An Inclusive Universe
Deep in the Colombian plains, amidst the armed conflict between guerrillas, paramilitary, and the army, Juan Camilo Guevara grew. From his school classroom, he could listen to the frequent clashes. The spectacle of warplanes flying over his hometown, Paz de Ariporo, was not rare. Despite the disturbing environment of his early years, Juan Camilo developed a profound love for science.
Becoming an astrophysicist was a dream that came true for him in 2017. In the same year, he had the opportunity to join an effort to make the knowledge he has learned at the university available to communities crushed by violence.
Spaces of Re-knowledge for Peace is a program created by the National University in Colombia. This initiative consists of taking art and science out of the academic centers and bringing them to post-conflict communities. Professors and graduate students organize a series of activities, where common people and ex-guerrillas members become artists or scientists for several days, in places where for years the most common activity was hiding from explosions.
After a long and devastating war, academics are convinced that only through self-sustaining political and social projects it is possible to create a culture of peace.
According to UN professor Jairo Alexis Rodriguez “Social appropriation of knowledge is built through the active participation of the various social groups and direct interaction with the actors that generate knowledge”. For him “development of innovative capacity and fostering creativity is fundamental since they are essential to achieve sustainable improvements in these communities”.
This ambitious program started in 2016, in Tumaco, a municipality on the Pacific coast. In the first workshops, professors of the National University, Faculty of Arts helped secondary school girls to write stories around anecdotes of their town. The academics used their expertise to teach them how to narrate a good story and then asked the girls to illustrate them. “We didn’t go there only to teach them things but to learn from them,” remarked literature professor Zenaida Osorio.
About seven thousand people, from eight different towns, have participated so far in these workshops. Music, storytelling/writing, plastic arts, and astronomy were among the subjects.
According to Hernán Pérez, coordinator of the Social Innovation program at the National University, “thanks to the diversity of people who participate in these sessions, the evidence shows that a piece of new social fabric is being built”.
For almost sixty years, a great expanse of the countryside regions remained inaccessible because of the risk of kidnapping and assassination. Now, they are becoming part of the nation’s productive life.
After the peace process between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), promoted by former president Juan Manuel Santos, succeeded in 2016, many Colombian academics were clear that this must be one of the next urgent steps to consolidate it. This is a unique opportunity to help create social inclusion and resilience in the South-American country.
Gazing the stars to create a culture of peace
Astronomy for peace: an inclusive Universe is one of the projects within the Spaces of Re-knowledge program aiming to promote reconciliation through stargazing,
According to Santiago Vargas Domínguez, coordinator of research at the Astronomy Observatory and Head of the division of Extension, National University, many simple concepts and enjoyable experiences in astronomy can be taught to people regardless of their former exposure to science. He explained:
“Despite the evident fact that the presence of the sun makes day and night different, many are surprised to realize that its apparent movement in the sky changes every day, that each day it will pass in different points in the celestial vault.”
In 2017 and 2018, professor Vargas, together with graduate students Saida Díaz and Juan Camilo Guevara organized educational activities on how to use instruments to measure their surroundings and for astronomy observation in remote places where not long ago people were used to seeing only weapons.
Juan Camilo is optimistic about the results, despite the inequality and poverty that “were obvious just by being there”. He asserts that “the fact that some of the public schools were not in the best conditions made the objective somewhat difficult. However, the workshops were a success”.
Bad weather for observation was not an obstacle for those capable to transmit their passion for astronomy: “One cloudy day we built a planetarium with candles and plastic bags”, mentioned professor Vargas with enthusiasm.
Residents of these communities are taught that mathematics, physics, and geometry are marvelous ways to get to know their surroundings and beyond. The project includes lessons about the abuse of the environment, climate change, and how to make good use of their resources.
In the words of Juan Camilo:
“Children and young people had the curiosity and desire to know new things. Some even asked questions about how what we were showing them was related to their daily lives. There was a genuine interest in science.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, that great unforeseen event, has been a major obstacle to many activities everywhere. Santiago Vargas explains:
“Because of the current situation, everything has stopped. We still do not know when the trips can be resumed, but we have plans to give continuity to everything that has been done in the post-conflict zones.”
The popular astronomer and science communicator, Carl Sagan, used to say that “astronomy is a humble and character-building experience”. The view of the Earth from 3.7 billion miles (six billion kilometers) away, in the famous Pale blue dot picture taken by Voyager 1 in 1991, let him think that the knowledge we learn from studying the cosmos “underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
One of the noteworthy Astronomy for peace activities was organized in 2017, 400 km south of Bogotá. Just like the wizard Melquiades brought ice and magnets to the fictional town Macondo in Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s novel, One hundred years of solitude, scientists appeared into the jungle with telescopes and portable planetaria. During those workshops, 510 former FARC combatants were exposed to simple facts about the heavens, and the beauty of many discoveries about the cosmos.
Learning astronomy stimulates the mind, makes us hungry for more knowledge, and helps us understand our place in the universe. There is no doubt education enables upward socioeconomic mobility and is key to escape poverty.
Peace needs to be conquered with reconstruction, education, and social inclusion of the displaced people involved. Reducing inequalities is imperative. Consolidating peace goes way beyond talks and agreements.
