COLOMBIA 2018
In March 2018 the fruit of a collaboration between Santa Fe College and the SENA Institute of Colombia was recognized. SENA is a Colombian public institution aimed to develop vocational training programs for the Colombian labor force as a means to increase the competitiveness of Colombia's enterprises. It's a government initiative to develop education in Colombia and foment employment. A group of 7 students from Santa Fe traveled to Cartagena, Colombia for a week and then 8 students from SENA traveled to Gainesville for a week.
This collaboration of educational systems was immensely beneficial to both sets of students. The main focus of the trips revolved around three different goals: expanding our knowledge of entrepreneurship, being exposed to cultural diversity, and getting more experience with Linux Servers and Cyber Security.
Left & Right: Pictured here are the Santa Fe and Colombian students during a day of school at SENA in Colombia
We spent 4 hours each day in class, learning about how to configure server services, such as: DNS, DHCP, Apache, and FTP. We were each partnered with a Colombian student and they were who we worked with the most. This was a unique learning environment as the Santa Fe students didn't speak much Spanish and the SENA students didn't speak much English. For me, it was quite a challenging environment to learn in but very stimulating at the same time. It was interesting to me to see the way the classes/ school was structured and I did find some things that surprised me, like how they had a fiber splicer to show students how to work with fiber.
One of the things that resonated with me was the fact that even though the two groups did not speak a common language, in a way we kind of did - through Linux. The Professors were fantastic, ensuring everyone understood the material before moving on and they also incorporated some fun games into the learning experience as well. Even though this was a more challenging learning environment, I did learn a lot about Linux and setting up servers and best practices, like copying all default configuration files before you edit them.
Pictured here are all the students at an Entrepreneurship workshop at on the of the SENA centers
Something we learned about while in Colombia is the Fondo Emprender, an entrepreneurship fund that was started by the Colombian government in 2002 but is managed by SENA. The purpose of this fund is to finance business initiatives proposed by graduating students from all over the country. This is seed money, but it goes beyond that as well - they have to have a solid business plan, they receive mentoring and coaching throughout to ensure their business will succeed, and they are not required to pay the money back if they meet certain requirements. This is a huge benefit to the students and citizens here and part of the reason why entrepreneurship is flourishing in Colombia.
We saw people of all ages exercising their entrepreneurship skills, which is invaluable as starting your business comes with so much more than just business skills, you learn people skills, money managing skills, time management skills, and how to create something and stick with it. I can't help but wish the United States offered a similar program for their up and coming entrepreneurs.
Left & Right: Pictured here are just a couple of the enthusiastic entrepreneurs we encountered in Colombia
Outside of class time we also spent some time exploring SENA's other centers and programs they offered. The SENA system is really such a great asset to the residents of Colombia, it offers so many different programs, but all of them are useful and important skills to have that you can easily transfer into a career. Some of the facilities we visited included a naval training facility, a crane operator training facility, and a jewelry making class.
What I liked most about the whole system of SENA was that the programs are focused on skills that are applicable to their region. This is in contrast to the United States where in most colleges anyone can take classes and get a degree in a field that does not translate into a job after school, because the degrees aren't as focused on what skills the U.S. needs, but rather what people would like to study.
Pictured here is all the students on a tour of another SENA facility, this classroom is for naval simulations.
Of course, you can't visit another country and not experience their culture, it's obvious from the beginning how different this beautiful city is from Gainesville. The differences in culture are prevalent in many aspects of this country, its food, its architecture, and even by its people. We spent all of our time outside of class exploring the city of Cartagena, different restaurants, museums, and historical sites. Some of the spots we visited included the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, Castillo San Luis de Bocachica, The Museo Naval de Caribe, and many different delectable restaurants.
The history of Cartagena I found very interesting, and I would like to elaborate a little on the historical aspect. This port was founded in 1533 and the historic walled center of the city was constructed to prevent attacks from pirates, the construction for the wall was started in 1586 and upon its completion made the city basically impenetrable. In 1697 the french attacked Cartagena and managed to take San Luis de Bocachica and San Felipe de Barajas. This was a huge blow to the city and after they recovered from it they started planning additional fortifications around the city, like creating sand bars in the space connecting the islands to prevent malicious ships from gaining entry.
In 1741 the English attacked Cartagena and managed to take San Luis at Bocachica but retreated after a major battle at San Felipe de Barajas which left over 800 english men dead. In 1762 they continued to add even more defenses, going so far as to build underwater jetty to help prevent malicious ships from gaining entry to the Bocagrande. Things were fairly quiet in this area until 1811 when the Latin American wars of independence were triggered after which Spain sent a pacifying expedition of 10,000 men, which was repelled by a meager 3,000 citizens of Cartagena. After being liberated by Simon Bolivar and bestowed the title of Heroic City upon Cartagena and things have been fairly peaceful ever since.
This is the Castillo San Luis de Bocachica, construction started in 1646. This castle was attacked multiple times over the course of Cartagenas' history, and eventually was reduced to ruins. What you see today was constructed on the ruins starting in 1753 and this is what we see today.
Overall, my experience in Colombia was unforgettable and eye-opening. It was amazing to be able to be exposed to different cultures and see how they are so different yet so similar. The Colombians were nothing short of extraordinarily welcoming to us and excited to share their day to day lives with us. I went into this with an open mind and a positive attitude, willing to accept whatever was thrown at me. Because of this I made tons of new friends, tried foods I would never have tried on my own, and experienced once in a lifetime experiences. Colombia's scenery was breathtaking and now all that's on my mind is when I can go back.
Throughout the experience I developed a greater knowledge about another culture, an interest in international issues, and interest in involvement on a global scale. This international experience helped me grow on a personal level as well. It sparked a realization within myself that allowed me to better understand my ability to empathize with people who are different from me, my ability to be more aware of the way I use and structure time, my ability to understand and accept differences in other people, and my desire for more diverse friendships and connections. This experience really helped foster my sense of confidence in handling new and foreign situations allowing me to be fearless when looking at opportunities in life.
One of the many ways our gracious hosts showed their appreciation of the exchange, shirts with the Colombian flag and SENA's logo, and the American flag with Santa Fe's logo
This trip to Colombia was funded by the U.S. Department of State through a grant partnership with Colombia called 100,00 strong in the Americas