Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Empowerment Through Rights

In the far south of Bogota is the neighborhood of Caracoli, made up mainly of people displaced from the conflict or from a lack of economic opportunities. In this community the Lutheran Church of Colombia is involved in various projects. One project, called Proyectándome a un Futuro (“Projecting myself into the future”, is a close English translation) which Katie has been involved in and written about before, is a project focused on empowerment of girls age 10-16.

The girls divided up into small groups to discuss the different needs for different identities; the differences for young girls, versus women in their 30's versus senior citizens. Photo by Curtis. 
This year, the project is focused on empowerment through rights, and has asked me to help plan and lead some of the activities focused on learning about human rights. This past Saturday, April 9, was the first workshop on the theme. There were some incredible discussions with the girls as we talked about human necessities and how they have rights to have their needs met.

The group of "young girls" (small children) discussing not only the needs to survive, but the needs that develop a life of abundance and dignity. Photo by Curtis.