A history of 100 cities

Diego Andrés Rosselli Cock - Bogotá, Colombia

The two objectives of the project “A history of 100 cities” they are simple:

1) to visit each one of the 100 main cities and towns of Colombia and

2) to write a chronicle of each one of they.

The origin of the idea was this way: I was dictating a medical conference in the city of Grass and I wanted to learn a little on the rich tradition of that city. In the local bookstore they offered me the history of Grass in seven volumes! How useful it would be to have a brief writing for the accelerated visitors, pensé. The following week was in Santa Marta. Again it impressed me the volume of existent information on this city.

I already there decided that it would pick up bibliography in each city that visited, to write of each one of them a summary, with the information that I considered more important for a visitor interested in the culture and the history locals.

Now, how many cities would it include in my investigations? ten, twenty, fifty?

I found a hundred a good number. To select them I appealed to the census of 1993, and I took as approach the number of inhabitants of each municipal head. I joined metropolitan areas then and “cities satellites”, and I list. I went aboard in the aventura.

In January of the 2005, after investing some pesos in preventive maintenance of my old Land Rover model 1966, I left of Bogotá with north direction. I visited this way Chiquinquirá, then San Gil, and I arrived to Bucaramanga. My car was kept there, in a friend's house, and I flew from return to Bogotá.

A couple of weeks later picked up it in Bucaramanga and, via Pamplona, I left it in Cúcuta.

This way, my car would sleep weeks and until months, in Valledupar, Riohacha, Santa Marta, and so many other cities of Colombia. I got in each one of them that invited me to dictate a conference, and it financed this way my air itineraries. The car arrived in Bogotá in December of 2006… to leave heading for Casanare to the few days. The next direction is the Huila.

In June of 2005, my chronicles began to appear every Wednesday in the newspaper economic Briefcase where I have been occasional columnist. A time passed before Briefcase began me to help with air passages. He/she fits to add here that apart from this help that has been occasional, this project has been totally autofinanciado.

MAKE CLICK IN THE IMAGE TO SEE IN NORMAL SIZE

With the time, my system of gathering of information was becoming more and more systematic: first a meticulous search of bibliographical information in libraries from Bogotá. It has been a surprise to find that there is hardly Colombian town where there has not been some citizen, Quixotic many times that he has sat down to write the history of their municipality.

In occasions internet it has been a very valuable resource. The following step has been a search of local contacts. The same books provide many times this information, and additionally I have consulted for telephone with the respective house of the culture, municipal library, and even with the same alcaldía.

When I am able to have this established contact yes I organize my visit. There are places where the histories to count are many, there are others where the search of a central topic for the chronicle is costlier. To Palmira and Cereté, to mention so alone some example, I had to not travel two but three times to be able to pick up the necessary information for my respective crónica.

The final idea of the project doesn't conclude with the 100 chronicles published in Briefcase (to the date they already go 64 published). At the end, I seek to gather them all in a book that very surely publishes Publishing Intermission, of the same house editorial of The Tiempo.

Many are the anecdotes and many the lessons that I have picked up in my journeys for Colombia. But it, clear, it has not been gratuitous. It is almost obvious that a project of this magnitude has put in difficulties the financial stability of my family.

I have not only invested a lot of money in this project, I have also dedicated him a lot of time; time that I have stolen of other productive activities, and time that I have removed my wife and my two daughters (that, clear, only in very counted occasions they have been able to accompany in my trips).

The work that is for before it is still big.

The last of my images accompanying sample the 33 cities that I seek to visit to culminate the project.

The author: Egresado of the School San Carlos, Diego Rosselli studied medicine in the University of the Rosario and neurologist of the Military Hospital was made. It has studied several posgrado programs. It is worth to highlight one year dedicated to the experimental neurology in the Institute of Psychiatry of London and then month and half of management of projects in Sweden.

Additionally it has gotten two masters: one in education in the University of Harvard and another in political of health in the London School of Economics.

Meantime, he has been professor of numerous universities (Andes, Javeriana, Rosario, etc.), Director of Scientific Development of the Ministry of Health, Consultant of the Hospital Consortium of Catalonia, Dean of the Ability of Medicine of the University Military New Granada, President of the Directive Council of the Colombian Association of Abilities of Medicine (Ascofame), General Director of Health of the Colombian Red Cruz and magistrate of the National Tribunal of Medical Ethics.

At the present time Diego Rosselli is an independent professional. He is member of the National Academy of Medicine, columnist of the newspaper economic Briefcase and grateful international lecturer. Among their publications they figure six books, numerous trip chronicles and journalistic writings, an infantile story and more than half hundred of scientific articles.