“We are a land blessed by God, surrounded by beautiful mountains, bathed by pure water. We are power, we are wealth. ” With these words, Lucero Villalba, leader of Arenillo, in Palmira (Valle) spoke about the spirit of their people, who despite having been hard hit by the conflict has managed to stand up and rebuild their lives.
She is one of the weavers and weavers of this population, citizens who have been instrumental in helping to maintain the emotional balance of the community in the most difficult moments of conflict and afterwards. These are people who during the last five years were part of the interweaving strategy, through which they seek to contribute to the repair of social fabric, the reestablishment of trusting relationships and the strengthening of coexistence in these communities, a process that today reaches its closing moment.
“It was not easy to start with this task, because after so many sufferings from the war, the community wanted nothing. But with the arrival of Victims Unit, little by little we begin to rebuild that trust, we begin to work on that fear that affected us so much, fear of even claiming the State and demanding our rights. Today we have empowered our recovery process and we have carried out collective reparation, “said Humberto Prieto, leader of this community.
Luz Adriana Toro Vélez, territorial director of Victims Unit in Valley, recalled that Arenillo was recognized as a subject of collective reparation by the Colombian government in 2013 due to the damages he suffered collectively due to armed conflict. confinement by paramilitary groups for almost five years, one of their main victimizing acts.
At the closing ceremony of interweaving, the community and its weavers toured the history of their process of emotional recovery, speaking not only of the pain they faced together, but also remembering symbolic acts, workshops, moments of catharsis and crying, songs composed in honor of their land.
Do not miss the water
going down the mountain
Let there be no seed without tomorrow
That was the refrain that the residents of this village remembered and sang together. In the same way, with threads of three colors they made handcuffs to share with their neighbors, with which they symbolized the past, the present and the future of their community. In addition, attendees participated in a percussion workshop with La Percumotora, with which they put their team’s work capacity into practice.
