Over 500 Children's Lives Changed in Colombia

The year is ending and another cycle of My life Is a Diamond (MVD) is also finishing. Our Baseball players are leaving for their Christmas vacations, after accomplishing another year of growth and learning. The process has enabled reflections within families regarding ways to deal with conflict, opening the spectrum to peaceful alternatives.

On December 15^th, as closure activity, our groups around Colombia took the time to celebrate the holidays and to share with their families and communities. It was the perfect opportunity to thank each other and all people that have made possible the success of the year, but also to reflect about the challenges and learnings in 2016. It was a perfect way to finish the last quarter of the year after 4 months of weekly training and play-based learning activities, where our children and teenagers were committed and energetic, and the objectives fulfilled.

The weekly strategic coaching and formative trainings were complemented with the last family formation meetings, where parents and caregivers strengthened their bond with the children and teenagers, and reaffirmed their engagement with MVD. In the case of the Uraba Region, a rural area of the State of Antioquía, the participants from territories in the Municipalities of Turbo and Carepa were involved in a sport exchange and tournament, where they were able to show their advances, sport skills, and share the traditional Colombian Christmas desert:“Natilla”, a pudding made with corn, cinnamon, milk and "panela" (a traditional sugar cane sweetener).

There are also really good news in the national level, directly affecting MVD: Colombia has reached a peace agreement with the Guerillas of FARC that will end more than 50 years of internal conflict, this agreement is now entering into force and our country will face many challenges where sports can definitely help; one example is the cease-fire reached, in which children and youth who were recruited by armed groups outside the law will require alternatives of life. Our program seeks to be a practical option for them to play part and help them find a way to coexistence in society in this process of revival, and our dream is to be able to enter other territories to benefit all these children demobilize from the armed groups.

For 2017 we intend to maintain our coverage of 500 children and teenagers in the program, nevertheless, we are doing our best to increase the population and  12 territories benefited. A strategy to accomplish this is to start a training program for  community leaders willing to work with sports and play-based learning aiming to strengthen coexistence among children and teenagers, the goal is thet sustainability of the process in the communities, to make it endure and succeed without dependence on the direct and continuous presence of GIP, In this sense, we must attempt to create installed capacity, to acknowledge and promote the active participation of the communities and to guarantee an adequate transfer of relevant knowledge for peace building.

Thank you dear benefactors because you made this possible with your contributions, we wish you happy holidays and a new year full of joy.