Factores relacionados con las condiciones de pobreza y vulnerabilidad en la comunidad del Páramo de Suratoque. Floridablanca, Colombia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify factors related to the condition of vulnerability and poverty in the community of Páramo de Suratoque, in the Municipality of Floridablanca, Santander. A task for which it was decided to carry out a qualitative study, developed by students of the subjects Economic Development and Social Policy, convening two focus groups: one with expert professionals from the Universidad Santo Tomás Bucaramanga branch and other institutions that have worked with the community, the second, with students from the University linked to Pastoral Care who have also worked with the community. With this exercise, the topics of the research were discussed, from a personal experience. As a preliminary phase to the realization of the groups, the objectives of the meetings were identified, proposed from internal and external conditions of the community. The insufficiency of income, scarce guarantees of employability and decent work, insecurity, unsatisfied basic needs, precarious housing conditions, an environment with high environmental risk as well as a paternalistic State, without appropriation of the needs of the community are determinants in the condition of poverty faced by the inhabitants of the Páramo de Suratoque. Thus, this document is structured in three main sections, firstly, a literature review exercise was carried out for the appropriation of the concepts of poverty and vulnerability as well as the definition of their determining factors. Secondly, an analysis of the results of the focus groups is carried out from the internal and external conditions of the community and ends with some conclusions.