It is therefore deeply saddening to see our ethnic and folkloric objects, our religious statues, paintings, intricate woodwork and metalwork, and our manuscripts systematically plundered.

Barranquilla is located some from the Caribbean coastline but it is a more developed city with a greater number of industries and commercial places, widely known for its abilities in all forms of metalwork and construction .

Although the training is in traditional occupations such as metalwork and carpentry and is not properly aligned to the labour market demand, the ministry s VTCs play an important social function which should be further developed and upgraded.