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News (Media Awareness Project) - US WI: Run-walk To Aid Colombia Farmers
Title:US WI: Run-walk To Aid Colombia Farmers
Published On:2005-01-18
Source:Capital Times, The (WI)
Fetched On:2008-01-17 03:20:16
RUN-WALK TO AID COLOMBIA FARMERS

The Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin-Madison will sponsor the
24th annual Freeze for Food this weekend to raise money for farmers in
Colombia.

The event, to be held Saturday at the Vilas Park shelter, is a 5K run-walk,
which starts at noon, and a 10K run, which begins at 1 p.m.

Proceeds will buy food, seeds and tools for citizens in Dane County's
sister community of Apartado, Colombia. The Colombia Support Network has
been working with the people of Apartado for more than 10 years.

In the past, money has gone toward helping to buy cows and composting
systems for farmers in Apartado, said Cecilia Zarate-Laun, program director
of the Colombia Support Network, which is based in Madison.

A group of Madisonians went to Colombia in June as part of the sister city
program. Nan Cheney, a member of the support network, said the U.S.
government gives money to the Colombian government not because of the war
against drugs, but because it is a country rich in natural resources in a
strategically important location.

The United States finances aerial eradication of fields of coca, the main
ingredient in cocaine. It also finances the government's war against
Marxist rebels.

Members of the delegation say the civil war and the U.S. support for the
government have caused poverty and strife in the countryside.

Eunice Gibson, a former Madison city attorney, was also in that delegation.

"Because of the actions of the County Board, this community has a
relationship that's been established," Gibson said. "We've sent delegations
back and forth. Because we have the democratic right to talk to our elected
officials about what's happening, something the United States is involved
in, I would recommend we use that opportunity."

For more information about the Freeze for Food, call 245-0626. The
registration fee is $10. Participants should arrive for registration
between 45 minutes and 15 minutes before the race. It will not be canceled
due to bad weather.
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