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Report on Reinventing Life Through Art: A program for displaced children and former child soldiers in Colombia

Background

Children ages 8-17 represent 25 percent of all combatants in guerrilla and paramilitary groups in Colombia. Many join to escape poverty, hunger, or abuse at home; others are simply kidnapped and forced to fight. Reinventing Life Through Art, a program of our Colombian partner Taller de Vida, is an arts and education program for Colombian youth who are former child soldiers or have been displaced by war and who are at high risk for military or paramilitary recruitment.

Taller de Vida ("Workshop of Life" in Spanish), MADRE's sister organization in Colombia, provides critical services for displaced Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and youth in Bogota, Colombia. Taller de Vida works with approximately 1,000 youth who are at high-risk for being recruited as child soldiers in Colombia's war, in which all sides exploit children. Taller de Vida's objective is to provide Colombian women and children with the support they need to resist this exploitation and create alternatives to the ongoing violence in Colombia.

Thanks to your help:

MADRE is supporting Taller de Vida's innovative art school. The school addresses issues of military enrollment, forced recruitment, and displacement; combats hopelessness; promotes literacy; and trains young people in an artistic discipline of their choice, including acting, painting, music, pottery, photography, dance, and—most recently—film production. Students also receive one-on-one counseling. The school provides students with a social network of peers and teachers, which is particularly crucial for children who have been displaced by war and are at risk of forced recruitment.

What's new this year:

Taller de Vida has made filmmaking the newest addition to their repertoire. This summer, volunteer professional filmmakers will travel to Bogot� through MADRE's Sisters Without Borders program to provide camera work and editing training for students. In addition, Taller de Vida is opening a computer corner, with four terminals. MADRE's partner in Nicaragua will travel to Colombia to provide computer training for the staff and students.

None of these creative and crucial programs would be possible without the support of people like you. MADRE and our sisters in Colombia thank you for your generous support.

Updated February 2006