Colombia: No Child Should be a Soldier

Summary

MADRE provides critical services for Colombian youth who are at risk of being recruited as child-soldiers, giving them the support they need to create alternatives to a life of combat and violence.

What is the issue, problem, or challenge?

The most vulnerable children in Bogota face aggressive recruitment by military and paramilitary groups. For many of these impoverished children, joining an armed group is the only way to get a meal each day. Others are kidnapped and forced to fight. MADRE and its local partner, Taller de Vida, are helping youth in Bogota channel the trauma of displacement and war into healthy self-expression through arts programs, academic tutoring and counseling.

How will this project solve this problem?

Indigenous and Afro-Colombian youth are learning videography in order to document and heal from their experiences of war and displacement. Participants are also introduced to acting, dancing, capoeira, painting, pottery and photography.

Potential Long Term Impact

By engaging in positive activities, building self-esteem, having a safe space off the streets, developing skills, and strengthening social networks, young people are protected from the horrors of paramilitary recruitment.

Project Message

"The paramilitaries kidnapped me and made me fight. I thought I would never escape. Now I have a new life and new friends at Taller de Vida."
- Tania, Former child soldier, Dance troupe participant