Colombia Migration Project

Quicktime movie | Ver en Quicktime Eduardo is an artist in Medellin who dreams about being able to see the original artworks of the masters he admires. This video is shared with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license. _________________________________ Este video tiene una licencia Creative Commons Atribución-No Comercial.

Quicktime movie | Ver en Quicktime Antares moved to Bogota from Cartagena a few years ago, and is considering going to France, where her sister lives. This video is shared with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license. _________________________________ Este video tiene una licencia Creative Commons Atribución-No Comercial.

Quicktime movie | Ver en Quicktime Juan lives in Bogota and is finishing his engineering degree. He wants to specialize in France to improve his career opportunities. This video is shared with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license. _________________________________ Este video tiene una licencia Creative Commons Atribución-No Comercial.

Quicktime movie | Ver en Quicktime This is the second part of the interview with Olga, in which she talks about the experience at the American embassy. This video is shared with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license. _________________________________ Esta es la segunda parte de la entrevista con Olga, aqui ella nos cuenta como fue su experiencia en la embajada en la americana cuando fue a pedir su visa por primera vez. Este video tiene una licencia Creative Commons Atribución-No Comercial.

(Quicktime movie, Flash movie) Olga lives in Colombia but has traveled and worked in Israel and in the US. She is going to the US again soon. This is the first part of her interview.

(Quicktime) (Download Quicktime movie (26 MB) | Flash movie) Maria Isabel is a friend from Medellin. I met her when I was living for the first time in New Jersey, going to College there. She has lived in the US and in Argentina, and she has a spirit for traveling, she wants to see the world. As it says in the video, about 10% (4 million) of Colombia s population live abroad. Most of these people are educated, middle-class, like Maria Isabel - there s a real brain drain happening. As opposed to Mexico, in Colombia the poor don t have the means to go to the USA (it s too far away). So the exodus has happened mostly in the middle class, the exact group of people Colombia can least afford to loose. PS: during filming we plugged the microphone in the wrong part of the camera, so the sound isn t very good for this one. Apologies!  

(Quicktime version | Flash version) Catalina is an artist and a teacher in Medellin, Colombia. She just had a baby, and that has changed her motivations to look for ways to leave the country and go and live somewhere else for a while.

Quicktime version, Flash version Vanesa moved to the US twenty years ago. She is a cosmetologist and she owns a beauty salon in Queens. Vanesa has no children but she is getting married in a year in Cartagena.

(Flash version of movie) After studying environmental engineering and having a couple of good jobs in Colombia Rocio decided to try learning English in the U.S. Six months became six years and she is now waiting to get her citizenship which will give her the opportunity to come back to Colombia without losing the option of working in the U.S every once in a while.

This is the second part of Amy s interview. The first part is here.

Amy is originally from Cali, Colombia. She studied nursing before migrating to the U.S. In her thirty years in NYC Amy has gone through very difficult moments but thanks to her brave spirit she is now working in her field (nursing) and she holds a good position at the NGO she works for.Amy is the co-founder of the Center for Immigrant Families in NYC. She was a member of the school board for seven years. She worked in the lower East Side taking over abandoned buildings and creating community gardens. She currently lives in the Lower East Side in a co-op building that she and her friends squatted in the eighties. Amy is an admirable woman and mother of a nineteen year old girl, no wonder she was recently named “Woman of the Year” by El Diario La Prensa in NYC.

           Download Quicktime movie   I met Juan Carlos at a restaurant the day I interviewed Lucho. He told us a curious story about his first experiences in NYC. This is not a full interview, but it s worth telling the story. Juan carlos works as a restaurant manager for a recognized Colombian Chef.

    Download Quicktime movie (+- 20MB)   Lucho is married to Soraya and they have three children: Felipe, Melisa and Sebastian. Lucho and Soraya studied dentristy in Colombia and then decided to build a new life in the US. Lucho specialized in NYU while Soraya decided to be a stay at home mom. They are the example of the American Dream and their experience has not been an easy one, but they have worked hard to achieve their goals. Plus, Lucho had an american citizenship before they moved here and it has made their experience a little more successfull.

           Download Quicktime movie (+- 20 MB)    Manuel has been in the US for many years, he has two children and he works at the Caribbean Cultural Center in NYC. He knows many interesting musicians from Colombia and he told me he was the first person to bring TOto La Momposina to NYC.

Download Quicktime movie (+- 30 MB)  Ricardo is a DJ sound engineer who has been living in NY for less than two years, most of his life he spent in Europe but he is really a perfect representative of his native city Bogota, to which he wants to return after exploring NYC a little bit more.

Download Quicktime movie (+- 25 MB)  Paola is currently finishing her last year of college with a major in translation. She works as a Spanish teacher for adults and has taught English in Colombia. Paola is married to Andres and they are waiting for Andres visa to be approved so they can try living in New York together for a while. Part of Paola s family lives in Brooklyn and she has spent the last seventeen years of her life between Cali and Brooklyn.

Download Quicktime movie (+- 25 MB) This is the second part of Sandra s interview. You can find the first part here. 

Sandra is an artist who left Colombia seventeen years ago. Her story starts in Italy and finishes in New York. It seems like her entire adult life has revolved around getting visas to study and reside in Montreal and New York. Sandra says that she no long This video was originally shared on blip.tv by maria with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.

Eight interviews with colombians living abroad, eight interviews with colombians who live in Colombia and want to move to another country, sixteen lifestories and two views on the migratory experience of colombians. This video gives you a glimpse of the i This video was originally shared on blip.tv by maria with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.

Ocho entrevistas con colombianos que viven fuera del país, ocho entrevistas con colombianos que viven en Colombia y que buscan una manera de salir del país, dieciseis historias de vida y dos puntos de vista sobre la experiencia migratoria de los colombianos. Este video es un abrebocas a lo que serán las entrevistas de este proyecto. Ojalá les guste!!

Click para ver video (Quicktime movie, 53 MB) Cerca del diez por ciento de los colombianos ha dejado el país. Las causas principales de este fenómeno migratorio han sido la violencia y la crisis económica al apar con los efectos de la globalización. En Colombia existen dos fenómenos migratorios muy marcados, uno es el fenómeno de desplazamiento interno de las zonas rurales a las zonas urbanas y otro es la emigración de colombianos al exterior. Estados Unidos y Epaña se han convertido en los principales paises a los que emigramos los colombianos. Yo soy una de los 3.5 millones de colombianos que viven en el exterior y con este proyecto quiero documentar las experiencias de otros colombianos fuera del país y combinarlos con testimonios de colombianos que buscan salir del país. Este video explica lo que me motivó a crear este proyecto.

video (Quicktime movie, 53 MB) Nearly ten percent of the population of Colombia have left the country. Violence and an increasing economic crisis have caused many colombians to leave their homes. There is internal displacement - people moving from rural areas to urban settings within the country and there is the migration of colombians to other parts of the world; United States and Spain being the main countries where we go. I am one of those 3.5 million colombians who live abroad and with this project I want to document the experiences of other colombians outside their country and combine those testimonials with testimonials of colombians who are looking for a way to move out of the country. This video shows why I am so excited about this project.