With the money received for compensation from the Victims Unit, this son of Orito (Putumayo), converted his wooden house into a block and cement in which he plans to set up his own business.

About to turn 75 years old, José Ignacio Rosales speaks with the fluency of a man who still has many dreams to fulfill and who will not have enough life to thank because he assures that he will finally be able to fulfill his purposes. In 2007 he had to leave the town where he was born, Orito, in Putumayo, where his mother was left alone because she was an only child.

“At that time, I had chickens, cattle, pigs and a two-story house, but threats began to arrive and my father disappeared first, and before something happened to my mother, I preferred to run to Popayán. I was there for 6 years”, says José.

When José Ignacio decided to return to his Amazonian paradise, as the municipality is known, there was nothing left of his properties and belongings, but his most precious treasure, his mother, was still waiting for him with the illusion of never being separated again.

“When I returned I was still very afraid, I had to hide out of fear, but I had nowhere to lay hands; Things were already calmer, so I decided to testify so that they would enroll me in the registry of victims”, he says.

José Ignacio received his compensation from the Victims Unit, which he invested in fixing the house that his mother left him after her death five years ago. "I had it all in wood and I took out everything that was damaged, I bought cement, rods, ceilings, ceramics, now I have doors and windows," he said with great relief after so many years of difficulties that he had to go through.

He assures that he still dreams of having a pig farmig again and starting a business within the house when he finishes all the locative arrangements.

Likewise, he sent a message to those who, like him, receive the money for compensation: "Do not waste it, invest it well because some are going to the canteen, others are going to buy luxuries and that is a error".

The Unit guides people who receive resources from administrative reparation so that they invest them mainly in housing, education and productive projects.

(End/JES/EGG/LMY)