A rural community center for peace in Colombia

¡Rural Community Center for Peace in Colombia!

Thanks to all of you, the community of Vallecito will soon have its own multicultural center!!!

The inhabitants of the village of Vallecito in San Pablo, Bolívar have suffered for many years the pain that comes with war and have ended immersed in a conflict that has only left violence and suffering in their territory and community. However, despite the feeling of sadness, there are always people who struggle and believe their territory and living conditions of its inhabitants can improve.

This is the story of two fighters, who have given everything for their community and their love,  that has led them to become spouses through the years. During the past four years, they have encouraged the community’s active participation in collective actions and workshops that have strengthened social reconstruction in Vallecito.           

These two great leaders are Rubiela Machuca (37 years old) and Argemiro Sepúlveda (38 years old). Like all Vallecito’s inhabitants, they have been abused in different times and ways by illegal armed groups, which has not allowed them to develop their life project as individuals and as part of a community. However, they managed to get the courage to fight, not only for their family but also for the people living in the territory.

Their leadership has allowed the development of the pilot project “Rural quality of life for peace construction” in Vallecito, San Pablo, Bolívar since 2012 , being the ones who have taken the lead in training processes and community participation in the various activities led by the Foundation SERVIVIENDA.

In this fourth stage of intervention, Servivienda is working on achieving the resources to build the Multicultural Center that will be crucial for the inhabitants: "It seems very nice a place where we can perform many activities and generating an integration not only with the residents of Vallecito but also with other people from the region" (Argemiro, 2015).

"When the Multicultural Center exists, it will be a great joy for the entire community of Vallecito, since the village has been known because of everything that has been achieved with the SERVIVIENDA Foundation. This has caused that many inhabitants of other villages want to come and see what has been done during the last four years" (Rubiela, 2015)

Thanks to your help, we will soon build the Multicultural Center as a space for coexistence, cultural expression and recovery of the historical memory of a community violated by conflict and natural disasters.

On behalf of Rubiela and Argemiro, tireless leaders of Vallecito, we thank our donors for allowing us not only to build the Community Multicultural Center but also spread the intervention model "Rural quality of life for peace construction" for its replication in other vulnerable areas facing post -conflict in Colombia.

        THANK

Links:

• http://www.fundacionservivienda.com/

• Informe Espanol (PDF)
  
• Report (PDF)