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