Youth Delegation in Colombia

[Editor's note: Maryrose is the Co-Director of FOR's Youth and Militarism Program, and is currently participating in our Youth Arts and Action Delegation to Colombia.]

I asked Sharon Lungo from the Ruckus Society, one of the awesome delegation members, to talk to me for a minute about her experience so far with the delegation:

MR: Sharon, will you talk for a minute about the delegation so far, and what happened today?
Sharon: Its our third day on the delegation, we're getting deeper with ACOOC [Colombian Association of Conscientious Objectors] every day. Every day we get a better sense of the every day reality here, and I think what has started to emerge today are some of the parallels between their military state and ours. I think we've begun to explore some really interesting conversations about tactics and the use of art as direct action. There are a lot of complexities becoming evident, and I am still struggling to digest where the appropriate place is to align. I think that when we get to our presentation tomorrow, we'll be able to have more of a collective thought about how we can simultaneously work at this in a joint way, and have a clear view of how best to apply the learning we're doing to our work in the United States. I'm excited to continue to open doors, particularly excited to take this back to my network, the Ruckus network, and to draw from the lessons learned here.

MR: What was the best part about today?:
Sharon: The best part of today for me is that I am finally coming to a clear understanding about the recruitment process here, the specific methods that ACOOC uses to combat militarism and military recruitment.

Today we spent the morning at the ACOOC office learning about the affinity group structure. Six of the ACOOC members have open legal cases in an attempt to set legal precedent for other youth in Colombia. For example, one of the members is challenging Colombian policy which does not allow students to graduate from University without having a military identification card. Hopefully one of us will write more soon about the other cases, because they are all very interesting.

This afternoon, after an excellent lunch in a local restaurant, we had a very intimate conversation about recruitment and the resistance of the international solidarity network: RANI.

Tonight there is a party that everyone is at, and I've got to get over there. :)