Support youth's mental health-social reintegration

From all of us here at Children Change Colombia, we want to thank you for supporting us by showing this important project for children in Colombia throughout the world! Your generous support is helping keep at risk-children safe from the dangers in their communities, and allowing them to develop important life skills and strengthen their capacities to build positive futures for themselves. We believe that equipped with the right skills and knowledge, children can transform their own lives, their communities and Colombia itself.

Thanks to our donors, our project partners CRAN and Tiempo de Juego were able to successfully implement this project. This report covers the period of March 15th to December 31st 2022 and shows the impact that this support has had on the lives of some of Colombia’s most at-risk young people, their families and communities.

Although the estimated number of children and young people who would benefit from the project was 224, the actual number of CYP that benefited directly from it over the course of the project was 286. This represents an increase of 27% of CYP who benefited. From this total amount, 252 were the beneficiaries from Bogotá: 81 CYP were direct beneficiaries (victims of forced recruitment or at risk), 50 CYP were direct beneficiaries from Arcadia, 49 from Semillas de Amor and 72 from Junior Masculino Bogotá. In the case of Villavicencio 14 CYP benefited from the project. In Restrepo, 20 CYP participated as well.

80% of the young participants are aware of the changes in their narratives regarding the period of criminal activities or forced recruitment

The participants were able to analyze their experience as part of armed groups, as a violation of rights. Some of them recognized their family context before their life in the armed groups as an environment of violence and violation of rights too. They expressed that it was a difficult and painful period of their lives. But they still have hope and want to move on despite the pain and bad memories.

Activities:

Leaving home: The participants from Bogotá and Meta reflected on the reasons why they leave their homes for the first-time years ago. During the first meeting, a conversation was held based on two key questions: What memories do you have of the day you left home? What feelings did you have? While answering them, the participants shared their experiences through an artistic piece: paintings, ceramics, drawings, etc. The artistic product was focused on what they felt after leaving home. Some spoke of a sense of belonging to the armed group they were part of, power, money, death, and combat. However, they also reflected on the negative aspects of it: disappointments, sacrifices, the emotional implications of living in combat, being far from their families, and constant uncertainty.

75% of the young participants strengthen their positive leadership abilities

During the first six months, CRAN and TDJ noticed that participants were strengthening their positive leadership skills. They were also identifying their professional and personal life goals. However, some participants had trouble identifying personal aspects (self-image or self-recognition of their emotions). In this sense, our project partners concluded that it was easier for them to identify professional goals than to acknowledge their emotions and feelings and how they perceived themselves.

The Inner child: This activity was developed by CRAN. The aim was for the participants to connect with their inner child. The CYP recognized their greatest joys but also their pains and fears and how these have influenced their lives. The session began with reading a text, then a short meditation. The text invited them to think about their childhood, going through different situations, while recreating them with organic materials such as clay and elements of nature. In the end, each one shared what they experienced during the session.

Self-recognition and leadership sessions:

This activity was developed by TDJ in the centers of Bogotá. The aim was to develop audiovisual projects that could help the participants to express their opinions of themselves. The purpose was to promote self-care and mental health through artistic exercises. Some topics were addressed, such as "Expressing Emotions", "Self-Esteem", "Learning to Be Calm", "Thinking Positively About Ourselves" and "Creative Thinking". They talked about these topics and themselves through strengthening their technical skills related to music and audiovisual production.

70% of CYP that participated in the program improved their mental health and wellbeing.

The participants stated that they noticed an improvement in their well-being. This happened as a result of the care, training and strengthening activities. They had been developing life skills. Only 2% stated that they did not notice any improvement. This is due to the fact that they only recently started the process and are in the diagnosis phase, which is the beginning of their care process.

My inner warrior:

In this last session, the participants gave their opinions about the project so far and what they would take away from participating in it.

They openly talked about sexual abuse and mistreatment. They learned that naming it is part of the healing process. They also talked about their experience in the conflict, the positive and the negative. They learned to allow themselves not to feel guilty and that these past experiences do not define them. Furthermore, this exercise reaffirmed the importance of continuing to talk about their experiences and their feelings.

Case study: 

My name is Adriana* I joined CRAN's foster home approximately a year ago when I was 14 years old. I was emotionally vulnerable with difficulty managing/solving daily problems. I have exprienced bullying at school, difficulties in communication and interaction.

She has shown progress in her personal phychosocial skills, when expressing her needs and emotions. She has participating in training, cultural and recreational activities. When talking about her future she shows interest in studying a technical or professional career according to the opportunities available. She also states that: "My experience in art therapy activities has strengthened and helped me much more in my personal relationships and my capacity to express what I feel and be myself”