Youth Delegation Arrives In Colombia

For the next ten days, I have the privilege of leading a Youth Arts and Action Delegation to Colombia, despite my aches, pains and old age of almost 32. Fortunately, at the Fellowship of Reconciliation we define “youth” very amply: up to 30 years old. So I’m just barely over the hill for this group of amazing young activists who arrive tonight in Bogota’s El Dorado airport.

Our participants come from a wide variety of backgrounds, parallel projects and represent a diversity of organizations and experiences. Documentary filmmaker Korey Oliver and Buddhist Colombia activist Sarah Weintraub from the Dar Papaya Project, will be filming the delegation, to explore the stories of the young activists from both countries who are participating and to bring awareness to the situation in Colombia.

Also joining us from San Francisco are two young men from HOMEY, an organization that works with low-income Latino youth in the Mission District. Rafael Moreno who is 19 years old and in his second year at San Francisco State University says of himself, “I was born and raised in the San Francisco Mission district my whole life. Growing up in the Mission I have experienced the many joys of my community, which are the different cultures, arts, and people that live in the area. At the same time I have experienced deaths and the imprisonment of many family members and friends due to violent crimes in the Mission district.” Oscar Roman, also 19 years old and from the same neighborhood says “I'm not in college, my job is working as a janitor. I was planning to join the army, but I didn't pass the tests. The only reason that I wanted to go to the army was to change my life.” Oscar, who continues to be actively recruited by the military, is interested to connect with youth in Colombia and learn about their experiences resisting recruitment.

Coming from Southern California are three young women from the Peace and Justice Studies Department at the University of San Diego: Tanya Susoev, Kristen Kuriga and Marcia Luttio. Tanya who is a “a strong believer in storytelling and relationship building as a powerful tool for social transformation,” started a program at UC San Diego which works to create murals in local at-risk communities and abroad. Kristen lives in a Buddhist meditation center, has done labor organizing with Justice for Janitors among other organizations, and strives to bring together mindfulness and social action. Marcia, a self-described “nomad at heart” was a social worker at a crisis shelter for homeless youth in south Florida before beginning her studies at UC San Diego.

Matthew Johnson, our representative east-coast delegate, has recently graduated college in Washington DC. He is a journalist and activist and says his primary goals in life are to “seek truth and find love.”

Along for the Bogota portion of our trip is our newest FOR volunteer, Rachel Dickson, who brings with her youth and counter-recruitment organizing skills from Chicago. The delegation will be co-led by volunteer Mayra Moreno, at the end of her term with FOR. At 27, Mayra says that after two years living in Colombia’s conflict, accompanying the peace community of San Jose de Apartado and doing the political support work out of our Bogota office, she is looking and feeling older!

I get to be the old lady co-leader, along for the ride. Another ride through Colombia’s tragedy and brilliance, which is all tied up in that of our own in the US. We will spend our time talking and thinking about wars, violence and militarism: wars which wake us up in the morning on the radio and in the newspaper, violence that greets us on the streets in our neighborhoods and the militarism which sneaks into our heads. These wars, violence and militarism met and challenged by our hard work, energy and passion to create life, to build a movement of non-violent resistance and to see and be the change we want in the world. Like I said, this is a story of tragedy and brilliance...

****Check back here soon for more stories from our time in Colombia.****