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Santiago Mcallister
Santiago Silva
TypeEl Cerrejon, the hope of la Guajira
El cerrejon is a coal mine in La guajira the contentmost northern department of yourColombia. This coal mine is the largest coal mine in Colombia and one of the biggest in all of the world (Open-Pit). El cerrejon is managed by three international companies; BHP Billiton, Anglo American PLC, and Glencore international AG. The contract was until 2009 but in the government of Andres Pastrana (1999) they extended the contract until 2034. El cerrejon now days is one of the most advanced places in all of Colombia it has a golf course it has many soccerfields, tenniscourts, pools it has a hotel and it even has a school the Albania School its very well organized to be in La Guajira and to be in Colombia. The company as people live there have to do deal with many health issues as having to water the road so there would not be so many dust also they have to manage the coal so that it will not reach the homes of the people that live there causing diseases, from my personal view I think it is managed in perfect conditions. Also El Cerrejon contributes to rehabilitation of where there was no more coal they have a program which is to plant trees, so that the terrain can be used again by the community of la Guajira. The Coal mine also has a railroad which takes many wagons as much as 12000 tons of coal a trip to Puerto Bolivar in the northern part of la Guajira. El Cerrejon has aproximetly 5000 workers with contract which makes it the company or area that employs more people in all of la Guajira. But what question are we asking ourselves being so many types of coal for what is the coal in El Cerrejon used for? The coal is used generally for electrical power and they can dig until 300 meters and still find coal but it would increase the prices to take the coal all the way up again so there is room for 3 billion tons of coal in el cerrejon. Normally you would think and ask how does the process of given the terrain by the government work it works by “Concesiones” this is when you set a deal with the government that each part of the money that comes in from the coal is going to go to them then it will be divided to la Guajira and then to the rest of Colombia. The colegio Albania is the best ranked school in La Guajira it has many opportunities for the U.S it conforms with SACS it is partner with Colegio Nueva Granada also with Colegio George Washington, but what do this school have in common all of them have to do with the United States the one that has to do most with the United States is Colegio Nueva Granada because it is located in the capital of Colombia and all of the Embassy students go to school there. For more information on SACS please visit this page here.http://www.sacs.org/

During the trip we had to La Guajira we could
In order to organize your trip to Guajira, you have to be aware of how much it will cost. For most tourists the prices will sound cheap, but cheap does not mean bad. We can start by saying that the cost of the plane ticket is 260.000 pesos in Avianca (round trip), a very good flight company. As soon as you reach Riohacha, you need to get 4x4 jeeps with a tourist or person from the zone in order to transport around Guajira. The cost varies, so it is better to ask the driver before getting in the car. Gas is very cheap but there are no gas stations, drivers know where to go, a gallon cost about 3.000 pesos. There are specific places were tourist are recommended to go; Punta Gallinas, Parque nacional de flora y fauna los flamingos, Cabo de la Vela, and Riohacha. These places are organized for tourists, were to eat and were to sleep. Guajira is not at all a comfortable place but compared to what you see, it is worth it. Some of the best places to sleep in these recommended sites are:
Punta Gallinas:
·$20.000- 35.000
· Cabo de la Vela:
·$ 10.000-30.000 food included
· Rioacha:
·$17.000
· Parque nacional flamingos (boca camarones):camarones):chinchorro $10.000 night Colombian $14.000 studen $ 6.000
· Villa del Mar: $20.000 ( local person) $30.000
Most of these places called “rancherías” are made from clay or from little sticks joined together, these sticks are taken from the inside of the cactus, they are called Yotojoro. They have all of this available for them free and the land in which they make these places has always been theirs, by theirs we mean the Indians which manage these places (they are called Wayúu). It is not easy to get things taken into this places so people have to survive and use what they have available. Food given to people is mostly fish because you are surrounded by water, making it easy to get. These is where you can find delicious food:
(Boca camarones): $30.000( 3 foods included)
· Parque nacional de flora y fauna los flamingos:
Divi Divi: $20.000 - 30.000
· (Cabo Ranchería Utta: $10.000- 35.000
For these Indians there is not much of a problem with obtaining their clothes or education because their tribe teaches them as they grow and their clothes and utensils are made by them with wool. Electricity and water are the problem for them, water only arrives once every week and a reduced amount for each place. Electricity is hard to find, but some of these people have made interesting treaties with factories like “El Cerrejón” and “Refisal”, which buy their products or use their work in their benefit and as pay they supply them with electricity.
ps : we had to post it from my account since maria paula didnt know how to put it in hers , but the 2 of us worked on it.

It’s hard, living in the desert. In fact most of the world’s deserts are completely inhabitable. Although it’s not completly inhabitable, the Guajira desert located in northern Colombia gives its people a lot of inconveniences. But the Wayuu indigenous people continue living in these places and in fact they adapt pretty well to their circumstances. The main issue that people have in the Guajira is the lack of water, the same issue that exists in every desert around the world. People have to adapt to these conditions so that they are able to survive. But that is not a problem, humans have proven capable of surviving in almost any condition around the globe. What is interesting is they way in which they accomplish this in the Guajira desert, one thing we had the priviledge to experience with our own eyes.
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it perfectly. while staiyng at Punta Gallinas we could see what water meant to them after it rain all night. in the morning women has ritual dresses and were happy to pick up the water that had been left over from the rain in the ponds. Water is primordial for them, they even felt disrespedted when we gave a bad use to the water or we threw it away.
{http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462526915502_752345502_11065674_5129221_n.jpg}
We also noticed that they live mainly depending on the amount of goats the family has. The goats are the animals who have the best balance between benefit to the owners and cost, because of their way of not consuming water. Other animals like cows need grass which needs water which in total becomes a counter-productive activity. To get married they pay 70, to put a hammock next to their wifes is 10, and what we noticed is that there were a lot of lonely goats in the desert. This is like finding money on the ground, because they even buy women with these animals.

Daniel Agudelo
Camilo Vaca
it’s not completelycompletly inhabitable, the the world. . People have
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soap. Being a city people,person, its hard
{http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462526915502_752345502_11065674_5129221_n.jpg}
family has. The goats are the animals who have the best balance between benefit to the owners and cost, because of their way of not consuming water. Other animals like cows need grass which needs water which in total becomes a counter-productive activity. To get these animals. We found it very interesting to find that their culture is extremely sexist. They live in a culture that they say is feminist, because the male moves to the female's house when they marry and the child carries the mom's last name. But they are not completely feminist, in fact they are the opposite in some cases, like for example the male can buy females with goats.
{http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462528420502_752345502_11065813_2278514_n.jpg}
getting more andoand more hard is produced there. In our school hike we noticed that their bodiesthere
The wayuus live in a very dry environment, a place where food and water are completely adaptedvery hard to different types of food and food bacteria than ours.get. They have eaten that type of food allmake their own clothes, their livesown hammocks and nevertheir own rancherias all by themselves. They consider themselves a separate part of Colombia, they have gotten sick, but when we go there many fellow companions got sick, vomited, felt dizzy and manytheir own laws. For example, if one person kills another, the family of the victim has the right to kill the other simptoms. When we arrivedone, in any way they want. To be able to Bogota, even more showed sicknesses. Obviously it is because our bodies are not adapted to that kindssurvive in here, they have a lot of foods, that's why we comparedpractice and experience. The culture has embraced the adaptionlack of Wayuuswater as a part of the daily life, this is one of the reasons the Wayuu are so good and used to ourselves.
lacking of water.

It’s hard, living in the desert. In fact most of the world’s deserts are completely inhabitable. Although it’s not completely inhabitable, the Guajira desert located in northern Colombia gives its people a lot of inconveniences. But the Wayuu indigenous people continue living in these places and in fact they adapt pretty well to their circumstances. The main issue that people have in the Guajira is the lack of water, the same issue that exists in every desert around the world. . People have to adapt to these conditions so that they are able to survive. But that is not a problem, humans have proven capable of surviving in almost any condition around the globe. What is interesting is they way in which they accomplish this in the Guajira desert, one thing we had the priviledge to experience with our own eyes.
{http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs231.snc3/21833_462528205502_752345502_11065791_4031173_n.jpg}
soap. Being a city person,people, its hard to imaginimagine our life
{http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462526915502_752345502_11065674_5129221_n.jpg}
these animals. We found it very interesting to find that their culture is extremely sexist. They live in a culture that they say is feminist, because the male moves to the female's house when they marry and the child carries the mom's last name. But they are not completely feminist, in fact they are the opposite in some cases, like for example the male can buy females with goats.
{http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462528420502_752345502_11065813_2278514_n.jpg}
to maintain, especuallyespecially with no is produced there
The wayuus live in a very dry environment, a place wherethere. In our school hike we noticed that their bodies are completely adapted to different types of food and water are very hard to get.food bacteria than ours. They makehave eaten that type of food all their own clothes, their own hammockslives and their own rancherias all by themselves. They consider themselves a separate partnever have gotten sick, but when we go there many fellow companions got sick, vomited, felt dizzy and many other simptoms. When we arrived to Bogota, even more showed sicknesses. Obviously it is because our bodies are not adapted to that kinds of Colombia, they have their own laws. For example, if one person kills another,foods, that's why we compared the familyadaption of the victim has the rightWayuus to kill the other one, in any way they want. To be able to survive in here, they have a lot of practice and experience.ourselves.

{http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462526915502_752345502_11065674_5129221_n.jpg}
We also noticed that they live mainly depending on the amount of goats the family has. To get married they pay 70, to put a hammock next to their wifes is 10, and what we noticed is that there were a lot of lonely goats in the desert. This is like finding money on the ground, because they even buy women with these animals.
{http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462528420502_752345502_11065813_2278514_n.jpg}
They mainly live on goat meat, rice and fish, because this is what is available for them to hunt. In fact, their food variety is very limited. In some places there were eggs, they raise chikens for the eggs and for their meat, but they dont have a lot of them because they are hard to maintain, especually with no water. They have a weird culture, but I'm not going to get deep into that. The Wayuu people have learned to live with what they have, and they do a great job. As you move north, all of these things start getting more ando more hard to find. By the time you get to Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of Colombia and of the entire South American continent, everything is limited. Everything they have has been brought before. The water is taken after long, excruciating walks by the women and the food is also brought, except for their goats and the traditional fish that they get in the sea, fry it on oil and ready to eat. This is the basis of their protein diet. All of the rest, carbohidrates and fruits are imported by them, nothing is produced there
The wayuus live in a very dry environment, a place where food and water are very hard to get. They make their own clothes, their own hammocks and their own rancherias all by themselves. They consider themselves a separate part of Colombia, they have their own laws. For example, if one person kills another, the family of the victim has the right to kill the other one, in any way they want. To be able to survive in here, they have a lot of practice and experience.

Daniel Agudelo
Camilo Vaca
the world. The issue of the water gets worse as you move north. Moving water. People have to adapt to these conditions so that they are able to survive. But that is extremely hard and it takes days to movenot a literproblem, humans have proven capable of watersurviving in a donkey. Wouldalmost any condition around the globe. What is interesting is they survive ifway in which they accomplish this happened? How long can a human last without water?
Thein the Guajira desert, one thing we had the priviledge to experience with our own eyes.
{http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs231.snc3/21833_462528205502_752345502_11065791_4031173_n.jpg}
The way locals use soap. Being a city person, its hard to imagin our life without showering every morning. We are used to cleaning up every single day, to smell good and feel fresh. The desert people dont have that privilege. They dont even dream of being able to shower every day, but they are completely used to it. I am sure that when they saw us desperately begging to take a 1 minute shower, they laughed to death inside. Its something that goes with culture and habits, but they deal with it perfectly.
{http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs291.ash1/21833_462526915502_752345502_11065674_5129221_n.jpg}
We also noticed that they live mainly depending on the amount of goats the family has. To get married they pay 70, to put a hammock next to their wifes is 10, and what we noticed is that there were a lot of lonely goats in the desert. This is like finding money on the ground, because they even buy women with these animals.
to hunt. In fact, their food variety is very limited. In some were eggs, they raise chikens for the eggs and for their meat, but I don't know if they dont have chickens there or bought those.a lot of them because they are hard to maintain, especually with no water. They have great job. As you move north, all of these things start getting more ando more hard to find. By the time you get to Punta Gallinas, the northernmost point of Colombia and of the entire South American continent, everything is limited. Everything they have has been brought before. The water is taken after long, excruciating walks by the women and the food is also brought, except for their goats and the traditional fish that they get in the sea, fry it on oil and ready to eat. This is the basis of their protein diet. All of the rest, carbohidrates and fruits are imported by them, nothing is produced there
The wayuus live in a very dry environment, a place where food and water are very hard to get. They make their own clothes, their own hammocks and their own rancherias all by themselves. They consider themselves a separate part of Colombia, they have their own laws. For example, if one person kills another, the family of the victim has the right to kill the other one, in any way they want. To be able to survive in here, they have a lot of practice and experience.

David Janna, Andres Reina, Christopher Daniell
January 19/2010
Politics in La Guajira
Other than a governor and 15 mayors there isn’t any other type of presence from politics in La Guajira. This place consists of 681.575 people which 45% represents the Wayuu culture. Guajira is located in Colombia and it works via a self local government. The Wayuu tribe is the supreme power in this place. Evidence supporting this is a really high rate of smuggling or contraband. This makes clear the idea of the Guajira being a place with not that much presence from the government. The Colombian president Alvaro Uribe doesn’t go more than twice a year to this part of the country. President Uribe has never won a presidential election in La Guajira, still most of the Wayuu people support him and 45 % of the Guajiran population is Wayuu. The Colombian government is owner of great things from here, for example the salt mines which in fact produce most of the salt consumed around the entire country is taken from this region of Colombia. The Colombian government in the year 2000 gave a few acres of the salt mines to native people so that they could do substation farming. There is another natural resourceful industry that the Guajirans and Colmbians in general is the Cerrejon; here coal is extracted from the land and exported nationally and internationally. We had the wonderful opportunity to be able to experience this naturally stable and built location but aside from this it has become a profit industry, people from all over the world come to see this immense coal mine. This company issues over 5.1 million dollars per major project. Every day 5,500 tons of coal is extracted per hour, taking that these people work from 6 in the morning to around 8 in the afternoon that estimates to around 82,500 tons of coal each day. We could keep going with these great and abnormal statistics but unfortunately 15% is given to us Colombians. The other 85 % is for the majors of the company which are a group of South African and British showman. This prolific industry will come into Colombian hands in the year 2040 by then the coal would be completely exploited and nothing will be left for us. This happened because in the beginning of this Cerrejon major project; there wasn’t enough resources economically or material wise, so we had to obtain international aid.
Another very interesting topic and fact that we learned while in our excursion in the Guajira was that the “Guerilla” (Gorilla Soldiers) had much interference with these Guajiros and in turn with the Wayuu population. We found out that there was once en epoch that the Wayuu had to arm themselves of weapons and fight off the Guerilla because they were trying to exploit them for their natural resources, labor, and land. Keep in mind that all this took place before Alvaro Uribe rose to his presidency. Once in power, he issued a sort of doctrine to take those bandit soldiers out of that region. With this executed, the Guajiros economy rose dramatically, so did the rest of the country. This also helped and lead further to the establishment of the Guajiros government because they didn’t have to worry about the Gorillas. A noteworthy fact that we learned while down in the Guajira was the way they handle and negotiate their disputes, mourning rituals, and problems. Instead of consoling another person with money and other goods after committing a crime, these Wayuu people follow a distinct law which is give “chivos” or a type of goat. For example, if a mans wife is killed by another man, that man will go to his shaman and ask for guidance and will ask the shaman to supply him with one of two answers, either kill the other man, revenge, or ask for a reimbursement of 175 “chivos” and the other man will accept the consequence, over time his family will have to pay that compensation.