Colombia's cheerleader. (Trade Talk).Lecturer Pedro Medina Not to be confused with Colombian poet Pedro Medina Avendaño. Pedro Medina (October 5, 1957 – March 25, 1997), who was among nearly 125,000 Cubans who came to the United States during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, was executed at Florida State Prison in the town was aghast at the answers of 39 university students asked where they pictured themselves in five years. Only 12 said they would still be in Colombia. "Why would we want to stay?" responded the rest. Believing in a bright future in jobless, drug-ridden and now war-torn Colombia is not easy. But since that day with his students in 1999, Medina, who serves as country manager for fast-food giant McDonald's, has campaigned for optimism. Yo creo en Colombia (I believe in Colombia), a project led by McDonald's, aims to persuade every Colombian to stick up for the beleaguered be·lea·guer tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers 1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems. 2. To surround with troops; besiege. country rather than disparaging dis·par·age tr.v. dis·par·aged, dis·par·ag·ing, dis·par·ag·es 1. To speak of in a slighting or disrespectful way; belittle. See Synonyms at decry. 2. To reduce in esteem or rank. it. The project also encourages Colombians to consider the little things--like smiling more or not pushing into lines--that they can do to improve life. In his lecture to civil servants, foreign executives and even the country's beauty queens, Medina presents a long list of the things Colombians should be proud of--from innovations like infant contact lenses contact lenses contact npl → verres mpl de contact contact lenses contact npl → Kontaktlinsen pl contact lenses npl to Latin America's best bicycle paths bicycle path n → camino para ciclistas bicycle path n, bicycle track n → piste f cyclable bicycle path n . "If you are Colombian and listen to our talk, at some point you start saying, 'Maybe the glass is not half empty. Maybe it's really half full,'" Medina says. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion