Ride 3,794 Mile to Empower Youth in Cali, Colombia

Soroca Program — Fundación Ser para Ser · Cali, Colombia

In the first five months of 2026, Soroca accompanied 114 young people from Aguablanca — the eastern district of Cali, Colombia, a territory shaped by inequality, limited access to higher education, and the daily reality of armed conflict. Thirty-nine newcomers joined through a competitive selection process that drew 87 applicants from eight public schools; a second group of 36 continued deepening their civic leadership; and 31 recent high-school graduates navigated the transition into university, work, and independent adult life. Every young person in the program — whom we call Valiants— received personalized mentorship, participated in structured formation sessions, and was accompanied through the challenges of their specific life moment.

This semester's most visible transformation happened in a community garden called Mi Terracita, where our second-year Valiants took on a real challenge: to design, build, and run a series of environmental interventions — entirely on their own. Working in teams of six, they constructed bee hotels to protect local pollinators, transplanted seedlings they had cared for in their own homes for three weeks, and took to the streets to teach their neighbors how to sort household waste. The garden community rated their work a perfect 5 out of 5. More importantly, young people who had never spoken in front of strangers found themselves standing on a street corner, educating their community with confidence.

Across all three program levels, the semester reinforced what we know to be true: formation that touches identity, body, emotion, family, and territory is the only kind that lasts. First-year participants created personal life museums and explored body autonomy and sexuality with expert facilitators. Graduating-level Valiants practiced job interviews, built financial literacy, and were actively referred to psychological support when needed — with many seeking it themselves, which the team considers one of the semester's deepest signs of growth. 

Soroca has always understood that accompanying a young person means accompanying their family too. This semester we held six family formation workshops, including a landmark event in May — Tejiendo Comunidad (Weaving Community) — that brought together 72 participants from all three program levels, families, and members of Club 50 (our donor-leader community) at Universidad Javeriana Cali. Families shared stories, built new connections, and left with a clearer sense of themselves as co-creators of Soroca's impact. 

"For me, the community project helped me understand my surroundings better and the value of working together. It made me step out of my comfort zone, interact with others, and see realities different from my own. I felt useful — and more aware of everything that still needs to change."

— Valiant, second year · Mi Terracita, 2026

Links:

• Here's our homepage
• For more info, here's a video!

In 2025, Soroca directly accompanied 114 young people from Aguablanca District in Cali — a territory deeply affected by inequality, violence, and limited access to higher education. Of these participants, 60% were young women, 51% identified as Afro-descendant, and 24% were victims of armed conflict. More than 75% live in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods (Comunas 14 and 15), and nearly 30% come from households earning less than one minimum wage (less than 458 US a month). In this context, Soroca provides a four-year certified leadership and life-skills pathway in alliance with leading universities, combining socioemotional formation, psychosocial support, family engagement, and community action.

This year, our impact translated into concrete educational progress. In the fourth year of formation, 37 students graduated from high school, and 15 advanced into higher Education — enrolling in technical programs and university degrees in fields such as Industrial Engineering, Sociology, Nursing, and Media Production. Across the program, students completed hundreds of hours of certified formation, participated in 35+ structured training sessions, and received intensive psychosocial accompaniment. These milestones represent far more than academic success — they reflect resilience, expanded aspirations, and real alternatives to cycles of exclusion.

Beyond the classroom, Soroca strengthened families and communities. We worked directly with participants’ households (averaging 4.2 members each), offering workshops, home visits, and guidance on communication, adolescent health, conflict resolution, and financial management. Our community initiatives reached approximately 500 additional people, including a large Vocational Fair with 197 youth attendees and 30 cross-sector exhibitors, territorial social impact actions led by participants, and a community festival that gathered 100 families to celebrate shared growth and entrepreneurship.

Most importantly, transformation is visible in the voices of the young people themselves. Participants report improved emotional regulation, stronger self-awareness, and a deeper sense of authenticity and purpose. In well-being workshops, 100% of attendees recognized improvements in their self-care practices. Soroca is not simply preventing school dropout — it is cultivating a generation of courageous young leaders who are actively reshaping their future and their communities from within.

“We are between 12 and 17 years old, but it only took one year for us to realize that there is hope — and that being brave depends on us.”- Lara, 16 years old.

Links:

• For more info, here's a video!
• For more info, here's our homepage

• Report 2025 - Soroca Program (PDF)