By Bruno Essig | Program coordinator Colombia
Within the project Paza la Paz Horyzon has the opportunity to award 1-2 young Columbians involved in the project with a scholarships. Carol Lorena is one of the award winners and tells us her story:
My name is Carol. I am 17 years old and live in a neighborhood in Bosa, one of the largest areas of Bogotá. Our area is struggling with social issues such as displacement, drug abuse, gang crime, social cleansing and pollution.
I live together with my parents, my brother and my little nephew. He was left alone by his mother as a baby and we are taking care of him ever since. My brother committed a crime under the bad influence of his friends and drugs. He was arrested and is currently sentencing his house arrest. Although I live in a difficult sector and by my brother set a bad example with his life style, I have managed to go another way.
I am a high school graduate and learned about YMCA four years ago during a drug prevention campaign. I really liked the work of the organization and I started attending events on entrepreneurship, psychological help or art. My life really changed when I was 14 years old and became part of Paza la Paz. The project has awakened all the potential laying in me. It showed me my talents like dancing, public speaking or leadership, so I decided to start the School for Civic Education. I was involved in founding three youth groups. In these we have developed many social and cultural initiatives to promote peace in the neighborhood. Some of our activities were the Paza La Paz Festival, a documentary about the Rio Bogotá and the presentation of projects to the mayor. Thanks to YMCA I was able to participate in various trainings, such as being a youth leader in the Leadership School or attending lectures on sexual health and gender. All this enabled me to develop my leadership skills, and so I eventually became a student representative of my school.
I passed on my experience in the neighbourhood. I came in touch with 600 girls and boys and showed them that it is possible to choose a good path. My dream is to become a social worker to achieve my life goals and at the same time to change the lives of children and young people in my area. That's why I applied for a scholarship from Horyzon.
Many thanks to all and I hope my story inspires more teenagers to achieve their dreams.
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