Pedro* es un hombre de campo: su niñez y juventud las pasó aprendiendo y ejecutando labores agrícolas en tierras del Cesar junto a la familia. De adulto decidió arrendar una finca para dedicarse a la ganadería, al lado de su amada Rosa*, una mujer que lo ha hecho feliz.
Juntos sufrieron el desplazamiento forzado. Una noche de septiembre debieron abandonar la finca que con esfuerzo habían logrado hacer prosperar cerca a Becerril (Cesar) y se trasladaron a Barranquilla sin más equipaje que sus sueños frustrados por la violencia. Un bus interdepartamental, de los que siempre van abarrotados y cobran barato, los llevó hasta la capital del Atlántico en donde pudieron salvar sus vidas y la del pequeño hijo que viajó en sus brazos como única compañía.
Como pudo, Pedro se las ingenió y logró que su mujer y su hijo se quedaran temporalmente en una pequeña pieza, alojados por una familia que los acogió en un gesto de solidaridad. Los días y las noches de Pedro se volvieron tormentosos al tener que vivir en la calle, dormir en el suelo tirado al andén de una famosa estación de gasolina en la que el empleado nocturno le permitía quedarse a pasar las noches lluviosas y frías, arriesgando su integridad.
Hoy Rosa llora al contar la historia. Pasaban días sin conseguir un peso, hasta que un buen samaritano alojó a Pedro en el garaje de una casa ubicada en un barrio de la ciudad, es una zona residencial estrato 4 en donde el nivel socioeconómico de los habitantes contribuye al funcionamiento de emprendimientos con futuro. Su benefactor no solo le permitió quedarse; le prestó utensilios y materia prima para que se dedicara a la venta de arepas asadas en la terraza de la vivienda, en donde amasó sus sueños con toda la energía que le daba esa nueva oportunidad y logró vender 20 arepas.
“Imagínese usted, de haber pasado días sin comer y tener los bolsillos vacíos, ahora podía contar con un punto de inicio y dinero en efectivo para seguir produciendo, creo que Dios me habló como siempre lo ha hecho a lo largo de mi vida”, señala el hombre que ahora se considera por segunda vez afortunado.
En menos de una semana multiplicó por cuatro sus ventas y estuvo listo para traerse a Rosa y a su pequeño hijo a hacerle compañía. Ya no solo vende arepas, el negocio ha crecido de manera exponencial y las utilidades alcanzan para tener a su hijo en el colegio de la zona, pagar arriendo y servicios públicos además de aspirar a una vivienda propia con lo que ha trabajado estos años.
Hace poco fue indemnizado por la Unidad para la Atención y Reparación a las Víctimas, en una de las jornadas organizadas en el Atlántico. El dinero recibido le sirvió para comprar elementos nuevos, con los cuales avanza en la tecnificación del negocio de productos alimenticios que distribuye en la ciudad. La clientela ha crecido y sin tener domicilios hay una demanda abundante por sus productos que incluye los pasabocas de harina, empanadas, arepas de queso, deditos, tortas para fiesta, panadería y delicatesen.
En medio de su historia de éxito los miedos siguen latentes. Creer en Dios y confiar en las instituciones es una ventaja, porque sueña con que algún día los más de nueve millones de colombianos que hasta hoy han sido registrados como víctimas de la violencia puedan contar su historia, recuperarse como él lo ha hecho y espera que Colombia pueda entender la magnitud de una tragedia que nunca debió existir.
“Paso a paso, de a poquito aquí vamos saliendo de una crisis en la que hay esperanzas para todos”, afirma Pedro al despedirse apretando fuerte la mano y abrazando con ternura a su amada Rosa la que hoy, junto a su hijo, lo hace sentir por siempre afortunado.
*Nombres alterados por petición de las víctimas.
(FIN/EA/COG)
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter with our latest news and news from The Unit for Victims.
Carrera 85D No. 46A – 65
San Cayetano logistics complex
Switchboard: +57 (601) 7965150
Medellin:
Calle 49 No 50-21 14th floor
Cafe Building
Zip Code: 050010
Línea nacional:
018000911119
switch phone:
57 (601) 426 11 11
Institutional mail:
servicioalciudadano@unidadvictimas.gov.co
Judicial notices:
notificaciones.juridicauariv@unidadvictimas.gov.co
Hours of operation:
Monday to Friday.
Ventanilla única:
08:00 a.m. – 04:00 p.m.
Unit for Victims
compliance status
We strongly believe that the Internet should be available and accessible to all, and we are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To accomplish this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at level AA. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities. Adhering to those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: people who are blind, people with motor disabilities, visually impaired, cognitively disabled, and more.
This website uses various technologies aimed at making it as accessible as possible at all times. We use an accessibility interface that allows people with specific disabilities to adjust the user interface (user interface) of the website and design it according to their personal needs.
In addition, the website uses an AI-based application that runs in the background and constantly optimizes its accessibility level. This application repairs the HTML of the website, adapts its functionality and behavior for screen readers used by blind users and for keyboard functions used by people with motor disabilities.
If you have found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we would be happy to hear from you. You can communicate with the operators of the website using the following email servicioalciudadano@unidadvictimas.gov.co
Screen reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attribute technique, along with several different behavior changes, to ensure that blind users who visit with screen readers can read, understand, and enjoy the features of the website. As soon as a user with a screen reader enters your site, they are immediately prompted to enter the screen reader profile so they can effectively navigate and operate your site. Here's how our website covers some of the most important screen reader requirements, along with console screenshots of code examples:
Screen Reader Optimization: We run a background process that learns website components from top to bottom, to ensure continued compliance even when the website is updated. In this process, we provide screen readers with meaningful data using the ARIA attribute set. For example, we provide accurate form tags; actionable icon descriptions (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guide for form inputs; roles of elements such as buttons, menus, modal dialogs (popups), and others. In addition, the background process scans all images on the website and provides an accurate and meaningful description based on Image Object Recognition as an ALT (alternative text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology. To activate screen reader settings at any time, users just need to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen reader users also receive automated prompts to activate screen reader mode as soon as they enter the website.
These settings are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the HTML of the website and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website work with the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdown menus with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, activate buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio items and checkboxes using the arrow keys and complete them with the space bar or the Enter key. In addition, keyboard users will find quick navigation and content skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first site elements while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving keyboard focus to them as soon as they appear, and not allowing focus to drift away from it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as "M" (menus), "H" (headers), "F" (forms), "B" (buttons), and "G" (graphics) to jump to specific items.
Disability profiles accepted on our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: This profile allows people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures resulting from flashing or flickering animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: This mode adjusts the website for the comfort of visually impaired users such as impaired vision, tunnel vision, cataracts, glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Impairment Mode – This mode provides different support options to help users with cognitive impairments such as dyslexia, autism, AVC, and others to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode – This mode helps users with ADHD and neurodevelopmental disorders to read, navigate, and focus on the main elements of the website more easily, while significantly reducing distractions.
Blind Mode – This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor Disability): This profile allows people with motor disabilities to operate the website using the Tab, Shift+Tab, and Enter keys on the keyboard. Users can also use shortcuts such as "M" (menus), "H" (headers), "F" (forms), "B" (buttons), and "G" (graphics) to jump to specific items.
Additional UI, layout, and readability tweaks
Font Settings: Users can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color Settings: Users can select various color contrast profiles, such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap title, text, and background color combinations, with more than 7 different color options.
Animations: Epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Interface-driven animations include videos, GIFs, and flashing CSS transitions.
Content Highlighting – Users can choose to emphasize important elements like links and titles. They can also choose to highlight only focused or suspended items.
Audio Mute: Users with hearing aids may experience headaches or other issues due to autoplay of audio. This option allows users to mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders: We use a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional features: We provide users with the option to change the color and size of the cursor, use a print mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other features.
Browser and assistive technology support
Our goal is to support the widest possible range of browsers and assistive technologies, so our users can choose the tools that work best for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all the major systems that comprise more than 95 % of the user market share, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (readers). screen), for both Windows and MAC users.
Notes, comments and feedback
Despite our best efforts to allow anyone to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of being made accessible, or lack an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we're continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating, and improving its features and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this to achieve the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advances. For assistance, please contact servicioalciudadano@unidadvictimas.gov.co