© Edwin Cubillos / Everyday Peace Indicators

Oh! We want to preserve peace and harmony in the community,

We must plant cassava, banana, mango and lemon.

 Photo by Mery Liseth Gomez, San Miguel Photography Collective

No more traditions or births,

Many elders died and there is no one to tell the story anymore.

The children of San Miguel practice traditional dances,

with love and joy, empathy is noticeable.

In San Miguel there is love and life,

When people hear the Chirimia, (a traditional instrument)

Dance with Joy.

When I hear a drum,

My soul is filled with joy,

come on my people from San Miguel,

Let's celebrate life.

Photography by the San Miguel Photography Collective

News in development:

We were in the Vereda Valparaíso and found that the water is totally contaminated by oil exploitation, the water sources are drying up and the problem is that they do not have the intervention of the Mayors' offices.

The community asks the territorial entities to accompany them and solve the water issue so that it is drinkable.

We will keep you informed! Photo by Brayan Estiven Cruz Sánchez, El Yopal Photography Collective

The people of San Miguel are calm and serene, we flee from conflicts and war,

All year round we grow our produce, so that we can provide for our children.

 San Miguel of my soul, dear San Miguel despite poverty we continue to grow our crops. Cassava, banana and lemon, are some crops of our region that we harvest with love.

Let us no longer talk about war and let us enjoy again, to see our children grow and to cultivate our land.

 My God, my god, we no longer want war in San Miguel, we just want your presence and your power to remain.

 Photo by Yulieth Amparo Gómez, San Miguel Photography Collective

The youth of Veredas del Sur will mobilize because the Town Hall has decided to ignore their requests and needs. Therefore, they have decided to gather to create proposals that will represent everyone and present them to the institutions responsible for ensuring their fulfillment.

Photo by Danna Valentina Aponza, Guachene photography Collective

A woman in the late stages of a serious illness was resisting dying to avoid being taken to that neglected place: the cemetery. The deterioration of the cemetery is a testament to how much the dead are disregarded. Weeds devour the tombs just as our minds eat away at our memories. Would it not be the right thing for us to come together to maintain it, and honour the memory of the dead by keeping this place of transit to the afterlife beautiful?

Photo by The Urama Photography Collective.

“You need one hand to wash the other, and both to wash the face” is a saying that grandparents say. That’s what a minga is. When people don’t have the money to pay day labourers, they ask others to help them, and then the favour is repaid. In this way, a lot of farms and businesses have been saved from bankruptcy. A minga – or collective work group – saves lives and land, and protects democracy, justice and peace. Mingas are resistance.

Photo by Paula Andrea Pino Sarrazola, San Jose Photography Collective.

I had to live a war that wasn’t mine. I could see, I could hear, but never talk. Every time I saw another orphan, another widow, the pain and the tears would bubble up again, it was something that was consuming us slowly but surely. I survived, I don’t know how, but here I am, thinking about all the people that I had to bury, some I knew, some I didn’t. How are their families now? Do they know where their loved ones ended up? But the truth will set us free, or at least I believe so. I will never forget how I was a prisoner in my own land. I will never forget who I am now, a survivor and a dignified campesino.

Photo by Leidi Johana Agudelo Higuita, San Jose Photography Collective

The most beautiful way of transformation towards a peaceful world is the transcendence of the truth, the recognition of errors and the contribution to their amendment, which, although it does not erase the scars of the soul, allows a new beginning, without uncertainty, and with colorful hope, for our new generations.

Photo by Yeimy Paola Delgado, AECTR Antonio Nariño Photography Collective

She wanted to be a sister in war and a daughter of whoever, and she went by an alias. Being there, she lived horror, she came to know great pain. She was wounded in combat, and her heart was also wounded, because of course she couldn’t free herself from love. Now she carries real love with her, a pure and sincere love, a love for life. All there is to say is that they’re there, living among us, they rebuilt their familes and they’re helping to transform the community.

Photo by Yesica Alejandra Zapata David, San José de Urama Photography Collective

Before, when you heard gunshots, everyone would run to hide under the bed or in some safe place in the house, and now kids hide under the bed or in safe places because they’re playing hide and seek.

Photo by Yuliana Andrea David Hidalgo, Las Cruces Photography Collective

© Edwin Cubillos / Everyday Peace Indicators

Don José is a farmer who was affected by the war that took place during the guerrilla war in Vereda Yopal, and in spite of that, he was one of the people who took lunches to the ex-combatants who made the plaque in Valparaíso as a tribute and in memory of the victims and displaced people of the armed conflict. Photo by Cristian Arley Franco Carabalí and Maycol David Acosta Vásquez, El Yopal Photography Collective

It was a very boring, lonely morning, she was sitting thinking about what to do. When suddenly she came up with a great idea, to go to the river with her friends. She decided to call and invite them, they accepted and came to the river. The gathering grew and they enjoyed themselves there.

Photo by Eloisa Bonilla Nazarith, San Miguel Photography Collective

(C) Manuela Munoz / Everyday Peace Indicators

Sister sister, lend me your stick strainer of Guayabo. Ay sister, how come, who has died? The neighbour sister. We are going to help to prepare the grave, lend me your white curtains and we'll get the summer flowers, the coffee leaves and the myrtle. And also let's inform the faithful people to accompany us in the wake.

Photo by Veredas del Sur Photography Collective

Spending time as a family is good for the health of the household’s youngest members. Spending more time with your family is born out of the desire to share enriching experiences with those that you love. Those kinds of moments are the ideal way of forming the kind of lasting bonds that help you overcome adversity, and it is how you learn the principles and values needed to be a proper part of society. and to spend time with your children.

Photo by Yenifer Yuliana Higuita Bedoya, Las Cruces Photography Collective