From Colombia: Youth arts delegation arrives safely

On Friday evening, March 21st, the Fellowship of Reconciliation's "youth arts & activism" delegation arrived safely in Colombia. The delegation of eight young adult leaders from across the United States will spend eight days traveling in Colombia, meeting with young adult activists in the region working to end war and support the rights of conscientious objectors.

Our first report is a brief one, written on Saturday night. We are at the FOR office in Bogota, on a short break from our first session together as a group. Last night all of us arrived, and went to the home of one of ACOOC's members for a late night go round of introductions. ACOOC - translated into English and out of its acronym - is the group Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors. ACOOC works to support Conscientious Objectors and prevent forced recruitment into the military. This morning, after breakfasts with our ACOOC host homes, we all met up at the ACOOC office for more orientation to ACOOC's work, including their awesome silk screen T-shirt collection. We made our way through unusually quite streets (because of Easter holiday, everyone is somewhere else with their families) to the FOR office, where we have been continuing to get to know each other and define our work together in Colombia.

The group of delegates ranges in age from 17-32, including six alumni or facilitators with FOR's Nonviolent Youth Collective. The delegation is being led by Liza Smith, FOR's Colombia campaign organization who is based in Oakland CA, and myself, co-director of FOR's youth & militarism program and based in St. Paul MN. The other six delegates and grassroots activists are:

• Andrew Gorby, Washington DC -- advocacy coordinator with the Center on Conscience and War
• Sharon Lungo, Venice CA -- project director with the Ruckus Society
• Escenthio Marigny Jr., Oakland CA -- organizer with Alternatives to War Through Education
• Cesar Maxit, Washington DC -- artist and activist
• Brie Phillips, Washington DC -- Freeman Fellow with FOR's Peacemaker Training Institute, and a labor and human rights organizer
• Alejandra Tobar Alatriz, St. Paul MN -- artist and nonviolence workshop trainer

We will post reports and photos from the delegation as often as we are able to do so.