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The other morning, cold winds blowing and a morning mist lifting from the mountains across the valley, I was taking a shower and looking out over the dairy paddocks opposite which rise into forest. The window looks over our road, dirt, and the trees lining it, occasional dartings from iridescent green hummingbirds, bright blue wrens and yellow black honeyeaters.   Somewhat resentful of the hot dribble from our electric shower, I heard below Hernan greeting the local Daniel, an older man, father of five, married to Dolores.  As Annie would say, when there is a knock on the door and another local comes to talk over ideas, What is this, a neighbourhood center?  I thought the same until I heard the conversation.

 

Daniel and his wife and kids have lived in a tiny cottage up the hill, gatekeepers for the last 4 years to an absent and unknown landlord, unpaid.  The house, a mansion half built on 5 acres of land tended with gardens by Daniel all these years, is the legacy of a corrupt woman (from a family of politicians) who was Miss Colombia years ago, Paula Turbay.  She should be in jail but instead she is invited back yearly to host the TV show for each Miss Colombia.  She owes millions to many, and not least, to Daniel and his family for more than 4 years of labour.  To add misery to pain, their last son had just stolen everything they owned (including family jewellery) and disappeared.  We often pick up Dan and Dolores with their weekly shopping (more than 70kgs they carry from the local bus some 3 kms home up hill the Andes) or they wait for us to come past the local super.

 

Working as we are of late between worlds, flowers, trucks and now architects (doing three dimensional renders for housing estates or apartments), we see it all the way business is done, the way people get treated, the class prisons people get caught in.  After lots of encouragement for Dan to take some action, on the verge of being thrown off the land with nothing by the new owners, he has decided to wait and see what will happen.  We know what will happen. What always happens.  If it doesnt, I shall let you know.

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