by Michaela Söllinger, IFOR Austria (This article was also published with minor changes in the Austrian magazine Spinnrad, Vol. 4 (2019)) Picture 1: Sunset over Guaviare harbor Picture 2: Fishing pond in main hamlet of San José de León How does reconciliation happen?...
Emily Schmitz
Meet our new accompanier: Enrique
Enrique is a social leader, human rights defender and member of the victims’ network Communities Constructing Peace in the Communities (CONPAZ). In 2017, he was selected the Human Rights Defender of the Year in the national awards for human rights, granted by Diakonía...
Meet our new accompanier: María Eugenia
María Eugenia is from the outskirts of Popayán, in the department of Cauca. She studied ethno-education at the University of Cauca. Her family member was a victim of an extrajudicial execution, which motivated her to get involved in peace-building work. She is a...
Mapiripán: Defending Land and Memory
After a steep descend from the Andean mountains, we enter the Eastern Plains of Colombia, the department of Meta. We follow the newly paved road into the heart of the plains. Soon after leaving the main road, just before crossing Guaviare river (to get to San José de...
Announcing our Accompaniment of Blanquita-Murrí
A few weeks ago we traveled to the interethnic territory of Blanquita Murrí, located in the Frontino municipality of the state of Antioquia, to formally receive their petition for accompaniment. Read more background on Blanquita-Murrí here. We were invited to a...
Blanquita-Murrí and a Plan for Life
After a four-hour jeep ride through thick forest and passing over waterfalls, the valley of Blanquita-Murrí, Frontino, Antioquia opened up in front of us. Wide forests and grasslands surrounded the main settlement of the high mountain plain, which is the hub for the...
Perspectives on Peace: Fabiola from Santa Rosa de Guayacán
In early August, we were able to travel with our partner Communities Constructing Peace in the Territories (CONPAZ) to Bajo Calima and the San Juan River, in the rural region outside of Buenaventura. There we heard from various indigenous and Afro-Colombian...
Perspectives on Peace: Karen and Rubén Darío from Punte Icaco
"Today, we are again worried... about invisible borders that prevent us from crossing from one neighborhood to another..." Three years ago last Sunday, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government signed a historic ceasefire...