46°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

Story Tellers Corner: Smith shares stories of work with Colombian orphans in new book

Boulder City resident Angela Thompson Smith’s newest book provides insight into the plight of orphans in Colombia in the 1970s.

She said she hopes that readers of “Colombia Quest,” her seventh book, understand the story of the orphans and their resilience getting through severe deprivation and abandonment.

It features a compilation of her journals and letters from the two years she spent in Villavicencio, Colombia, when she was in her 20s and worked at an orphanage as a nurse and social worker.

While in Colombia, Smith was responsible for taking children to Bogota to get their legal papers. The journey included a long bus ride in an area where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army was known to operate and kidnap people. The military would stop and search buses to make sure people had the correct registration paperwork. The men who didn’t were taken away.

“It was all an adventure,” she said.

Villavicencio is east of the Andes Mountains, and the landscape has mountains and plains.

“I liked going out into the Andes,” Smith said. “It was like going out into the unknown. … I would just sit and be quiet. It’s all an adventure.”

Smith said she decided to write this book when she received a photo diary from one of the orphans who had been there and was adopted by Americans.

“She went back to find her relatives and took photos,” Smith said. “She sent a disc to me. It brought back a lot of memories.”

Smith said she realized she still had all the letters from her time there, as well as her journals and photos, and that she needed to do something with them.

“Colombia Quest” is available to purchase directly from Smith, who can be contacted at mindwiseconsulting@gmail.com.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
All that jazz

Saturday, the Las Vegas Jazz Society and Boulder City Friends of the Library hosted an afternoon of jazz music in the library’s amphitheater. More than 100 people turned out for the free concert.

Mitchell proud to be Leader In Me Lighthouse School

It is so great to see our students back in school this week after spring break. As we head into this last quarter of the school year, it is an important time to reflect on the year as we begin planning for next year.

What is occupational therapy?

Occupational therapists ask, “What matters to you?” instead of “What’s the matter with you?”

All Aboard!

This past weekend, the Boulder City Parks and Recreation gym played host to the Spring Model Train Show. There, hobby enthusiasts bought, sold and displayed their trains.

Shorter SBAC test: A win for students

Exciting news for our students and community! The Clark County School District (CCSD) will be implementing the shorter version of the SBAC, Nevada’s state assessment for reading, math, science, and writing.

A busy few weeks at Garrett

Garrett Junior High School was honored for their outstanding STEM education at the state capitol in Carson City. The school was recognized as one of six new schools in CCSD to earn the distinguished Governor’s Designated STEM School distinction, awarded by the state Office of Science, Innovation, and Technology.

Budgeting keeps BC balanced

The Finance Department is in the process of preparing the 2025-26 fiscal year budget. Nevada Revised Statutes require all Nevada cities adopt their final budget on or before June 1. Department directors met with the Finance Department’s budget team last week to review each estimated budget.

What’s Happening Every 15 Minutes?

More than $259 billion dollars are spent on alcohol per year in America. Fifty-one percent of Americans go to the bar at least once a week. Nearly 3% of alcohol is stolen. More than 9% of Americans drink daily, as 29 million people are alcoholics in the U.S. More than 18 million people are impaired while driving, having about one million DUI charges. And every 15 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies in an accident due to those who drive under the influence.

What is a colonoscopy and why you need one

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Cancer Society recommend people aged 45-75 get a colonoscopy every 10 years.