In 2005, eight people, including children, were killed in a joint operation by military and paramilitary groups in the remote villages of Mulatos and La Resbalosa. FOR Peace Presence accompaniers accompanied the commemoration of the massacre, and reflected on their experience. Below is an excerpt from an interview with a Peace Community member in 2011, taken from Community of Peace, written by ex-accompanier Chris Courtheyn.

What does memory mean, and why is it so important in Colombia, in the Peace Community, and for you?

Memory, for me, is the strength of our resistance. Why is memory the strength of resistance? Because when you lose memory, you are condemned to repeat the same as before. We maintain memory and we always feel that someone who has passed away, all those very important people whom we have lost in the Community, continue to be with us. It’s as if they didn’t leave. They continue to here. They continue to be here, from the great beyond. Their spirit is with us. And I believe that this has been what characterizes our Community and that which gives us strength.