Milagros 🇨🇴 (English version)

In the previous episode: I was about to leave Medellin heading to Yopal, in the Casanare region, to volunteer for 3 months in the countryside teaching English and French among other subjects.

After spending 2 nights in Guatapé, I hitchhiked east. 2 days of hitchhiking, buses, walking, and far too little sleep and energy (I caught a little cold). I rested for 2 nights in Yopal, do my shopping, meet members of the association, and then I am all set!

Week 1 – July 13, 2025:

The first week in Milagros! I will try to do a recap each week even though a lot is happening. I arrived last Monday (July 7) via a dirt road and a bumpy three-hour ride. The pickup crossing streams, rolling over stones and dirt drops me off at Milagros with my host for the next month and a half. I am getting to know Doña Rosa (the mom), Alexis, Jimena (or Wendy, she has two names), Michael, Jason and the animals: dogs, chickens, cows, and the horse.

It was a week of discovery: discovering nature, the rainy season in the tropical zone is not a joke. It rains almost every day, and when it rains, it’s better to be sheltered! I discover animals I had only heard about or seen in photos, like big spiders, scorpions (found one on my T-shirt, the rascal), birds of prey, and insects by the millions! The mountains surrounding us are majestic, just like the many waterways where we go swimming and fishing (an activity I abstain from). In this environment, I discover the lives of its few inhabitants. Here, it’s pure countryside: we live with nature, with animals, cows, chickens, and more. People move around by motorcycle or horseback, which remains the most common mode of transport here. We eat products from the surrounding area, a lot of vegetables and meat. Doña Rosa cooks, and it’s always a delight!

As I was saying, we are in the countryside, the kitchen is powered by a wood fire, the water is sourced from the nearby river, the shower is cold, there are power cuts, and we wear boots all day long. We wake up between 5:30 and 6:30 am, and in the evening everyone is in bed between 7:00 and 8:00 pm at the latest. It’s quite a change from urban life, and it takes me a few days to adjust. As mentioned earlier, I am here to assist the teachers in teaching English while sharing French, European, and other cultures I am familiar with. It has been, I think, the biggest shock to the head. The school has the only Wi-Fi point in the area, which is used by several families. The buildings are old, the paint is peeling, and the electricity is frequently unavailable. The teachers’ office? A plastic table and chair like the ones you find on the beach. For the children, a chair and a wooden tablet to write on. They aren’t exactly swimming in money, and it shows. In this school (the only one in the valley), there are two classes: the younger ones, taught by the teacher (pronounced profé) Miguel, with 5 students aged between 6 and 10, and the older class with the teacher Karen, with 10 students aged 11 to 15. The students walk to school, except for the ones who live further away and sometimes come by horse. So, they walk to get to school, and for those at a distance, it’s about a 2-hour walk. Classes start at 7:30 in the morning and we finish between 2:00 and 3:00 pm. Some walk 4 hours a day round trip.

Despite these rudimentary conditions, the teachers, who travel an hour by motorcycle to get here, work hard to ensure that the children learn and experience something beyond their Colombian countryside. Here, both the older and younger children play together, help each other, and learn collectively. There is no competitiveness or mockery. Regarding English, I must start with the basics as they have a very low level, knowing only a few words of vocabulary. Their teachers speak very little English, which makes it challenging to teach a language when one speaks it rarely. I will try to teach them a few things, talk to them about other countries, the world, and what I know.

Week 2 – July 20, 2025:

Otherwise, we occupy our time by the river, going to catch fish a 6-hour round trip, doing pottery, catching cows with a lasso, playing hide and seek… Here, children drink coffee, handle machetes, work in the fields, take care of cows, and become independent very early. We are far from the French education system.

We’re starting the week off with a bang with a tiger attack! That’s right! Reports say that a tiger attacked a donkey and left it for dead near the river where we usually go swimming. All week long, we hear about this tiger. The boys go to see the scene of the crime, but after asking around, it seems that the donkey is alive (and in the end, we come back to the first version: the donkey is dead). In short, quite an adventure. I discover that there are tigers in the area, which I didn’t know. In the end, I learn that there are also bears, pumas, jaguars—we’re not really sure. So much for Colombia’s little animals!

On Tuesday, I discovered that at school they don’t teach writing in cursive but in print. It’s the kind of thing one doesn’t think about, but it explains why students don’t understand everything I write on the board. On Wednesday, we had a video call with Baptiste. He works at the leisure center, so we had a video call with his children and mine. However, mine quickly went off to play football. It’s not a big deal; we were able to chat, and the French children were able to ask a few questions to a little girl who stayed with me.

The week went by really fast, school in the morning, back home for lunch, school in the afternoon until about 3 p.m. then we go swimming, walking, or just rest. On Friday, I had my first English test with the older kids. It went… Anyway, let’s forget about that. Also arrived the daughter of Doña Rosa, her boyfriend, and a beautiful girl. They will stay for a little week (if I understood correctly) because Doña Rosa is going to Yopal for medical visits until Thursday. We are taking advantage of the weekend to play football, swim in the river, and take a nap.

The weekend is more difficult; I don’t understand much of what is being said, there are plenty of words that I don’t understand. I have to ask for things to be repeated several times like an old man. I’m starting to think about returning to France slowly, maybe by boat next spring? Anyway, there’s time to see how things go and to think about it. I’m reading quite a bit, I try to meditate every day, and I take the time to do nothing, that’s good too, right?

Week 3 – July 27, 2025:

We start the week with a day off! No school today. So we extend our relaxing weekend. Football and rest. Doña Rosa comes back Tuesday morning; her appointments did not take place. Her daughter leaves the next day, leaving her daughter-in-law, Angela, behind. The days go by quickly; the English classes are going well with the older kids. With the younger ones, it’s more challenging. I’ll see next week what I can put in place to help them memorize the vocabulary better.

I finished a book of short stories that explores possibilities and ideas for slowing down climate change. Plenty of good ideas, such as the creation of an Ocean Nation that would impose taxes on maritime transport and polluters, and with the money from these taxes, fund conservation projects for corals, animals, and pollution cleanup. Cooling the Arctic and Antarctica, establishing a carbon cap for each individual, and setting up places for sharing items. Like a book box but with equipment in a local space.

For the weekend, I am traveling to Morcote (the village) with Professor Miguel to see the village and a singing competition on Saturday. To summarize this weekend, the word would be drinking. They start at 8 am with beer and it continues all day long. I’m doing an alcohol detox during my volunteering, and the idea of getting drunk doesn’t attract me too much. On Friday night, I met other teachers and locals; it was cool. We ended up in a bar with an arcade game of marble throwing. I met the judo champion of Colombia in the under-13 category, which is not common. Regarding alcohol, as I said, they drink a lot and that’s fine, but I learned that you should definitely not talk about cannabis. Apparently, it’s a huge taboo. It’s surprising since we are in the countryside, but from what I’ve been told, you have to hide to smoke a little.

On Saturday morning, I rested, then I went to talk with a teacher and we went to see the famous singing contest, known here as « Pilon del oro. » It’s basically a village festival. They all have that cowboy style with their hats on their heads, their shirts tucked into their pants, and their boots on their feet. The party was nice, but I went to bed relatively early because I go to bed early here.

I returned Sunday morning to Milagros, walking along the road. It took me about 4 hours of hiking through the jungle to reach the house. A little dip in the river followed by a big sleep before starting the next week!

Part 2 soon!

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