What do people in poverty and need look like? Just like me and you

The situation in Colombia is getting unbearable for the locals. Thousands of people line up for emergency food and many have hanged a red flag outside their houses -  meaning that they are in need of urgent help with no food or water. Coming from a wealthy country with a well functioning social security system, it's first of all hard to understand the situation and even harder to witness all that threatening the people that you consider as your family here in Minca. It's even harder since I know that I can't help all of them alone. With this post, I want to to raise awareness and maybe trigger someone to donate to the Minca fundraiser. 

Can you tell who is (or might become a person) in need? I can't.

Video shot during the weekly grocery shopping trip in Santa Marta on Tuesday April 21st by Adam Walker (member of my quarantine family).

Imagine the situation: 

Basically everything, like your farm and source of income, was taken away from you during the time of Guerilla violence and later the government gave your family a piece of land to live in and start fresh. You start a family business in tourism industry maybe by driving moto taxis, running a hostel/restaurant, or maybe giving tours for bird watching or cacao farming. You live from hand to mouth, just enough to provide your family, but with no opportunity to save money. 

Then comes coronavirus with at least 1,5-month-long lockdown followed by rumours that the tourism industry might have to remain closed for up to 18 months. You cannot work, meaning no income, leading to no food and water. What would you do?

In Finland I would just contact unemployment office with few clicks and then receive part of my salary as unemployment benefits. The social security system would always support me.  I could use my savings, or in worst case scenario ask my family to help me out. 

But what about the people in coutries like Colombia where no such thing as social security system exists? 

This is what happens to them:

Colombians starve as funds to combat COVID-19 crisis embezzled

As governments struggle to reach all those in need, many have resorted to hanging red rags from their windows to signal they need help. (Read the whole article here)

(If the video doesn't work, click HERE to watch it)

Listen our chef Yainer (26yrs), father of 4, to better understand the situation here in Minca:

(This was really hard for me to listen, since I consider these people as my family. Have been teaching the kids English and to swim, as well as just playing around with these little angels. Truth really hurts.)  

(If the video doesn't work, click HERE to watch it)

Despite the horrible situation, these people around us are truly amazing and always greet me with a smile on their face  - and I really hope it can stay that way. To do something, the local business owners established Minca Covid Relief movement to collect donations to help the families in Minca - classified as poorest level neighborhood in the country. 

Luckily the fundraiser has started very well and it's now releaving the urgent life-threatening needs. Still, to help the community to become more self-sufficient in long run, more help is needed. If you want to help, click here to donate. Every penny counts 🙏

Stay tuned with social media channels:

Facebook: Minca Covid Relief

Instagram: @minca_covid_felief

These little angels just make my day 🥰 But they too will need some help.

Stay safe and have a great day 💚

Love,
Else

Losing control and finding comfort in having a gun aroud, wait WHAT?!?

I don't know what's happening, don't know how long this is going to last, can’t go out, can’t travel, can’t do groceries, can’t eat out, can’t go for a run, can’t see my friends and family... How do I feel about losing control? Or why having a gun at the property gives me comfort while I would be super anxious if there was one in Europe?

This was my 6th cancelled flight in one month, so should be used to these by now. But this one hit me extremely hard. Until this point I had my own flight, but now I'm officially stranded and fully rely on the evacuation flights with no idea when and if they will take place. So this simple notification meant that I had no more control over schedules, transportation or other planning.

l guess most of us are experiencing the feeling of losing control over many things that we never even thought about or knew to appreciate in our daily life. Inspired with these people around me, I have done a lot of self-reflection during these now 26 days in complete lockdown. I also realized how weirdly my mind works when I'm in strange environment with most of the control taken away from me. 

I have no or very little control over:

• Not able to plan anything (it’s kind of cool though)
• Not allowed to leave the hostel properties (don’t really want to go to Colombian prison for breaking the curfew)
• Where to stay (there’s no way I could leave during the lockdown, and most places are closed)
• When and what I eat (couple of options and timeframes for each meal)
• Cannot cook myself
• Who I spend time with 
• Not allowed to do groceries or buy what I want/need (e.g. sunscreen)
• No place to go for a run (normally my way to cope with difficult situations, clear my head and keep it together)
• How long does the lockdown last
• When and how I can go back home (no panic, I'm very comfortable here)

Breakfast (10am) - Lunch (2pm) - Dinner (7pm) create core for the daily structure, and like we learned in Finland: good food, better mood.

I even got upset cause I ran out of oats for my porridge and had to give up on making my own breakfast every now and then (now I have some more, so panic is over). Sounds ridiculous, but that was one of the last “my own things” that I had control over, so in a way that totally makes sense.

It took some time for me to notice how these small and simple things give me a lot of comfort, just because I (unconsciously) have control over the following:

• Daily routines
• Yoga, workouts, other activities
• Working / Studying
• Reading
• Also the mealtimes create important structure (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
• Mindset: trying to think positively and see the bright sides of everything, but also allowing the sad feelings come and go
• Having a clear action plan for basically every possible scenario

Daily yoga and meditation keep me sane by being super important part of my daily structure as well as keeping me physically active. (But the mosquito bites all over legs make me go crazy)

A week ago, we had a meeting to discuss action plans for every possible scenario from someone getting corona symptoms to the situation getting unstable in the area. We got to know that there is for example a gun behind locked doors and people around who are trained to use it. Desperate people with no food and money might do extremely desperate things and since we are in Colombia, where for example the police is not like in Europe, you really need to be aware of safety matters. I’m in the middle of the jungle far from big cities, so the likelihood for something happening is small, but the possibility still exists.

This is where I realized how my mind does very weird things to keep me sane and survive . Back home I’m quite strongly against guns (hunting is an exception) and being around guns makes me very anxious. But this situation is so absurd that after the first shock I actually felt very safe to know that basically no scenario can come as a surprise since there’s an action plan for everything. I feel I have control over one thing. What else could I do? Freak out, pack my backpack and leave during a lockdown? It’s crazy how human mind can really make great things to survive, at least for me, just by accepting the situation and trying to see things in positive light. I guess this is also how all the brainwashing during difficult times work, since people want to believe good things. 

My hide-out and happy place, takes about 20 min walk in and by the river to get there

But all good here, I actually really enjoy the time I have for all the self-reflection, doing meditation, or just lying in a hammock or sitting by the waterfall to watch butterflies (there are A LOT) and how water flows and carries all the leaves and branches. And don’t worry, I’m not swimming in those deep waters with my deepest thoughts all the time. There’s a lot of cocktails, fun and laughter to balance it out. Like our yoga and dance teacher Adrian said: I feel I’ve got a new family and home far away from my home country.

Love,
Else

Sky on fire - The most amazing sunset so far

About my quarantine family and birthday party on Corona Cruises

We are 11 guests, 4 volunteers, ~15 staff members and their kids, coming from 13 different nationalities: Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Spain, France, Lithuania, UK, Slovakia, Israel, Hungary, Netherlands, Germany and me from Finland. 

My quarantine birthday party with bunch of tourists on Corona Cruises

Fun fact is that basically none of us guests decided to come of stay here, but somehow we all still did. It’s funny to think all the coincidences and small decisions that brought us all here. Maybe we should believe in destiny? 

We have been here now for 3 weeks in a complete lockdown, but it feels like I've known these people for much longer time. We became really close super quickly (latest after the first party :D ) and I love the family-like feeling here, with strongly blurring the lines between staff and guests. Everyone collects their dishes, help picking mangoes and doing other things. We sometimes take turns to act as guest chefs with our amazing kitchen staff (will devote one post later just for the great food here).

Birthday special

One of the most memorable days was of course my birthday on March 25th. I knew that I will be abroad and might celebrate it with some new friends (plan was to be in Medellin), but nothing special. First we our daily morning yoga with a birthday special. And because I love organizing parties, decided to throw a theme party – tourist party on Corona Cruises ship simulator. Loved the effort everyone made for their outfits!

My dream cake 😍

The cocktails here are dangerously good

“Never have I ever” bingo, learning Finnish group dance Letkajenkka and limbo, as well as amazing tacos, tequila shots and my dream come true: a mango cake! Huge thanks for everyone here who made it happen, I had a blast <3

Love,
Else

Becoming a multitalent - How do I spend my time during the lockdown?

Finally getting to the fun stuff: all the awesome activities we do. One could get very bored and passive during a lockdown, but definitely not here. I feel like I’ll get a burnout before getting bored 😄

Here’s what our weekly schedule looks like:

Additionally we have e.g. massage course, evening meditation and this Saturday will be sushi workshop. So normally my daily schedule looks about like this:

6:30 - 7 Wake up

Drink coffee and chill, watch the sunrise

8:00 – 9:30 Yoga (6 times per week)

9:30 - 10:15 Workout (3 times a week)

~ 10:30 Breakfast

Self-picked mangos and avocado 😍

Pool / Chilling / Working / School stuff

~14:30 Lunch

Continue pool / Chilling / Working / School stuff

Pool train - When life gets stressful, get to some kids' plays and everything's a bit better!

Meditation challenge (20 min daily)

16:00 Drawing / Photography class (both twice a week)

Never thought I could draw (still have a long way to go), but really proud of my progress so far. Thanks to our teacher Pablo!

19:00 Dance class 3 times a week: Bachata / Salsa / Reggaeton OR Spanish

~20:00 Dinner

~22:00 Go to bed

So what skills am I learning? 

• Handstands (daily)
• Headstand and other yoga "acrobatics"
• 3 dances (Salsa, Bachata, Reggaeton)
• Meditation
• Drawing
• Photography
• Spanish

I guess that’s enough for one quarantine 😅

I also call with friends and family, write my blog, read books, listen to podcasts, etc. Haven’t even got to Netflix yet, so still have a lot of room for more boredom!

And visit the private waterfall located in the hostel's own land, so it’s allowed during the lockdown 😍 Since walking on streets is not allowed, we sometimes take a walk in and by the river.

We made a small plantation too to make sure we won't be starving

Coming up more about this awesome group we have and how I celebrated my birthday last week!

My quarantine family 💓