Jorge Bela, Cali Community Manager
The huge migration from rural to urban areas that took place in Latin America during the last few decades was made even more significant in Colombia by the forced migrations caused by successive armed conflicts. In Cali, the population went from 280,000 in 1950 to 2,300,000 in 2013. As in the rest of the region, most of this massive increase in population was due to migration from rural areas. While the traditional links that glue together rural communities tend to weaken when immigrants reach the urban setting, they do not completely disappear. They are, in part, replaced by new solidarity networks, formed primarily by members of extended families who had arrived earlier and are able to provide support to the newcomers. Primarily, these networks provide assistance with housing and employment, the two most urgent needs they face.
Cities soon impose new customs and ways of doing things on rural settlers, who face great pressure to adapt as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, newcomers also have a significant impact on the cities they move into. In addition to the complex economic and social consequences of the arrival of large numbers of people, immigrants also leave a cultural imprint. The close-knit solidarity networks create a framework for survival and adaptation under difficult circumstances, but they also provide an environment in which rural customs and traditions can subsist. At times, some of these customs and traditions are ultimately adopted by the host cities as their own. Such is the case of the minga in Cali.
Minga is a term of Quechua origin. It refers to collective work voluntarily performed by members of the community for a common good. With a strong traditional use in the indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in the Valle del Cauca, it was kept alive as a means of mutual help within the immigrant communities in Cali. In 2012, the Cali city government noticed this traditional practice when some communities demanded the repair of local parks, which had fallen into decay to the point of being unusable. In order to meet this demand, the city government created the program Minga al Parque. The program had a budget of 50 million COP (about $25,000) and sought to mobilize the communities and some private NGOs, such as Fundacion Iberoamericana Al Arte (Fundiberarte). Seven parks were repaired and decorated, with an average of 30 volunteers for each step.
The relatively small budget was the seed for an innovative form of collaboration between the municipal government, the communities, and local NGOs. Minga, a traditional and rural institution, found a new incarnation in a city as large as Cali, with a beneficial impact not only for the communities where it was kept alive, but for the city as a whole. Minga al Parque has been followed by Minga al Rio, sponsored by NGOs, to mobilize volunteers to clean the areas near the Cali River for the World Games held in Cali earlier this year.
Foto: Fundiberarte