Taller de Vida is a community-based organization providing support to Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and youth affected by racial, gender, and wartime violence and helping them envision — and work to create — a more peaceful world.
Taller de Vida supports Afro-Colombian and Indigenous women and youth recovering from war to heal from the traumas they’ve endured, pressure policymakers to meet their needs, and emerge as leaders for peace.
With MADRE’s support, Taller de Vida guides war survivors from recovery to advocacy:
Connect survivors to urgent medical and legal services
Offer art therapy workshops and creative performances for healing
Document cases of human rights violations and compel policymakers to act
Colombia’s armed conflict pitted government and right-wing paramilitary groups against anti-government guerrillas for decades. Militants use rape as a weapon to terrorize women and their entire communities, and the country has a lack of government programs to meet the needs of survivors.
With MADRE, Taller de Vida documents cases of human rights violations with a new referral system for survivors to report acts of violence and access health services and legal aid. By gathering testimonies and evidence of sexual violence, we shine a spotlight that triggers action from policymakers, including representatives at the peace negotiating table.
View the campaignMADRE and Taller de Vida promote exchanges among Afro-descendant women and girls in Colombia. These programs provide girl activists the platforms and resources to strengthen their advocacy for inclusive peace, justice, and accountability.
View the campaignSince 1994, Taller de Vida has helped thousands of survivors of wartime violence. Using a multifaceted approach that recognizes the roles of culture and gender and listens to survivors, the group supports them in gaining the services they need and pursuing lasting change.
Creating pathways to peace
“We have a commitment to the construction of peace in Colombia. The processes that Taller de Vida has built have allowed us survivors, of the armed conflict, to empower ourselves and to have the strength and the capacity to be in key spaces in the construction of peace.”
Stella Duque Executive Director, Taller de Vida
Taller de Vida helps young women and girls process the trauma of gender violence through art therapy workshops and creative performances.
Through music, dance, theater, and more, they break through silence and stigma.
Young survivors come to know that they are not alone, and they gain the confidence to speak out against the abuses they’ve experienced.
YOUR SUPPORT IN ACTION
Taller de Vida works with former forced child soldiers and youth at risk of being recruited in Colombia's decades-long war. With MADRE, they created a program for young survivors who have known nothing but war for years to have access to counseling, therapy and other healing support to help them demobilize and reintegrate into society.
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In uncertain times, think like a mother
NPR’s TED Radio Hour recently selected MADRE Executive Director Yifat Susskind's TED Talk to show how, in unpredictable times, we can stay calm, grounded, and on course.
