A Gift From Colombia

One of my regular pleasures is logging in to a terrific blog entitled ColombiaDiaries. I don’t know Kate personally but, as so often happens with the internet, I feel a kindred spirit with her.

Kate and her family have been exploring the Northern Andes and the Amazon for a long time now, and her witty observations, her excellent photographs, and her compassion for others comes through in all her posts. I’m also privileged that Kate likes this blog, and she occasionally sends me some excellent bits of information that relate to Coca Leaf.

A few days ago she sent me two items that I want to share with my readers – a fantastic European web site called “Amigos Hoja de Coca” (Friends Of The Coca Leaf) which is rich in information and beautifully designed.

Kate also sent a link to a YouTube video of Peruvian Manuel Seminario who tours South America with his ‘Coca-Móvil’ van selling coca leaf products and promoting the coca leaf for food, medicine and ritual purposes. This is a must-watch video! I urge you to take the time to explore all of these links – and thank you Kate!

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panaceachronicles

When I was a child I moved around the world with my military family, always traveling by ship in the days before aircraft could cross oceans. I would spend hours on deck writing messages, sealing them with candle wax in bottles I snagged from somewhere on board, and then consigning them to the sea knowing in my heart that they were on their way to someone, somewhere who would read them. Sometime replies arrived at my grandparents’ house years later, and they would forward them to me wherever I was living. From these contacts I developed pen-pals who I stayed in touch with for many years. I was fortunate to develop, very early in my life, a sense of the network that invisibly but seamlessly connects us all. Thank you for picking up this message in a bottle, dear reader. We are all here together.

5 thoughts on “A Gift From Colombia”

  1. Thanks for the kind mention Bill. I very much enjoy reading your blog posts and learning about the nineteenth century medical research that you write about. There is definitely a move to change attitudes towards the coca leaf now. Let’s hope it keeps on rolling! I was glad to discover ‘Amigos de la Hoja de Coca’ in Europe. As you say, they have a great website. And Manuel Seminario is dedicated and inspirational – he has various YouTube videos – some on the road and one I saw recently – an interview on Peruvian TV.

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    1. Hi Kate – you’re very welcome. I hope that lots of people discover your inspiring blog. Your writing is personal and crisp and your eye for color and form in photos is a joyful experience. It is still very early days in the Coca Leaf movement but judging by some of the comments I am getting here on panaceachronicles the message resonates – now it’s just a matter of getting the attention of those who can help spread it far and wide.

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