En el 2008 cuando Polinizaciones realizó su primer recorrido por el Departamento del Cauca pudimos conocer y compartir con una comunidad que pudimos visitar de nuevo, el Pueblo Misak del Resguardo Indígena de Wuampia. Fue muy grato poder volver al territorio Misak, ver algunxs viejos amigos, hacer nuevos amigos, en esta ocasión un amigo que está en el proceso ambiental y territorial Misak nos ayudó coordinar esta visita como parte de la gira. Además de volver a espacios donde hace años pudimos presentar el telón de Plan Colombia ahora con el de Mesoamérica Resiste, también pudimos conocer por primera vez la comunidad de Kizgó en el mismo municipio de Silvia.  En esta estadía nos quedamos en la casa de las plantas medicinales en el Resguardo Misak de Wuampia, rodeados por huertas de plantas que curan, alivian y ayudan de muchas maneras.  Mucha parte de la cual anduvimos en el resguardo son tierras liberadas, que fueron recuperadas de los terratenientes en los años 1.970s por los mayores de ahora. En esta visita como en anteriores tuvimos la oportunidad de compartir en espacios con niños y niñas, jóvenes, adultos y mayores.

En el año 2011 el cabildo Indígena del Resguardo de Wuampia y el pueblo Misak preocupados por la problemática ambiental- territorial y las políticas estatales que quieren desarticular a las autoridades Tradicionales de todo el país argumentando que no son autoridades ambientales de sus territorios; desconociendo de esta manera la originalidad ancestral del Pueblo Misak, desconociendo los procesos de lucha histórica por el territorio, desconociendo los convenios y derechos nacionales e internacionales de los pueblos ancestrales sobre su territorialidad y originalidad.

Desde el Derecho Mayor y deber ancestral Misak en los últimos años ha puesto en marcha un proceso de estructuración y elaboración de estrategias para la protección y conservación de los espacios de vida Misak, desde una visión propia de armonización y equilibrio natural, con procesos ambientales que busquen llegar al auto manejo comunitario  de los recursos naturales, y por ende  ejercer la autoridad ambiental propia del pueblo Misak, basados en los principios fundamentales Misak de reciprocidad e integralidad, para la pervivencia y la permanencia del pueblo Misak. El objetivo de este proceso es Reivindicar  el  pensamiento propio  para  vitalizar  la  armonía  y  el equilibrio  del  territorio que permite la pervivencia ancestral, mediante la propuesta de la crianza del territorio Misak.

El primer día fue una mañana espectacular con el aire fresco bajando de los páramos y el sol brillando fuerte entonces el taller con la dinámica de análisis colectiva lo realizamos en la cancha de fútbol de la Institución Educativa el Tranal Resguardo de Wuampia.  Todxs los estudiantes participaron y cada grupo presento su parte de la obra a los otros grupos. En el taller aprendimos como desde la última vez que estuvimos ya hay problemas de colonos, impulsando la minería de oro con maquinaria de drenaje que han causado grandes conflictos ambientales, culturales y sociales en la zona. Actualmente hay 31 solicitudes mineras en el municipio de Silvia impartidas por INGEOMINAS, dos están dentro de nuestro territorio ocupando 650 hectáreas del páramo de Mama Dominga, cuenca hidrográfica de la quebrada de Junambu y en el Cerro del Peñón, sitios muy sagrados de nuestro territorio.  

Lo que trae la minería son problemas; al contaminar la vida que es el agua; al secar el agua y los páramos; al acabar los sitios sagrados que son todos parte del territorio; al atraer gente con armas y a las transnacionales. Es de resaltar que la minería en el resguardo de Wuampia está prohibida por las autoridades tradicionales; de la misma manera está prohibida toda intervención por parte de agentes extractores como transnacionales y empresas privadas interesadas en la venta de servicios ambientales. Como había explicado el Tata Misael Aranda un anterior gobernador del pueblo Misak en la zona Tranal en el año 2012, “La práctica minera es como el cultivo de la amapola, al inicio trae dinero y felicidad pero al final solo deja pobreza y problemas sociales, por eso se dice no a la minería artesanal y no a la minera a gran escala”.

Por la tarde del mismo día pudimos realizar el taller narrando Mesoamérica Resiste a estudiantes en el Centro Educativo Namuy Misak (vereda El Salado) del Resguardo de Kizgó con participación de algunos profes también nuestras amigas polinizadoras del Colectivo Libre Colibrí; en este sector de El Salado también se está llevando a cabo acciones de minería en el río  y nos han contado que algunos jóvenes y comunidad misma están realizando minería sin mirar las consecuencias que acarrea (dinero fácil, destrucción del ecosistema, contaminación del agua), así que este espacio de reflexión desde Mesoamérica Resiste es uno de los tantos  necesarios para replantear el modelo de desarrollo y buscar alternativas comunitarias.  . El acercamiento al Resguardo Kizgó fue posible por las amigas Colibrís que participaron en ese primer recorrido realizado en el 2008 como abejas.

El segundo día volvimos al mismo auditorio de la Institución Educativa Agropecuario Guambiano en el Resguardo de Wuampia donde estudiantes con varios cursos realizando el ejercicio de análisis colectivo, explicando y relatando lo que vieron a los demás personas participando. En este taller se habló que el armadillo, que representa un mayor alrededor del fogón en la escena de la fiesta, es un animal sagrado para el pueblo Misak y representa el trabajo de la tierra y también su caparazón representa los tejidos (el hilado y la trama) bien organizados. Esa tarde volvimos al Resguardo Kizgó esta vez al Centro Educativo el Tengo donde nos encontramos con los Colibrí que nos volvieron ayudar de narrar como las historias vistos en Mesoamérica Resiste se están viviendo en esta zona. Allí charlamos con lxs jóvenes acerca de la importancia del agua, en el Resguardo de Kizgó nacen varios ríos que refrescan diversos territorios campesinos e indígenas (como el casco urbano de Silvia, zona campesina de Usenda y el Municipio de Caldono –Río Ovejas), uno de los riesgos es la implementación de la Ley Departamental de Aguas ya aprobado por la Alcaldía de Silvia, Ley que algunas comunidades desconocen y aún no sabemos de su alcance privatizador sobre ojos de agua, ríos y quebradas de la zona. 

Nuestro último día de talleres pudimos volver al lugar donde realizamos nuestra primera presentación de Plan Colombia en Guambia, un lugar tan especial como bello,  en la casa del “Tampal Kuari”. En esta ocasión fue un día de clase de la Misak Universidad, una iniciativa del Pueblo Misak en creando un proceso de formación después del colegio en los valores, miradas y realidades propias. Fue sin duda el taller más largo y rico en participación que realizamos en la gira con más de 5 horas movidas y dinámicas de análisis colectivo, presentaciones de grupos y al final un resumen de todo el trabajo  con la participación con más de 100 personas. Personas hablaban apasionadamente, la mayoría de manera bilingüe en castellano y también en el idioma propio Nam Rik de temas locales inspirados por las escenas en el telón como las amenazas de los cultivos transgénicos y la pérdida el atuendo tradicional,  y también de lo importante del fogón que en si es el centro del espacio de la universidad como es en el hogar. Nos felicitaron las distintas personas por la labor de las abejas y dejamos afiches de Mesoamérica Resiste con la Misak Universidad como hicimos con todos las instituciones educativas, colectivos, docentes, y lugares donde realizamos talleres. Después del taller, como se hizo en el truque durante la última visita realizamos una entrevista en Namuy Wam,  la emisora indígena comunitaria del Resguardo de Wuampia donde hablamos de nuestro trabajo al igual de la problemáticas de mega proyectos, comunidades indígenas y el medio ambiente en todo nuestro hemisferio.

Como en todas las visitas que hemos hecho a ver nuestros amigos del Pueblo Misak esta vez fue tan bonita y acogedora que quedamos esperanzados para volver pronto a Wuampia y los alrededores de Silvia para poder seguir caminando con el Pueblo Misak. Desde nuestra capacidad se pretende seguir acompañando en lo que se puede en procesos de formación a base de dibujos y otras expresiones artísticas que resaltan el territorio y lo propio. Poder volver después de tanto tiempo nos asegura que nuestros zumbidos siguen siendo bienvenidas y el camino aun es largo para andar.

Pollinating in Toribio and Tacueyó

In our path of Polinizaciones it's a priority for us to maintain relationships and stay in touch with the people and communities we've had the chance to get to know and share experiences and our work with. We recognize the dynamic where many people who travel a lot and arrive in communities where people open their doors to them with much love, never return. It's sad to us that people who have the privilege to travel don't take into consideration the communities who open their doors to them. Since we started this journey with Polinizaciones, we have been really clear on this, and although for lack of economic resources we haven't been able to return to all of the communities who have received us, that work is still pending for us, to maintain these relationships and return to continue knowing, sharing, and walking together. Fortunately on this tour we've had the opportunity to reconnect to some of these relationships, first in Cali and then in the Department of Cauca where we returned to communities that we got to know when we first started this process, and also got to know new communities and processes.

One process that we've known for a long time because of the strength of their own communication is the communities of the Nasa Nation in the north of Cauca. Although in the past we were able to get to know and work with Nasa communities in the municipality of Caldono and in Tierradentro  this was the first time we'd been able to meet and share with community members from the reserves of Toribio and Tacueyó. Although Toribio is more known as a violent place because of the war and has been demonized by the media, for example with the image of a soldier crying when the Indigenous Guard was liberating the Cerro de Berín, we know that it's also a territory inhabited by resourceful communities who are ready to use creativity to meet their needs.

Through friends from the Minga de Muralistas we were able to arrive in this place and learn more about their processes of struggle, resistance, and defense of this territory. The Minga de Muralistas formed with the idea of creating a different collective vision for the community of Toribio through art. A group of artists and community leaders dreamed of realizing this artistic work brigade, with the idea of converting Toribio into an outdoor art museum to recuperate Nasa cultural identity, and strengthen the representation of the community through the conservation of public spaces, by painting murals. Since then the members of the Minga de Muralistas have been painting murals all over the territory of northern Cauca and now they are talking about taking the Minga to Putumayo and to Huila.

During our time in Toribio The Center for Education, Training, and Research for the Comprehensive Development of the Community (CECIDIC) was our base of operations. CECIDIC is considered a “coming together point of different educational alternatives that offer indigenous communities, rural farmers, mestizos and afro descendents spaces for training and also accompaniment for children, youth, adults, and elders, to support the building of holistic and intercultural lives, supporting the strengthening of ethnic, cultural, and biological diversity in Colombia.” Being in CECIDIC was really an incredible thing – a college/university with indigenous Nasa students, other indigenous communities, and Afro-Colombians, with projects to strengthen their languages, a screen printing workshop, a welding workshop, and programs to study agro ecology and communications. In the cooperative store at CECIDIC they have their own line of clothing, Maensu, designed with stamps from the screen printing workshop, Yu'ce Nasa organic soap made there, and also the Kwesx Café Coffee.

  

The first activity we participated in was the swearing in of student councils members, which took place in the sports center of Tacueyo. The process of the student councils is how the youth is incorporated to the different community and regional organizations from a young age. During the whole event the Mesoamérica Resiste and Plan Colombia banners were hanging up in the space, where many people admired them and took photos in front of them. After the event we were able to present Mesoamérica Resiste and the work of Polinizaciones to a group of professors, and we left copies of the poster with teachers that teach in the Nasa Yuwe language, who are taking on the challenge of working with the poster in their own language.

In Toribio we were able to stop by the NASA Project Cooperative where they offered their own brand of natural juice, Fxinze, and berry yogurt from Lácteos San Luis, all community businesses, and also offered trout from the Juan Tama Fishery in Tacueyó. In the cooperative and pharmacy Droguería Central they also had a variety of plant-based medicines and remedies and other natural substances for all kinds of sicknesses. Above the pharmacy is Nasa Estéreo where we participated in an interview to talk about the Mesoamérica Resiste graphic, megaprojects, and the work of the Bees. In more than one occasion during the days in Toribio we felt, and said out loud, that we felt like we were in the solidarity economy scene in the Mesoamerica poster [part of the larger native bee scene of the illustration].

The second day was workshops to collectively analyze and explore the graphics, and presentations to groups of hundreds of students and professors, all day long in CECIDIC. Many students from all of the courses took time to look at the banners up close, and participate in understanding it, while other students from the communicationsprogram recorded video and audio and took photos during the activity. During the group workshop we gave the students in each group the option of presenting their scenes in Spanish or in Nasa Yuwe; the majority presented only in Spanish but one group of students braved it and presented in their own language.

Knowing the projects and activities in this area, it was really easy to ground certain concepts from Mesoamérica Resiste in the reality of people´s lives in northern Cauca. Militarization and war, but also the resistance to them, a solidarity economy in the face of threats of displacement and monocultures. In the high part of Tacueyó there is a zone of high moors (páramo) where they are trying to install a high mountain military battalion to protect a highway to facilitate the movement of trade from the Pacific coast to the port in Honda, Tolima, part of the Magdalena River Development Plan. In all of the spaces where we were able to share the graphics campaigns, the students, professors, and everyone appreciated the artistic aspect as much as the educational and informational aspects of the drawings.

As always when we're on tour, the time in each place is too short. We hardly had time to get to know Toribio, San Francisco and Tacueyó, and like every place where we've pollinated, we have to return. We know that with our new family in northern Cauca there's a lot to do together. We saw how this place has been so devastated by war, but at the same time how communities have succeeded in meeting their needs in their own ways, achieving an admirable level of self-sufficiency that other communities with more possibilities haven't been able to achieve. We left with the possibility of working with other bees and animals that dream, that know and live a resistance of colors, forms, art and culture, music, planting and trading, chicha and... we see that we are closer now to the reality of being able to bring the Minga de Muralistas to our territories, hopefully in the not too distant future, to be able to create a new graphics campaign about a new theme made by a new group of pollinators from here, and we want that to include our new family in northern Cauca. Time will tell how we achieve this metamorphosis.