People you Ought to Meet
Esmeralda Solarte
 Esmeralda Solarte lives at the Quizgó Indigenous Reservation, situated in
the Municipality of Silvia, Cauca, southwestern Colombia. This 28-year-old housewife and
mother has already spent 10 years of her life in community work. For the last 4 years, she
has played an important role as coordinator of the Committee for Local Agricultural
Research (CIAL, its Spanish acronym) and of a nongovernmental organization, the Foundation
for Popular Communication (FUNCOP).
When a
technician explained the CIAL methodology, the concept appealed to Esmeralda so much that
she was motivated to coordinate a group of 15 women, with whom she still works. "The
work basically consists of organizing the women and deciding what commodity to study. We
began with 7 maize varieties, taken from another municipality with a warm climate-Silvia
has a cold climate-and the idea was to find maize varieties with quicker growth and higher
production. We've been going ever since," she says.
The group is also working with quinoa, using 6 varieties from Ecuador. In Quizgó, the
community works with a food security program and has more than 150 vegetable gardens
established, of which 60 are planted to quinoa.
"We began with training in research, in which we are becoming more and more adept.
Training is not continuous, being 1 or 2 days a month. Sometimes it's not available, so we
seek it from entities like CORFOCIAL and UMATA, and the community itself. Thus, we're
always learning." (CORFOCIAL is the Corporation for Promoting CIALs, and UMATA is the
Municipal Unit for Technical Assistance in Agriculture.)
Esmeralda considers that her work has been very positive, not only as coordinator but
also from the viewpoint of a woman. "I learn a great deal by going out, knowing, and
talking. But more important is organizing people to integrate with the community, so it's
not just me who benefits." Equally, she is very happy when objectives are reached,
and her idea is to continue looking for resources, preparing projects, and obtaining
collaboration to develop them. "The most important thing is that I'm not alone; many
of my workmates have got ahead and have seen the value of their work. They are very
motivated," she says, proud of the integration achieved.
The group's workdays are dynamic, with programmed activities and frequent meetings that
sometimes last all day, from 9 in the morning to 4 or 5 in the afternoon. "We talk
about many subjects: community conflicts, production, health, training... On other days we
visit the fields, observe vegetable gardens, talk to people, orient them if necessary,
according to recommendations we can give or send someone who knows. On other days, I
attend to my own house, vegetable garden, and children," Esmeralda reports.
As in all work, difficulties come up, but these are overcome. When trials are prepared
in the vegetable gardens and do not work out, people become discouraged. This is when
Esmeralda takes the opportunity to clarify that this is the reason for conducting the
trial-to prove whether it gives a result-and that research is a process that must be taken
calmly.
Esmeralda is a woman who has a zeal for studying and bettering herself, not only for
personal reasons but also for the community. She is supported by her partner and children.
However, she knows that her work sometimes means leaving the house very early, to arrive
tired in the afternoon to help her children with their homework, and look after the house.
"But it's worth it, it's an effort made for bettering oneself," she says.
"What they say is that women should be in the kitchen, taking care of the children
and looking after the vegetable garden. They even see evil in women working, but we must
rise above these ideas," she adds.
The results the CIAL obtains are sometimes not the best, but the community sees the
value of these efforts and is happy. Priorities being addressed include such community
problems as unemployment, insecurity, health, and education. "I think this work
encompasses almost everything, because one is educating, anticipating, and doing something
so that at least there's food, and that is improvement," she affirms.
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