The “Entrelazando” strategy result, which ended this month, was the recovery of peasant practices such as music, fairs, or sports.

Carrilera[1] music, artistic groups, sports tournaments between villages, among several peasant traditions, as well as the work of the social leaders of La Balsita district, all these things were rebuilt to repair the psychosocial damage caused by the armed conflict in this Dabeiba’s rural area.

The challenge to repair the social fabric of a community with more than 300 people that were apart because of violence was huge. For almost 20 years, the dispute between guerrillas and self-defense groups destroyed community ties through homicides, massacres, kidnappings, disappearances, forced recruitment, massive population displacements and even the arson of 25 homes.

To achieve this, the Unit for the Victims implemented the community rehabilitation measure “Entrelazando” for 7 years (2014-2021), as part of the Integral Collective Reparation Plan.

The result of this psychosocial strategy, which ended this month, was the recovery of peasant practices such as music, fairs, or sports, which the community lost due to violent actions and restrictions imposed by armed groups.

Through psychosocial actions, memory and individual and collective grief exercises, commemorations and leaders strengthening, several of these leaders became "weavers" to rebuild the social fabric.

Maria Castaño, who suffered her son’s murder and forced displacement, is one of those weavers. "As a victim, losing a loved one doesn’t heal, because the wound of the soul continues," she says while remembering that severe pain.

But she acknowledges: "What used to be fear and mistrust has changed, and now we are unified, and we have recovered much of the part of the serenity and community practices that were lost, such as fairs and sports."

Juan Castaño, a community leader and local musician, recalls that after the incursions of the guerrillas and self-defense groups "we lost ourselves because of the violence and we abandoned music."

Today he smiles because they returned to their land, and with the instruments’ endowment, “carrilera” music came back, which is loved in the 12 villages that gather the township. "To bring our groups back together, inspire us and leave behind the bad things that happened," he says.

Physical and social repair

According to Wilson Cordoba, the Unit’s Antioquia’s Territorial Director, after successfully completing the “Entrelazando” community rehabilitation: "There are already 21 implemented measures of La Balsita's collective reparation plan, which already has 80% compliance."

Among these actions, there’s the agricultural projects strengthening, bridges reconstruction, community stalls and sports fields, technological and furniture endowment for village schools, and artistic groups endowment.

For the community leader, Alberto Herrera: "With these projects, we recover those social and cultural practices that we had and were violated."

In addition, he highlights: "We are recovering from so many harsh years that we lived due to the conflict. It took us backwards, but now we are pushing forward with our life projects."

(End/JCM/COG/RAM)