Majestic Canoes as high-tech river vessels in the social, commercial, industrial, and scientific development of Santa Bárbara de Zulia
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Greetings to all my friends in our wonderful community @Project.HOPE, recently the friends @josevas217 and @juanmolina, announced a new contest entitled; Project Hope Competition #3 for all content creators, where we are asked to write a publication based on the following phrase:
Technology made large populations possible; now large populations make technology indispensable". José Krutch.
I must confess, that at the very moment I read this sentence I felt encouraged to participate, probably each of the words that make up this sentence entered my subconscious and managed to captivate my attention, this because, somehow they made me remember the most beautiful part of the history of my people Santa Barbara de Zulia - Venezuela.
For those who have not yet heard of Santa Bárbara de Zulia, it is a city in Venezuela located in the extreme west of the country, specifically in the southern sub-region of Lake Maracaibo, a region historically characterized by its extensive history of livestock and agricultural production, mainly of the items Banana, Cambur, Sugar Cane, Corn Oil Palm, Cassava, Patchita, Cocoa Porcelain, Milk, Guava, Loquat, among other fruit trees of equal or greater economic and nutritional importance.
In the collective imagination of those of us who currently live in Santa Bárbara de Zulia, sailing in Steam engine Canoes is a symbolic reference that promoted the development of our region. During the first 60 years of the 20th century, this means of transport represented the greatest technological advance in river transport for the south of the lake, since it allowed the transfer of cargo and passengers by connecting the Escalante River with Lake Maracaibo.
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Fig. 2 River and lake route of the canoes from Santa Bárbara to Maracaibo and vice versa. The image was designed by the author: @lupafilotaxia, incorporating in the background Image taken from Google Maps
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In the field of river navigation, the canoes were elaborated and perfected with state-of-the-art technology, with the purpose of facilitating navigation in shallow water bodies, hence, in Venezuela the construction of these vessels with steam engines (external combustion engine, with technology to transform the thermal energy of a quantity of water into mechanical energy), wooden structure and in the form of a sail, had the objective of creating economic dynamism in those regions of the country that had no land connection, neither by road nor by rail.
The importance that the canoes had in connecting the inhabitants of our prodigious Santa Barbara de Zulia with Maracaibo, the current capital of the state of Zulia, in addition to the exchange of agricultural goods, was the arrival of men and women who began buying land on the banks of the Escalante River, and decided to undertake and build large commercial establishments that helped the economic development of our sub-region.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://i.postimg.cc/1ttJVLff/3-Ciudad-Santa-B-rbara-de-Zulia.png)
Fig. 3 The motorized dugout canoe promoted the development of Santa Bárbara de Zulia. The image was designed by the author: @lupafilotaxia, incorporating in the background Image taken from Google Maps
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://i.postimg.cc/zBCKB7kV/4-Ubicaci-n-UNESUR.png)
Fig. 4 Currently Santa Bárbara de Zulia has an avant-garde university system, being the Universidad Nacional Experimental Sur del Lago "Jesús María Semprum" its icon and path for its scientific and technological development. The image was designed by the author: @lupafilotaxia, incorporating in the background Image taken from Google Maps
✔ The cover image was designed by the author: @lupafilotaxia, incorporating the public domain image background: Pixabay, 2014 and the image of the contest that appears in the blog of @josevas217
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Original manuscript, uploaded from the Project HOPE community website
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The arrival of the canoes to our shores, from the social, commercial, industrial, scientific and technological points of view, meant the beginning of the historical evolution of Santa Bárbara de Zulia, to the point in which many indigenous people in a nomadic condition, decided to settle down definitively near the margins of the river port, which triggered the strengthening and the political territorial division of the region, to later constitute the figures of municipalities and parishes, later and in a progressive way to create centers of primary and secondary education, centers of health, governmental institutions, and most important the construction of highways, and the raising of infrastructures for the processing and industrialization of the Milk, Meat, Flour, Oil, Juices and Sweets.
At present, Santa Bárbara de Zulia is the most populated, modern city and the one of greater influence of the agricultural, cattle and agro-industrial sector of Venezuela, to the point of being catalogued like the Pantry of Venezuela,its vertiginous development has been unstoppable, and to the date it counts on a university system of vanguard, being the National Experimental South University of the Lake "Jesus Maria Semprum" its icon and route for its technological scientific development.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://i.postimg.cc/zBCKB7kV/4-Ubicaci-n-UNESUR.png)
I love these lands and all their splendor, as much as I love my family.
OBSERVATION
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Thank you very much for your support.
Greetings dear teacher @lupafilotaxia.
As usual another great content that you share with us in this occasion, totally certain what you express about this wonderful boats like the Canoes, where, it is important to emphasize what it expresses:
Santa Bárbara de Zulia, a beautiful and welcoming region and all the people who live there can give testimony of what was expressed, and also highlight the great leap in development in all senses, where, we must place as a spearhead to our maximum house of study as it is the National Experimental University South the Lake "Jesus Maria Semprum".
Thank you professor for sharing such extraordinary content with all of us. Successes.
Best regards @rbalzan79
Without a doubt, our region is a blessed and prodigious land, creator of life. Its people, and its agricultural and agro-industrial potential, are blessings that our wonderful Santa Bárabara de Zulia has received. Thank you for your visit.
Hello friend @lupafilotaxia
This is a really amazing post. I'm glad you decided to participate in the contest.
What you say about Santa Barbara is a clear example of how technology, when used for good, can be indeterminate and clear of the advances in a location, in a region or even a country.
I remember that in my adolescent days, when I was studying at the high school, Zulia always dominated as an agricultural area. Now I understand part of the reasons.
Thank you for sharing this good post.
Best regards @josevas217
Certainly what happened with the development of Santa Barbara de Zulia had its genesis with the arrival of those novel boats, which according to the time had state-of-the-art technology. The area has always stood out for its banana, meat and dairy production. I must tell you that in the previous contest, I did not have enough time to develop the content to participate, this time I did not want to wait and I gave priority to the contest, I reiterate my thanks to you for this new call for competition. Kind regards.
A live example of how technology can bring abundance to the land. Technology, if handled positively can create a win-win situation to everyone involved.
Population thrives where innovation is a constant process.
Thanks for sharing this information.
Exactly when technological innovations are handled correctly, this will bring positive benefits to the communities. Thank you @knowledgefruit, for visiting the blog and leaving your positive comment.
There is no doubt that for any population located at the shore of a lake, boats play a fundamental role in its growth and development, especially this region of Zulia. And this is how technology has also influenced the organization of the population. Greetings friend @lupafilotaxia.
Correct friend @emiliomoron, it is a privilege for any population to have a geographical location that has a lake nearby, in our case it meant being able to connect with the capital of the state of Zulia, an element that made possible the development in all senses in Santa Barbara de Zulia. Thank you for leaving your comment.
A golden age was when canoes were used for commercial communication between the city of Santa Bárbara de Zulia and the state capital, Maracaibo. This technology contributed enormously to the development of the region. Greetings and thanks for sharing @lupafilotaxia.
Greetings dear friend and professor @carlos84, I fully agree with you, that golden age marked the beginning of growth and development of this entire sub-region of the South of Lake Maracaibo.
Hello @lupafilotaxia
An excellent example of how positive technology can provide man and society, provided it is used properly.
Best Regards
Greetings @janettyanez, this is how all technology has an implicit purpose of social benefit, therefore, the key will always be to give it the correct use, in the search for improving the living conditions of society. Thank you for leaving your comment.