Providing alternatives to poverty and gang membership

Neglected young people in Colombia are vulnerable to forced recruitment into armed groups and to joining street gangs. They can even look to gangs to provide them with a sense of security and belonging. Children of the Andes is working in Aguablanca - an impoverished district on the edge of Cali - to stop this from happening.

Aguablanca is home to 645,000 people, many of whom have been displaced because of conflict or natural disaster.  Most inhabitants have no legal status and cannot access employment or education. Children often work long, exhausting days on the streets in an attempt to contribute to the family income.  Families live in substandard, overcrowded housing which results in a high incidence of domestic violence, sexual abuse and drug use.

In this environment, a street gang can seem like a good option. Dealing drugs or selling guns offers the prospect of earning more in a day than the average family can earn in a month. However, the reality is that most young gang members in Aguablanca will not reach their twentieth birthday.

Making a difference

Young people in Aguablanca are at risk from gang violence, some as perpetrators, all as victims.  

COTA partner Paz y Bien (Peace and Well being) provides opportunities for these young people to escape this violence. The programme was initially set up in response to a request made by the young people themselves, who asked for a safe place to go for help with schooling and vocational development.  Today, the programme works from six day-care centres helping about 570 young people aged 10 to 22 every year.

At Paz y Bien, young people receive counselling, safe recreation, and practical support, such as help with obtaining identity documents to go to school.  The project also provides mediation services between the young people, their families and communities.  By fostering a sense of self-worth and providing opportunities, children are helped to protect themselves from gangs, reduce their own antisocial behaviour, return to school, take up vocational training, and repair relations with their families and communities.

COTA Blog Feature: Peace and Wellbeing in Cali's Slums (Visiting Paz y Bien).