22 women victims of armed conflict make up the Aroma de Paz Association, which produces the chocolate that carries its own namename, in Rionegro, Santander, Although the product already transcends regional borders, they hope to position it in the international market.

"Nice to meet you, my name is María Eugenia Ayala, from Aroma de Paz Association; I come to offer you this exquisite table chocolate with sugar or without sugar, made here in town, it is fresh and natural; You can consume it with your family or offer it to your distinguished clientele, we have boxes for 25 pounds and 50 half pounds; We also make blackberry, tangerine, sabajon, cocoa mucilage, yogurt and handicrafts wine", says one of the members of the group of resilient women who, despite the violence that marked their lives, through this undertaking managed to get ahead and overcome adversity.

María Eugenia's repertoire is repeated store by store in her native Rionegro, when the week splits in two. Once the work of the farm with the cultivation has been carried out, she and her team of brave Santandereanas, work is distributed among the processing plant, administrative work and marketing.

"The work is tight, two or three days here on the farm and the rest of the week in the town helping with the production of chocolate, now in the pandemic we are working hard and fast", she says.

Seven years ago, María Eugenia and a group of women affected by different acts of violence in the framework of armed conflict, received an incentive from government entities for the planting of cocoa and with the decision to transform their lives, the project was taking form of company and they were discovering the enormous benefits of this product.

For 2016, with the support of other state institutions, including the Victims Unit and other organizations, they obtained support for strengthening their cultivation and obtaining the machines for their processing, which allowed them to add the added value of the derivatives production; A short time later they received advice for the formalization and processing of the grain, in this way they formed their association, which today has 22 owners and a weekly offer of 300 pounds of exquisite Santander chocolate.

"We have been participating in the commercialization in different events of Fedecacao and there are many entities that have supported us to publicize the products and thanks to them we have been in Bogotá, in Agroexpo, and thank God it has gone very well", she recalls.

What does your chocolate taste like?

“My chocolate has the aroma of peace that we as victims yearn for more each day; The desire to get ahead with our families is great. We hope to continue being better every day and may God help us to reach the market, that we can be competitive with the best quality products and raise our municipality high", says María Eugenia.

When the women who make up this association were stripped of their homes, their lands, their loved ones, they did not imagine that there would be a second opportunity to strengthen themselves, learn, inherit this legacy from their children and work as a family.

“We were left with nothing, no desire to work, and then when we managed to have our land again, and we managed to sow those things, we realized that things in life are never impossible, that everything can be achieved, it was the light in the way for us to be able to put this beautiful undertaking on the road”, she assures.

The sales of Aroma de Paz have transcended regional borders, but the purpose of María Eugenia and her team is to achieve the positioning of her brand in the international market and thus achieve her daily livelihood.

"I hope that whenever they go to the market they carry the Chocolate aroma of peace and thus they can contribute a grain of sand to the improvement of our quality of life and get ahead with our company".

Chocolate is currently available in Rionegro, the aroma originates from Calle 11 number 44-87, while they manage to have digital means and resources that allow them to publicize their product more and continue living the materialization of their dream.

(End/YUM/CMC/LMY)