The Covid-19 pandemic generated immense impacts on the lives of all societies. No country was prepared to face a threat to public health of this dimension; the confinement that was imposed had devastating effects on the economies of nations and families, generating difficulties never seen before. The effect of the pandemic was reflected in a vertiginous growth of mental illnesses that for some analysts became the most complex to handle: confinement, loneliness, the absence of freedom due to the subjection to fear that we all had, turned life from one moment to another into something unbearable.
We feel the absence of the people we love and could not see, of the colleagues with whom we shared in our work and of the carnal friends estranged by the fear of contagion. A physical distancing was imposed and the emergence of a virtual and remote relationship that never replaces the presence. With the advent of vaccines and the immunization of people, this began to change. The exhaustion of confinement began to be left behind, little by little the shared spaces necessary and vital for human relationships appeared.
Thus, a dynamic of return to work was generated, of sharing among families and then the return to events with the participation of a significant number of individuals. In this context, the reunion of people who in different regions work for the generation of conditions of coexistence, reconciliation and peace was promoted, a scenario was promoted to bring together people from the development and peace programs that have a presence in 26 regions and more than 530 municipalities of the country.
With this event, the condition of feeling the other from a hug was generated, of talking as was done at other times and of verifying that despite the distance imposed by the pandemic, the affections and the shared commitment to a better country continue to be the elements that bring them together.
The development and peace programs bring together people who are dreamers, committed, in solidarity with the pain of the least favored and who promote a dignified and dear life for the excluded in the country. They work in social processes that seek to strengthen the capacities of the leaders of the territories affected by the armed conflict. They seek to strengthen community organizations and promote their articulation around collective proposals that benefit all the inhabitants of a region.
The act led to reunions of life and territories. Experiences in what each one does were shared, they talked about the ways in which they have been working with community aqueducts, with victims of the armed conflict, the training processes with rural women, young peasants and also with children, among others. They talked about the institutional framework for peace, about the implementation of the agreement signed between the government and the ex-guerrilla of the Farc. They discussed international cooperation for the future of peace in Colombia and the alliances that should be generated to consolidate this purpose.
Development and peace programs deserve greater support from public institutions at the national and regional levels. With more than 20 years, some have shown that they play a very important role in generating social transformations, as was clear at this meeting held in the country’s capital.
In Tolima, the department’s development and peace program is promoted, managed and executed by Tolipaz. They are more than 18 years of tireless work that have allowed it to be present in 31 of the 47 municipalities. Victims, rural women, young people, peasant producers and public officials, among others, account for their work, a work that has the imprint of working with the poorest, seeking to generate conditions of social inclusion. The reunion of development and peace programs brings together dynamics in many regions where a group of dreamers bet on a better country, where it is possible to live in peace.
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