Table Colombia Challenge

• Spanish

La Guajira is one of the poorest and most abandoned regions of Colombia, which is currently heavily affected by mining and facing threats of new mines, which threaten to destroy the environment, and most importantly water sources whose contamination presents great risks to the health and wellbeing of the population of la Guajira. The region was moreover hit by the decades-long conflict between guerrillas of the FARC, paramilitary groups and the army. At this moment, a group of ex-combatants of the former guerrilla group FARC are reincorporating in the community of Conejo, in the municipality of Fonseca, La Guajira. This requires adaptation of both ex-combatants and community members to live together peacefully, but it also means that more sources of employment are needed to make the reincorporation and peace process sustainable. Finally, la Guajira is known as one of the most ‘machista’ regions of Colombia, where gender inequality remains high. This small business aims to tackle these different problems, through the promotion of environmental consciousness, education about Colombia’s history of conflict and reconciliation, and the generation of jobs, especially for women.

This small business offers a complete eco-tourism and community tourism package, which includes different guided tours which focus on the history, culture and nature of the area. They consist of a tour through the Perija mountains to enjoy the beautiful views from the mountains, spot the birds, butterflies and other animals such as iguanas, as well as the tropical plants and trees. The tour not only explains the details of the flora and fauna in the area, but also strategies to protect them in the light of persistent practices of hunting of endangered animals like iguanas, as well as environmental degradation. The tourism package also includes a tour through the ETCR (reincorporation zone) where the FARC ex-combatants are rebuilding their lives, and a visit to their historical memory house (casa de la memoria) where they explain the visitors about the origins and consequences of the armed conflict, as well as the everyday life of the guerrillas during the conflict. The experience continues with a visit to a recreated guerrilla camp, which is located on the nearby farm where ex-combatants are now growing plantains and holding animals to become economically sustainable. In this camp, which is built in an environmentally friendly way, tourists and students will learn more about the guerrilla experience, and even have the opportunity to experience what life in the mountains was like for the guerrillas. Last but not least, the tour visits the neighboring community of Conejo, which suffered the conflict firsthand, but has received the FARC ex-combatants warmly. This shows that reconciliation is possible, and that this tourism enterprise is the fruit of that effort of reconciliation. Tour guides will be able to explain Conejo’s conflict experience as well, so that visitors finish the tour with a comprehensive understanding of the region’s conflict and culture. Conejo itself has a long tradition of growing coffee, which can be appreciated in this tour.

So far, the project has received some groups of national and international students and individual and small groups of tourists. Students are an important target group for this company, because of the important goal of educating Colombian and international youth about the conflict and the ways in which armed conflicts can be prevented, to promote a culture of peace and reconciliation. In the future, the business aims to expand this group of local and international visitors, receiving groups of tourists on a more sustained basis. In this way the team, who now work on a voluntary basis, can start receiving a salary for their work. A majority of the team members are women and the project is led by women, therefore also promoting the economic independence of the women involved in the business and in the long-term gender equality by showing the active participation of women in the economic, social and natural life of their region.

This business specifically takes advantage of the opportunity that the post-conflict situation in Colombia offers, both in catering for students and tourists who are interested in learning more about the history of the conflict and the current reincorporation and reconciliation process, as well as in benefiting from the increase in tourism that the post-conflict situation offers. The increased stability that the post-conflict situation has created has led to increasing numbers of international tourists to Colombia, and also to the opening of new areas for international and national tourism. This area of La Guajira has traditionally not received many tourists, and therefore there is little competition in the region. The post-conflict situation offers an opportunity to develop a tourism enterprise, which takes advantage of the post-conflict context and the natural beauty of this region. At the same time, La Guajira is a region which is very rich in natural resources, flora and fauna, but which has historically been abandoned by the state, and the bad state of basic infrastructure like roads or access to electricity presents an obstacle. It is however hoped that the development of successful tourism enterprises and projects can attract more attention to the region, which will eventually lead to more state investment in basic services. Another risk is that in spite of the 2016 peace process, armed groups remain active in Colombia. Nevertheless, la Guajira has so far remained a relatively quiet region that presents few risks for tourists.

In Colombia and internationally, interest in ecotourism and community tourism has grown enormously over the last years. There are a variety of international, national and local tourism agencies dedicated to this sort of tourism, as well as hotels in cities like Valledupar or Riohacha offering guided tours. Nevertheless, in this region of la Guajira, la ‘Serranía del Perijá’, there is virtually no competition. Moreover, this small tourism enterprise has various advantages:
- It combines ecotourism and nature walking tours with the history of conflict and reconciliation in Colombia, so that visitors obtain an integral understanding of this region’s nature, culture, politics and history.
- The business offers community tourism which is run between ex-combatants of the former FARC guerillas and civilians from neighboring community Conejo, therefore providing an example of reconciliation that visitors can experience for themselves, learning about experiences of conflict and reconciliation of those who experienced these issues firsthand, both ex-combatants and civilians.
- The business is led and run principally by women, offering an alternative vision to the history of Colombia and La Guajira, which tends to be male dominated.

The project, even before it was formalized as a small business in March 2019, received a group of students from Denmark, and groups of national students from the Universidad del Atlántico and of the Universidad de Caldas, both Colombian universities. The team also received a family of national tourists from Bogota and additional small groups of tourists. They all expressed their satisfaction with the tour, which they found very interesting and complete. There has not been any formal evaluation or validation of the project, but the team have received extensive training and advice from the Colombian education institution Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje SENA – La Guajira, which is based in Fonseca.

The project was initiated by a group of, mostly female, reincorporating ex combatants, later joined by civilians. Therefore, the main strategy for this project is to aim for tourists who are interested in the social and historical aspects of Colombia’s past and present, told by its protagonists. By targeting universities and secondary schools, the project also has a clear educational goal. In addition, the team has been trained to provide tourists with information about the flora and fauna of the area and ways to protect the environment. To promote the tourism packages, the team is in the process of building a website to obtain more clients, with the financial support of the Emprender Fund. Although there are no formal partnerships yet, the team is maintaining conversations with the company Solera Travels, based in Riohacha, to develop tourism packages together. The goal is to establish similar partnerships with hotels and travel agencies in the region, Bogota and the rest of the country. So far, the project has received visits of groups of students of different universities, and the team aims to build alliances with these and other universities, in and beyond Colombia, to guarantee a more sustained stream of visitors, and to contribute to the increased knowledge about the internal armed conflict among Colombia’s youth.

Key performance indicators include:
- Increase the number of national and international tourists
- Increase the number of national and international students of secondary schools and universities visiting the project
- Formalize and improve the tourism infrastructure and the accommodation for tourists
- Generate paid jobs for the team members

The company is run by a team of 13 persons, seven of whom are women and five men. Of this team, Luzdaris Diaz Nieves, Marina Angel Lozano, Plinio Zambrano Palencia, Elkin Sepulveda Lozano, Francisco Javier Villa Jimenez, Marcos Mexel Martinez Mendoza, Dairis Naluz Fernandez, Yoledis Gonzalez and Carlos Emilio Osorio Henao are ex-combatants, while Evelis Sierra Olivera, Mari Miriam Martinez Diaz, Yesica Epiayuu and Kelis Torres Blanchar are members of the community of Conejo. The team is led by its principal coordinator Luzdaris, who is supported by Eliza and Plinio, therefore clearly showing the gender perspective of the project. All team members have received training and mentoring by the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje SENA – La Guajira. Various team members have also participated in a year-long project on action research and communication in relation to immaterial cultural patrimony in the context of peacebuilding in post-accord Colombia, provided by UNESCO, the Colombian Ministry of Culture, and the Universidad del Norte (University of the North, Barranquilla). Therefore they are well aware of the different cultural traditions of both the FARC ex-combatants, the population of Conejo as well as the wider region of Perijá.

In three years, the company aims to receive at least three groups of tourists and students a month, as well as individual or smaller groups of tourists. This would mean the company will have a monthly income of at least de $1500 a month. In three years, the touristic facilities will also have improved, including through the building of four wooden cabins for 20 persons in the ‘tourist guerrilla camp’, funded by the Emprender Fund, with bathrooms installed in the camp as well as restaurant services (currently the restaurant is located in the reintegration zone). Currently, tourists can already stay in the guerrilla tents or hammocks, with space for 25 persons. Finally, in three years at least two team members will be able to attend tourists in English. The FARC ex-combatants have only recently started with catch-up education, but they are learning English and are looking for support to strengthen their English language skills. When these milestones are reached, the price of the tourism packages can be raised, allowing for more investments in the business and a higher contribution to the team’s salary.

This business has a clear positive impact on its direct team members, the neighboring community and the region, and it has the potential for even wider impact:
- Its team members, so far working on a voluntary basis, will be able to start receiving a salary when the project grows, leading to an improved economic situation for their families. Salaries will be especially important for the women in the team, increasing their economic independence and empowerment.
- A company led by women will give a positive example to promote women’s participation and gender equality in the region.
- The collaboration amongst ex combatants and civilians, and the education of the public about the causes and consequences of the Colombian conflict, will promote the creation of a culture of peace and help prevent conflict in the future.
- The natural walking tours will promote environmental consciousness among tourists and students, as well as about the risks of mining and other environmental threats.
- The attraction of more tourists to the Perija region will lead to more money being spent in the region, and eventually it might lead to the development of la Guajira as a region that receives more national attention and more state investment in basic services.