Summary

Ron Smit recounts his experience as a consultant in Colombia, focusing on the challenges of language barriers, cultural exchanges, and the historical and environmental aspects of the country, particularly in Bogotá and the Laguna Guatavita.

Abstract

Ron Smit's narrative of his consulting job in Colombia over a decade ago provides a vivid account of the cultural and linguistic challenges he faced. Despite limited Spanish proficiency, Smit and his team navigated complex discussions on mining and environmental governance with the help of a multilingual team member, Jan Wybe. The team employed innovative methods to overcome language barriers during presentations and meetings with diverse stakeholders. Smit's visit to Laguna Guatavita revealed the rich history of the Muisca people and the legend of El Dorado, while also highlighting the geological significance of the area. The trip included memorable experiences such as visiting an underground salt deposit turned into a cultural heritage site and enjoying local hospitality, including a barbeque and a visit to a traditional bookbinder. Despite the enjoyable aspects of the trip, Smit emphasizes that substantive environmental advice was indeed delivered to the mining sector.

Opinions

Smit acknowledges the effectiveness of real-time translation methods during presentations, despite an initial hiccup in synchronization.
He reflects positively on the cultural exchange and the ability to communicate beyond language barriers, facilitated by goodwill and non-verbal cues.
Smit is fascinated by the historical significance of Laguna Guatavita and its connection to the legend of El Dorado.
He expresses concern about environmental performance observed at a local furnace, indicating the need for improved practices.
The author appreciates the craftsmanship and tradition of Colombian bookbinding, viewing it as an art form.
Smit humorously notes the unexpected pleasure of finding a Dutch-Belgian beer in a Colombian bookbinder's workshop, enhancing the cross-cultural experience.
He subtly critiques the quality of the "whisky" offered, as judged by a Scottish colleague, while maintaining respect for the hospitality received.
Smit is proud of the meaningful environmental advice provided by his team, underscoring the professional impact of their consulting work amidst the cultural and social aspects of the trip.

TRAVEL|TAKING OFF

Colombian capers

… in Bogotá and beyond.

More than 10 years ago, I did a small consulting job in Colombia, as part of a team advising that country on issues related to mining environmental governance. This involved “interesting” and sometimes quite heated discussions between pro-development and conservation-minded people.

One of our meetings with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including government officers, representatives of indigenous groups, mining companies and journalists. Some lively discussions that stopped short of insults, but only just. © Ron Smit, 2011

This was my first (and so far, only) assignment in South America. One of the challenges was that my knowledge of Spanish is limited to a few polite phrases and the ability to order a beer or two. Our clients generally had a much better knowledge of English, but were not comfortable delivering presentations in this language.

Fortunately, we had a solution in the form of Jan Wybe, a Dutch chap who’d grown up in Peru and who is fluent in Spanish and English. And who rapidly proceeded to learn mining and environmental concepts! So whenever someone presented in Spanish (accompanied by a Spanish language slideshow), he would type the spoken words in English on his laptop. We could then watch the presented images, listen to the Spanish, and read the English text typed by Jan Wybe, all at the same time.

This worked surprisingly well and it’s a method that I can recommend!

At one point, I had to deliver a presentation to a national forum in the large hall of a posh hotel. Bearing in mind the language issue, we had arranged to have my presentation slides translated into Spanish, and there was simultaneous translation laid on. I would refer to my own (English) slides, while the forum could look at the Spanish version and listen to simultaneous translation.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, there is the human factor… As I was talking to my (English) slides, I forgot to ask the operator of the projector to progress to the next (Spanish language) slide. So while I was picking up speed through my presentation, the audience was left to look at one page and the simultaneous translator lost track of what on earth I was talking about.

I only realized the problem when I saw my colleagues in the back of the hall frantically waving their arms at me, miming the turning of pages. Not my finest moment, but we recovered.

Anyhow, other aspects of my trip to this country were much more interesting than my mediocre presentation skills. We did get a couple of opportunities to see some countryside outside of the capital, Bogotá. One such excursion was to the Laguna Guatavita, a lake high up in the eastern cordillera of the Andes, with an interesting history.

Apparently, the chiefs of the Muisca people used to have their bodies anointed with honey and then coated with gold dust, and would then immerse themselves in the lake, thereby fertilising the womb of the earth with the golden “seed”.

Golden artifacts would also be offered into the lake, some of which have been found by divers and now reside in musea, including this one.

A view onto Laguna Guatavita, showing the slot that was cut into the rim (in the year 1580!) to lower the water level so as to recover the submerged gold. This was largely successful and a number of golden artifacts were collected around the rim of the lake. © Ron Smit, 2011

When the Spanish conquistadores arrived in this part of the world, they heard about the sacred lake and all this helped to give rise to the legend of El Dorado. Fascinating story, well described by National Geographic too: El Dorado.

For the geologically inquisitive: the lake is not a volcanic crater, nor was it formed by a meteorite impact… Sited in a limestone formation, it is a “karstic collapse crater”, (better known as a sinkhole) that was formed due to the solution of salt deposits lower down.

Good question: Are we “good seeds” or maybe some of us are just avoiding being weeds? © Ron Smit, 2011

We visited one such salt deposit that has been mined underground and has now been turned into some sort of underground church-museum-tourist attraction. The entire area is presented as a cultural heritage area, very interesting to visit.

I remember ending that day with a barbeque at the farm house of the head of the organization we were advising. A very nice evening where we enjoyed good food, very nice wine and some pleasant conversations in broken Spanglish between all of us. It’s really amazing how much you can understand when you focus on people’s faces and body language and if everyone makes an effort. A glass of red wine also helps!

A little furnace apparently recovering lead from used car batteries. Not a shining example of good environmental performance. From the look of the stunted vegetation on the hillside to the right, the little smokestack obviously does not manage to distribute the polluting smoke too far away…. The Eucalyptus trees appear to enjoy the spicy air, however. © Ron Smit, 2011

On another occasion, we visited some small coal mines. Of this particular excursion I can only remember that the mines were small and old, that the road was so bad that we all had to get out of the bus and walk for a distance, presumably so that only the driver’s life would be at risk… Oh and we had a terrific rainstorm that afternoon.

“Sheltering” from the rain. © Ron Smit, 2011

After one particular meeting in Bogotá, when we left the building it was raining heavily and the traffic was completely snarled up. Faced with a long wait for a taxi, or a very slow ride in an overfull bus back to our hotel, Jan Wybe had a much better suggestion: To visit a friend who was an old-fashioned bookbinder where he used to buy his (individually made!) notebooks.

The bookbinder would probably offer us a drink. This sounded like an excellent idea after a day of talking and we dodged through the streets of Bogotá, between bits of cover from the rain, until we reached this workshop in a back street.

A fascinating place. The handful of employees was sticking together and trimming pages, building up elaborate covers, and making beautiful notebooks in all shapes and sizes, real works of art. One side room was essentially a bookbinding museum, with all sorts of equipment on display.

As promised, we were offered a drink. To my great surprise, when we asked for a beer, we received bottles of “Het Elfde Gebod”, a beer brewed in the border region of The Netherlands and Belgium. We duly obeyed the eleventh commandment (“Thou shalt enjoy!”) and even accepted a second round.

Somewhat surprising beer to be offered by a bookbinder in Bogota, Colombia, to say the least! Source of the image: https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/676665912739812254/

The rain continued to pelt down and so we were forced to hang around until the man’s beer supply was exhausted, after which he offered us some “whisky”. I place that word between quotation marks, because he produced a bottle with a label showing the not-so-famous brand of “Something Special”.

The occasion was certainly special, the whisky not so much. One of our number was a Scot, who was certainly not too impressed. Anyway, we each finished our glass, thanked our host, bought a few notebooks, and somehow managed to get back to our hotel.

As you can see, the life of an international consultant is stressful and from time to time one needs to rebuild energy levels with good local food and even better conversation! © Ron Smit

A little footnote: We did actually provide some decent environmental advice related to the mining sector, covering topics such as effects on critical water resources, pollution by dust, environmental bonds, and so on. Just in case you think that it was just a great party!