Uncertainty

When we decided to go back to Colombia, we knew it was not going to be easy. We know all the downsides: safety issues, lack of opportunities, poverty, corruption, etc. We grew up there and have lived thru most of them. But there is a current aspect of the environment in Colombia (Latin America actually!) that can impact our decision directly and is completely outside our control: the political environment. Colombia is a poor country located in what would be the poorest corner of the globe if Africa didn’t have the dubious title. There is poverty, inequality, lack of education and many more problems that are alien to the developed world. It is also a country where traditional leaders have ruled for the benefit of a few, and to the detriment of many. It is a country where a few live good lives and many just survive.

This context is the perfect breeding ground for radical movements that advocate the needs of the poor and the need for a government that reflects such set of priorities. But it has also spawned radical groups that –sponsored by some of those in power- try to maintain the status quo. The only common ground between these two groups is their radicalism. They will burn the country to the ground rather than to try and find a compromise with one another. It is their all or nothing approach that has murdered thousands of people in our country and that has prevented real progress to reach those who need it. And those who really need the change are the ones caught in the middle with no choice and no future. The pervasive reach of these groups is such, that the country is more polarized than ever. The voices that claim the grandeur of a leader of any extreme sound louder than the voices of reason; passion has taken the place of reasoning and any dissent is seen as a threat, not a difference. The path we are walking looks very much like the path of self-destruction.

The path that we seem to be walking is the only thing that makes me doubt the decision. Is it wise to try and create an enterprise in an environment where a corrupt minority calls the shots on the direction of the policies and the economy? Is it wise to try and create an enterprise where some people advocate a socialist model that punishes individual efforts and rewards inefficiencies backed by the government? Is it wise to go into the uncertainty of a country with no sensible leadership and a region pushing for a self-destructive transformation? The most sensible answer to these questions is no, but only by working the ship we can change its course. Only by playing the game we can change the outcome; only by our commitment and vision we can make these questions irrelevant. This is about seeding the seeds of social responsibility by the entrepreneurs; this is about making the economy stronger so more people can be in it rather than out of it; this is about working like the ripples in a pond: from inside towards everyone else generating a visible effect.

We will go to Colombia in a sea of uncertainty to be part of a change to make a difference. We will go to Colombia to make a difference in people’s lives. We will go to Colombia to live a different live. We will go to Colombia because that is the life we choose to live.

When a decision is made

This entry was written on August 5th, 2009. It is a testament to our planning process that six months later it is still accurate, except for the bit of waiting for Ana Sofia to be born. She has been with us for five months now. So here it is:

We have decided to go back to Colombia. It has been a very difficult decision as Australia has given us many opportunities, good friends and certainly a wide variety of options for our children. But there is more to life than a comfortable though predictable future. For people close to their families like Carolina and I, taking away from them the opportunity to know and love our children and to see them grow is heart-breaking. There are no words to describe the happiness on Emma’s or our family’s faces when they were interacting in Colombia back in April. It is clear to us that they deserve that chance and that it will make a world of difference to them.

However, isn’t that the price many migrants have paid to improve their lives? Are we lacking the strength to continue a process that started almost a decade ago and that has certainly changed our lives for the better? Yes, in isolation. If that was the only reason why we did it I would not feel happy. But I also feel is time to strongly start to give back to my birth-country. I have always thought that if We who have experienced more of the world, if We who have seen other cultures, if We who know that there are better ways of doing things don’t do something about the way we do things in Colombia, then We don’t have any right to ask much more from the people that only know one way of doing things.

I will go back and start my own business. I have helped many companies improve themselves and their results around the world, and now it is time to do it where it will make a difference to my people. I can and will change the future of people in Colombia (and Latin America) by translating those experiences into tangible benefits in a developing corner of the world. Don’t get me wrong, it will be a business and it will make money, but it will also make a difference in an environment where even the smallest of differences can trigger amazing change. I can only guess what the end result of this change in direction will be, but I know great things can happen if we only try. And it is time to try.

Right now I need to organize the timing of the move, sell the house, wait until Ana Sofia is born, quit the job and many more things. Just looking at what needs to be done to move to Colombia, let alone getting things moving there, is daunting. But a great challenge.

For those of you that only know that Colombia is the place I was born in, here are a couple of links to videos and articles. It is a wonderful place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn4hMEOpF8o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzZe0gcc0eY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6f40ySFGAE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYTRQzLkYGo&NR=1&feature=fvwp

http://www.colombiaespasion.com/VBeContent/home.asp?idcompany=26