Written by César Augusto Núñez Cano July 28th 2021.
When they asked me to be part of a project with CIAT, I was happy because it is a great institution, and they had already completed a successful phase I of the project. I joined BioSmart in the “team botanico” (botany team) as they affectionately called us. My surprise was when at the Universidad de la Amazonia we had the first meeting to meet the team of foreign researchers, and even more of a surprise for me when I began to speak with each one of them. I was able to see their warmth and how great they were. They were very keen to start the field work and go to visit the farms participating in the BioSmart project. They showed great enthusiasm to get to know the Amazonian landscapes, and I knew that regardless of the weather conditions each and every one of them would be there.
The first day I went to work in the field (2020), I had an accident that caused me a strong backache, which made it difficult for me to walk. It was a very nice gesture from Lois Kinneen and Cristina Rosique to help me, giving me some tiger balm to alleviate a bit the pain that overwhelmed me.
During the visits we made to the farms, the friendship among the team of entomologists and botanists grew, no matter how the weather was, we all went out to collect the data, and along the way we would talk and tell funny stories to make the trip more entertaining and get to know each other more.
When we had time to rest from the long workdays in the field, we would go out to taste the local gastronomy and all our visitors (the foreign team) were willing to try everything new that they could. Knowing that people who come from far away like the food and meals prepared in the department of Caquetá causes a lot of gratitude and empathy. Always, after trying a dish, they would give their point of view and describe the flavours with a happy smile (a sign that the food was good).
After each day out in the field, the botanists team had the arduous task of processing the plant material collected, describing them and pressing each sample. Regardless of the fatigue and our exhausted feet from long walks, we began each night to meet that goal. Cristina was always very willing to learn about the plants of the Amazon, she learned very quickly the characteristics of each plant and later managed to identify them in the field (I thought it was great!).
Once when we were in the town of San José del Fragua, doing the night sample pressing with the botanical team, Adriana brought us a small refreshment to keep us awake since we were very exhausted from work during the day, that small refreshment helped us to finish the work that night and finally be able to rest.
Soon after the first fieldwork campaign of Phase II of BioSmart was completed (February 2020), the pandemic began worldwide. Through a Whatsapp group we still maintained contact with our new friends, and it was through this group, that we learned they could not come for the next field campaign (scheduled for July 2020). On a personal level, it made me nostalgic to know that my friends would not come back to Colombia to be with them in the next phase of the work. I would not see that smile of Lois, always surprised when she saw animals on the farms; the red bearded Luis Miguel (CIAT Team); Cristina’s red face when we were walking in the field under a strong sun; the dialogues with Adriana about the processes of the projects that are being carried out in the Department of Caquetá for the improvement of the quality of life of people and the fundamental role of women in decision-making.
In 2021, without the presence of my new friends, we went out to carry out the second fieldwork campaign. I felt nostalgic when we arrived at each farm. Together with the team from the Universidad de la Amazonia we reminisced about visiting the same places, places that a year back we had been with our friends who, because of COVID-19, were no longer able to join us.
We walked under the relentless sun with our masks on, since we had to be very cautious while maintaining social distance from the other members of our work team and with the farmers (recommendations that we had to follow). Although sometimes we took the mask off for a casual photograph (Guys, a picture!).
Walking with the mask was hard, the heat, excessive sweating and the tremendous sun made us fuss more than usual, but, even so, we managed to successfully complete the data collection in each of the project farms.
From this project, I learnt a lot and it allowed me to meet foreign people – who in the end managed to feel Colombian during their stay in the country, and that is great! Great friends who I still keep in contact with. The project left me with new friends and the hope of being able to share with them again a research experience in a normal environment (without the presence of SARS-2 COVID19) and to be able to redo and establish new conversations to tell even more stories and laugh at everything that happened during this pandemic.