"Mothers, Sons and Lands"- January, 2009, an agricultural project to help 30 displaced mothers support their families by  raising chickens and food, while their youth (60)  learn to over come the odds set against them by poverty and lack of education. 

I believe it’s important to understand the context of the area where we are carrying out this project. These are beautiful people yet completely disorganized, and effected by the highest level of government corruption in the whole country. It’s important to mention this for you to understand some of the problems we are facing.   

Problem: A month ago, the rector of the educational institution where we are working, was electrocuted when he touched a high tensions cable while trying to fix an electric problem. He didn’t die immediately, but because of the lack of proper medical help. This was not only a shock for us, but we were concerned this would delay the program and stunt the progress made with this institution. They were committed to giving a sum of money towards building the shacks for raising the chickens, but when we spoke with the accountant after this death, she told us this money had disappeared and they didn’t know who had spent it.  This wasn’t a surprise since we are familiar with the way funds are “managed” in this area.

It was a disappointment to see the initial productive stage of the project delayed. I am now obliged to meet with the Mormons to find answers towards overcoming the obstacle of not having the funds to solve the problem. When we met with the new rector, as we expected, he was full of his own ideas and methods. We sought to bring out the points we have in common in order to proceed. Thank God most of the people are usually very kind and since we have been working there for some years, we count on the support of the community and the community leaders. who carry a lot of weight in the decision making process.  

Progress: The area where the institution is situated, Obapo, is near the army control center. This is a security focal point built by the fiftieth army brigade in the jungle near Panama where cocaine and heroine are rampant, a strategic zone for illegal armed groups. We visited the headquarters of the general in charge of this operation to inform him of our work. We were greeted by his second in command, a Coronel who promised us his unconditional support for the project.       

 He said we could use whatever we need from their battalion; they are under the obligation to see that social work is carried out in the area. We want to approach him to supply the shacks for raising the chickens. The whole community is inspired about the project and its our commitment to do everything we can to see it crystallized.   

Volunteers:  We are profoundly impressed by the group of special volunteers who are committed to the cause. So many people offered to help that we had to choose 8 of them to be trained our methodology. The others are on a waiting list so we can do this training by groups.   This is the fruit of our representative in Chocó, Jackson Bermudez, who is well known, respected and goes out of his way to make things happen.  We have had several meetings to organize the chronogram for each task and the distribute responsibilities. The volunteers will visit the homes and follow a system of evaluation. One way to win the people’s trust is to teach them hair dressing, manicures and manual crafts.  

Beneficiaries: Both the workshops with the mothers and their children are a fantastic group experience and they are extremely receptive and appreciative of the support they are receiving. Although the Healing Colombia program follows a series of 12 official workshops, we leave space for the participants to choose the subjects they feel are important in reference to situations that arise in their lives. For example, “How to raise their Children” is a complete series, or “Acceptance and Reconciliation”.          

These mothers are so glad to have a space where they can open their hearts and receive new input. To feel that they pertain to something and have a space where they can feel respected as human beings and get some input to better their lives, is a completely new experience for them.  

Other Partners: Batuta is a governmental organization that teaches music. We are entering into an agreement with them for the young mothers and children to learn music. Official training to establish the cooperative will begin as soon as the shacks for raising the chickens are built.