Colombia

WALK FOR LIFE, BUILDING COMMUNITY AND PREPARING AN INTIMATE TIME BETWEEN TAMERA AND THE PEACE COMMUNITY.

At the beginning of October the first part of our group, Laura, Irma, Laura, Rita and Laure started the Global Campus in Colombia. The Peace Community of San José de Apartado warmly welcomed us into their home. We had a few days of landing to get used to the humid climate, the sounds of the village with all the barking dogs, chicken and children playing around and to adjust to the local life rhythm. We enjoyed the powerful nature all around and made the first contacts with our friends.On October 6th a pilgrimage started from San Josesito with the title “For life, against displacement and murder“.About 150 people joined the pilgrimage. Participated delegations from 6 indigenous communities from all over Colombia, many activists from human rights organizations and peace initiatives from Italy, Canada, France, England, Mexico, USA, Germany and Portugal, many members of the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado, children, horses and dogs.For five days we walked across the mountains, through rivers and muddy valleys. We passed by recently abandoned houses of people that were displaced by the paramilitary that is present in the area and trying to gain control over the land for decades. The story of terror, massacres and displacements started in the seventies and the work of the Peace Community is to create a zone that is safe for the farmers to live and work on their land. The aim of the pilgrimage was to create an international presence to show to the armed actors that there are many eyes watching what they are doing and to express solidarity to all the people living in isolated villages in the mountains under constant pressure of the paramilitary and the army.During the pilgrimage a strong community feeling unfold with people helping each other crossing the rivers and walking under the burning sun with the common longing for peace.In the villages that we stayed and passed by 28 families have left in the last years because they could no longer stand the threats of the paramilitary. The people who chose to stay in their village were thankful for our visit and the short time of release and protection. The paramilitary didn’t show up a lot during the pilgrimage but their high presence was perceivable through the stories that the people shared about their living situation. For many families, which are not part of the Peace Community, it is difficult to see life without fear. Without living in community and without an international network of solidarity they have no kind of protection in this cruel conflict. They even don’t report the attacks because they are afraid of being attacked back. During the visit of the pilgrimage they had the possibility to share about the crimes that they suffered, and the Peace Community promised to support them and to keep on building a common protection network.In our walk we focused on implementing the power of solidarity and the vision of peace in every place we go.On October 10th we arrived to Mulatos where the “Universidad Campesina de la Resistencia” took place. The pilgrimage was included into the University as a lively strong political and communitarian education. Through the indigenous representatives of various areas of Colombia it became clear that the life situations, the challenges and the threats are similar to all the people living in the rural areas of Colombia that are rich in natural resources or of other strategic interest for multinationals and the state. It was a short but powerful time of exchange and communitarian education where knowledge was shared in the areas of media and communication, health and traditional medicine, human rights and legal resistance. In the communication group we developed a clear consciousness about the meaning and the power of information. We underlined how important it was to give a voice to the reality of the people and to spread the vision for a future without war. The medicine group joined their knowledge about medicinal plants and produced various remedies with the plants present in the area. In the legal resistance group a young indigenous woman shared her knowledge about the legal possibilities to fight for the right of the land.In the common conclusion of the University the meaning of the solidarity between the different communities and the further exchange of peace knowledge was underlined. The “Universidad Campesina de la Resistencia” is a beautiful example for alternative education structures and the common creation of a new culture of peace and cooperation. (If you want to read more about the pilgrimage you find an article (in Spanish) under the following link: https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/un-rio-de-vida-buscando-muerte-articulo-452056) Today we welcomed Juliane, Lukas, Ludwig and Iris in the Peace Community of San José de Apartado. Now our group is complete and we “take off” for the next step of the Global Campus in Colombia.Next month we will be living in Mulatos, la Aldea de Paz. We are planning an intense time mainly with the youth of the community. The activities will have a clear focus on strengthening their vision for the future. The common aim is to create a sustainable and self-sufficient model for a peace village to give an answer to the existential challenges that they are facing everyday.As a celebration of the youth time, we will invite the whole community to celebrate the Global Grace Day on the 9th of November.