Social Interaction - Thursday, March 9, 2023

The Permanent Forum Realities of the Colombian Southwest "Rosas: From risk analysis to social reality" is already a reality.

In the Francisco José de Caldas Auditorium, the reflective process began regarding the landslide that occurred at the beginning of the year in the municipality of Rosas, Cauca, with the opening of the Permanent Forum: Realities of the Colombian Southwest “Rosas: from risk analysis to social reality”.

This Thursday, March 9, 2023, the day that marked the 2-month anniversary of the landslide in the municipality of Rosas, Cauca, the first day of the Permanent Forum "Rosas: analysis of the risk to social reality”, an event convened by the Alma Mater of the people of Cauca at the head of the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences. This space, whose main purpose is to initiate a process of reflection from the social, technical and institutional aspects, also aims to search for alternatives and plans for the future that allow the municipality and the region to overcome the consequences of this natural emergency.

This important space began with the words of the rector, Deibar René Hurtado Herrera, who expressed his closeness to the municipality of Rosas, and invited the participants to "Feel" the situation, go beyond the rational to be able to find the best solutions to daily challenges and, where spaces such as the forum are made available to the region, in order to share experiences and discuss the best alternative solutions to the problems and challenges of the department's context. Immediately afterwards, greetings were given by Dr. Alfonso Rafael Buelbas, Dean of the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, by the Secretary of Education and Culture of the department, Amarildo Correa Obando, and by the social leader Luis Carlos Carvajal, belonging to ORDEURCA (Social Organization for the Defense of Human Rights). .H H). Once the protocol acts ended, a heartfelt and supportive tribute was paid to the social leaders, community organizations and especially the population of the municipality of Rosas and the Colombian Massif, for having faced the landslide with dignity and courage. highlighting the willingness of the University of Cauca to contribute to overcoming the crisis derived from the natural emergency.

In this way, the debate was opened with the intervention of Adriana del Pilar Agudelo, from the Colombian Geological Service, who provided an explanation of what happened from a fairly broad technical perspective. Similarly, Wiesner Cortes Mina, head of the Risk Management Office of the Government contextualized the participants about the actions carried out by said entity. Like them, Leonel Capote from the University Brigade, Major Juan Carlos Sandoval, director of the Cauca sectional Civil Defense, Francisco Arboleda and Clara Isabel Ordoñez from the Popayán Fire Department, and Alexander Sánchez, executive director of the Red Cross, offered an overview of the actions carried out by each one of the entities during the natural emergency, highlighting the will, the efforts and the union to safeguard the life not only of the affected people, but also of each and every one of the living beings in the emergency area .

Later, the leader Soraida Orozco, belonging to ORDEURCA, narrated the moments she lived: "30 more minutes and suddenly that could have covered us up," she told the participants who listened attentively to her testimony, also stating that "It is necessary to democratize information, when one knows the problem feels calm" referring to the need for the community to know the previous studies carried out in the affected area and highlighting the importance of spaces such as the Permanent Forum, which will have its second version at the end of this semester and the third in the second half of 2023.

With the official opening of this space for reflection, the academy continues to make progress in the search for mechanisms that allow generating the necessary synergy and articulation between social organizations, the community, relief agencies and other entities in order to find the necessary alternatives. to overcome the crisis that the south of the country is experiencing and prevent future emergencies within the entire national territory, ratifying the university commitment that has been assumed: to strengthen the University of Cauca as a higher education institution of Excellence and Solidarity.