Candida Velasquez, traditional authority of the Santana community, has understood that to achieve what they have they had to dream, think, set a goal and work tirelessly until they achieved it. This woman with a strong voice and clear convictions has dedicated herself to believing and creating self-sustaining projects that inspire others within her community and allow them to get ahead. Santana works to be a community with many resources, that does not need to go out and look for things, that generates its comforts. To that we just say: Dream, Santana!
Entering Santana is to silence the hubbub of the noise of motorcycles and cars, here everything is quiet, everything is in peace. Cándida tells us that the members of the community carry out different tasks during the day without breaking into that state of calm: “Different activities are developed. Here there are people with different profiles who work in companies, there are teachers, there are entrepreneurs, some are also dedicated to agriculture, shepherding. The authority and leader are in charge of managing resources”.
The dreams of the 35 Santana families have no end. They dream day and night, with their eyes closed and, surprisingly, they dream more with their eyes open: “We dream that our school reaches grade 11, that it has a specialty so that children become technicians. I see all the students from here and from the neighboring communities who integrate here, with entrepreneurship ideas.”says Cándida.
Likewise, he reveals what his other dream is “Our other great dream is to have many companies, I dream of having an ice factory, a bakery, a collection of handicrafts, having a plant to make corn flour, because that can happen here, I don’t see it as out of this world or impossible. We like to work”.
And since you have to get up early to work for your dreams, one day in this community looks like this: “The day here begins when the sun rises in the west, when the rooster crows, all the members of the community begin to carry out their work. The one who is in the corral knows that he must take care of the animals; He who has to look for water, he does it; the mother of the family who prepares her children for school; and thus each one fulfills its function within the community so that the progress can be seen.“, it states Dainer Larradamember and teacher of the community college.
For its part, Severiano Velasqueza member of Santana, adds, “We believe that our essence is the constant search for self-sufficiency, it is our goal. Not only be able to achieve economic stability but also produce our food here in the territory. That we may be able to sustain ourselves without the assistance of third parties”.
And since it is about fulfilling dreams, this community has worked hand in hand with Cerrejón several projects, some of them within the framework of ruling T-704 of 2016, such as the delivery of threads, aid for school, a water pumping system and a shed. All, projects that bring them closer to being the self-sustaining community they aspire to.
“We have always had Cerrejón there, it is our neighbor on the railway line, our elders had that coexistence with the company and now the company provides guidance so that the projects are not left adrift. With the T-704 ruling, work has been going on and Cerrejón has been here hand in hand with the community to execute this project like the one we have today and it benefits us, the shed, we started with a thousand chickens and we already aspire to 5 thousand”, concludes Severiano.
In the middle of Guajira where trupillo abounds is Santana, a community in the municipality of Maicao located at kilometer 35 of the road that leads to Cerrejón. This community also claims that there is something else that makes them unique, their authority tells it: “Santana is characterized first of all in that we are people who do not interrupt the work of Cerrejón as neighbors, we have never made a blockade”.
Tomorrow will be another day and Santana will get up to work as soon as the sun rises, they will go out to fish, to fight and to dream. To that we just say: Dream, Santana!
