Inside the Daily: Uncovering the Seeds of Cultural Peace Alongside the Community in Jamundí

This peacebuilding project focuses on promoting social change and conflict transformation through grassroots work alongside the local community that lives in the corregimiento of San Isidro, Colombia, specifically with its Afro-Colombian youth. This bottom-up peace initiative was based on the specific needs, interests, and responses of the community, which has and is facing violence at various levels due to its complex and rough history. Diverse interactive approaches – involving art, music, sports, ecology, music, etc. – tailored to the local context, were facilitated and developed within ten workshops throughout five weeks. The experience revealed not only the importance of a strong partnership with local residents and leaders, including its youth but also how social cohesion and individual well-being are key vehicles for a sustainable path toward social change and peacebuilding in day-to-day life. Importantly, the activities that demonstrated the most effectiveness and impactful on the residents were those that accomplished a connection between the participants and their surroundings, which moved forward the promotion of leadership, agency, and empowerment. The project was able to build momentum, where not only the facilitators but other people from the community embraced their own ideas and visions for future actions and projects. The young participants finalized with a willingness to learn and do more, an openness that was developed over time, which hopefully can be maintained and nurtured by them, increasing their determination for their dreams and objectives.

This peacebuilding project called: “Inside the Daily: Uncovering the Seeds of Cultural Peace Alongside the Community in Jamundí,” had the intend of highlighting individual assets, cultural affirmation, and social cohesion as vehicles for conflict transformation within the Afrocolombian community in the corregimiento of San Isidro, in Colombia. This, through creative spaces and multiple activities while inquiring it effectiveness within the context, with its people.

Workshops involving holistic approaches that embraced art, music, ecology, dance, mindfulness, and other form of human expressions and connection took place twice a week with a group of youth in the community, throughout a period of 5 weeks, with additional activities on Saturdays connected to the theme of the week.

This community is located in a region impacted by the Colombian armed conflict and its traces of illicit economic activity, in addition to systemic injustices and inequalities that leaves them vulnerable to violent cycles, especially its youth. For this reason, emphasis was made on the importance of local voices and their willingness, in order to eventually foster an empowerment owned and sustained by them.

In this way, the methodological approach of participatory action research guided the project, as it was based on researcher and local partnership and community leadership to dive into the actions that can bring forth social change and conflict transformation by comprehending the social issues and situation.

During the five weeks, I facilitated ten workshops alongside two bright young men from the community. Around 25 to 30 people attended from the ages 10 to 16 years old. Each session was divided by three main parts: icebreaking/trust-building activity, the interactive and didactic activities, and wrap-up.

During the sessions, the first weeks narratives were dived into, bringing to light the way participants see parts of life and themselves, including their identities and culture, what is normalized and believed to be true. The following week, called A través de mi, spanned around personal values, role models, different perspectives from the same situation, and the different experiences of life. The last two weeks, called Entorno and Más allá de mi, respectively, focused on conflict responses, sources of power, social change, environmental care, non-violent communication, leadership, and participant’s goals and dreams.

Throughout the workshops, individual and community strengths and potentials were placed at the center, including their needs, hopes, and responses. Which is why the dynamics and strategies were modified and adapted as it was unfolding, always taking into account the ideas of locals and the participants.

Collaboration was key, in order to accurately and effectively work with the physical body, senses, and emotions of the participants. The progress revealed how essential individual and communal trust and well-being are as vehicles for social change and peacebuilding in the day-to-day. In the same way, important actions were discerned (with people from the community) which promote a connection between the individual and greater changes in their surroundings and themselves, for instance, teamwork games, the creation of safe spaces to share opinions, storytelling by locals, and actions that involves movement.

Essentially, initiatives that accomplished a connection between the participants and their surroundings, such as the creation of a medicinal plant garden, the painting of the mural, and the local pedagogical trip, are important for a sense of ownership and leadership when it comes to social change and undertaking in peace actions that are part of daily life. Engagement, union, cooperation, and evolution was accomplished, as the youth group were indicators of methods of empowerment and learning, they discerned these, even the issues the community faces and possible solutions. This was also possible by advocating laughter, having many conversations, stimulating the senses, and boosting a sense of support, for them to feel seen and respected.

Momentum was created, where not only the facilitators but other people from the community embraced their own ideas and visions for future actions and projects. The participants finalized with a willingness to learn and do more, an openness that was developed over time, which hopefully can be maintained and nurtured by them, increasing their determination for their dreams and objectives.