After a lot of work during the months of July and August, I finally have managed to find time to write about my experience in El Talon for the third consecutive time. To be honest, I am currently on a flight from Orlando to Los Angeles, and I am taking this opportunity to express how my trip to Colombia was, and what I feel should be done during my next visit this coming December.
First of all, before I went to Colombia, I had to prepare the donations from the garage of my home, where all the donations are. My family and I worked the last week of June until July 2nd tranferring the donations that would be sent to El Talon into large U-Haul boxes. I am affirming that every single item that was sent to Colombia was checked by me, and I am very satisfied to announce that this distribution had some of the best clothing I have ever sent since my campaign began. Everything was done with patience, and with organization; I believe that I am getting quite used to this routine, compared to last year, when everything was new to me, and I was only seventeen years old.
On July 3rd, I drove a Penske truck to the Tampa Cargo headquarters at the Miami International Airport with all my donations. I managed to get to Miami at 8:30 AM, and by 11 AM, I was already on my way back to Orlando to prepare for my trip to Cartagena the following day. All the donations were to be picked up by me in Barranquilla on Tuesday, July 6th. I flew to Colombia relatively calm, since everything seemed to be running smoothly.
On July 4th, during my country’s independence, I travelled to Colombia, and I immedietly began preparing for my distribution, which was scheduled to be on July 17th at 10 AM in El Talon. Many people believe that it is easy to go to Colombia, and simply give out the donations as soon as you receive them…but if somebody interested in organizing a project like mine, I strongly discourage you to distribute that way, since your security may be at risk. Everything must be done in an organized manner because wherever there is extreme need, like in El Talon, you must be extremely careful.
Part of the preparation for my distribution includes a trip to Barranquilla, which is where I have to pick up my donations. Barranquilla is two hours away from Cartagena, and since I was informed that the donations would arrive on July 6th, I travelled to that city with my two cousins, only to find out that the flight was cancelled, and I was not informed. On my Tampa Cargo receipt, it clearly states that if the flight is cancelled or delayed, I would be notified. I had to go back to Cartagena, and return to Barranquilla on July 8th. When I went back to pick up my donations, as usual, I had to get my donations approved by customs. They were approved, but after they looked at everything in each box. After we opened the boxes, a special tape was put on the boxes, and that special tape was in the hands of the Tampa Cargo employees. I had to leave the boxes in their place until I signed a few documents for the release. I finally managed to get my donations released, and in order to save a few bucks, we took them to the Barranquilla bus terminal, where we would travel to Cartagena with all ten boxes. Unfortunately, the bus that would transport us was overbooked, and I was left with no seat...literally. I had to travel to Cartagena with no seat, until the bus company managed to get a small seat in the back of the bus. We finally reached Cartagena, and I had my donations for El Talon, safe and sound. When I opened the donations, half of them were a quarter empty, which meant that when I was signing the papers to release my donations in Barranquilla, the Tampa Cargo employees stole some donations. I will never use Tampa Cargo again for any future distribution, since I can avoid a hassle, and of course, an annoying trip to Barranquilla.
After my trip to Barrnaquilla, I simply prepared for my distribution by inviting Miss Turbaco 2010 and candidate for Miss Bolivar 2010, Nadia Milena, and ex participant in the Colombian series, "Desafio 2009," John Jairo Larios. I always enjoy inviting public figures to my distributions because it always brings more joy to the people of El Talon. I also did another census of El Talon, and everyone was very happy to see me once again. This distribution was completely different than my others; I decided to walk and hand all the donations house by house in order to have a more one on one experience with each El Talon resident. During the census, I gave one person of each house a ticket with a number, and they must have that ticket in order to receive their donation.
After the census, we prepared the donations for each family, and it took about one week to finish preparing the donations for the distribution. After the preparation, I confirmed the presence of the Colombian National Police, Miss Turbaco, and John Jairo Larios, since they would all come for the walk around the El Talon area. Miss Colombia, Natalia Navarro, was not able to attend my distribution, since she was in preparation for the upcoming Miss Universe competition. When we got to El Talon, everyone had their tickets, and we walked all the way to the beginning of the sector. It was a very neat experience because everyone participated with the distribution, and the there was no sense of insecurity. I was somewhat nervous with John Larios and Miss Turbaco's security, but everyone received them with happiness and my distribution was a success. From now on, I will make sure I conduct my distribution this way, since it is a much better and secure way to do it.
I want to thank the Colombian National Police, Miss Turbaco 2010, Nadia Milena, ex participant in the "Desafio" Colombian reality television show, John Jairo Larios, my family and friends in Colombia, and Samuel Alvarez from the newspaper, "El Universal." I also want to announce that I did have some extra donations, and they were given to two churches in Turbaco, Bolivar. One of the churches is very special; Priest Dionisio, a native of Spain, moved from his homeland to Colombia with a mission of building homes for the needy, as well as feeding them every single day. Priest Dionisio had a hard time completing his mission, since he was constantly robbed, however, he managed to finish building his church in a depressed sector of Turbaco called "El Paraiso." Everyday, Priest Dionisio, also a close a family friend, feeds the needy of El Paraiso, and he has given homes to many needy residents of that sector. I am not religious, but I feel very proud to help someone that uses something he is passionate about to help the needy.
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