Colombia—Field Studies Blog
In Cartagena, Sørlandet gained a great deal of experience during Field Studies, both cultural and sociological.
After a walking tour through the old city of Cartagena, made famous by the late Nobel Prize winning novelist, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, students and faculty practiced the art of salsa. The dance did not come easy. But, fun was had. Two hours after entering, the crew left the Crazy Salsa Dance studio smiling, sweaty and with appreciation for the athleticism the Latin dance requires.
Most enlightening of Sørlandet's Field Studies was a humbling day spent with Opportunity International, a microfinance organization founded in Colombia. Students first visited Opportunity’s office and there learned of microloans, a peer-to-peer business model built on lending to less developed communities rather than donating to them, so as to foster long term economic growth and avoid burdening clients and small businesses with interest. Brian Olarte Cashin provided an overview of the neighborhoods of Cartagena which had been prioritized to receive microloans.
Students then visited clients (living on less than $1.25 USD per day) in their neighborhoods, homes and at the small businesses in which they work, where the day’s Field Studies came full circle. Students could plainly see the small but impactful successes of microfinance in clients’ roofs, floors and store shelves.
