Colombia: Women, culture, and peace
Women performing at the River Tapaje Women's Groups' Musical Festival, Colombia
Photo: Samuel Lobato/CWS
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The River Tapaje is one of the most beautiful rivers in the Nariño department, southwest Colombia. It is jungle-like region, with lots of water, fertile land, and other natural resources. Despite its abundances, its inhabitants -- 95% Afro-Colombians -- live in conditions of acute poverty, abandoned by the government and with a destroyed environment because private investors have extracted all the wealth from zone, especially.
Traditionally, the men worked on their farms, located some three hours walk from their communities, while the women performed the domestic duties and educated the children
In 2000, illegal armed groups began arriving at the communities, offering pay to village youths if they’d join in the war. Because of the extreme poverty in the area, various youths accepted this employment.
Responding to this danger to their children, the village women organized themselves in order to recover their children, in such a manner that the armed groups returned 48 youths whom they had recruited. The women then started looking for alternatives to improve their living conditions and the Association of Afro-descendent Women for Life was born, a partner of Church World Service.
Today, the Association has the participation of almost 1,000 women. They protest against injustice, backed by an element of resistance that has allowed them to maintain their identity as women and of communities throughout the years. This element is their culture and music forms a part of it. They sing to life, God, nature, the brothers and sisters, the river, and food. In their music, one can hear a profound plea for peace. The dream of these women is that their struggle for life and their hope for peace be known in many places. They want to show that singing allows them to be free, autonomous, protected, and even more united.
CWS has supported the Association in its efforts to preserve and rescue its culture, in the staging of the River Tapaje Women's Groups' Musical Festival, attended by groups representing the 62 communities in the region. CWS has also supported the donation of musical instruments for various groups, as well as the recording of a CD of the women's traditional music and songs.