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Practice Details

Title of Practice:	Arte y Juventud por la Paz
Year:	2012
BPTag:	Promising Practice
Reference Number:	COL207-12
City / Town / Village:	Bogota
Region:	Latin America and the Caribbean
Country:	Colombia
Has this practice been submitted previously?	No
Previous Title:
Address:	Fundacion Artes sin Fronteras Calle 45 carrera 18 – 25a Bogota Colombia Tel. (571) 609 4792 – 609 4795 asistente.direccion@academiadeartesguerrero.com
Name of Contact Person:	Liseth Quique
Email of Contact Person:	not provided
Summary:	The aim of the initiative is to create an environment for the social growth of the displaced people, who were forced to flee the war and leave their home towns. Once settled in the region of Soacha, 2 hours from Bogota, with barely any possession, they had no option,but to start everything from the beginning. Their new home, affected by violence and poverty, turned out to be a difficult place to raise children, offering little or no joy neither education. Such conditions did not permit the proper development of the personality and internalization of positive social values. Therefore, Foundation Arts without Frontiers, meeting the challenge, started an experimental program of mobilization the inhabitants of the district through the arts. Over the last15 years, the foundation succeeded in establishing sustainable programs,providing children and adults with classes of theater,urban dance, plastic arts and music. Thanks to the initiative 800 inhabitants were direct beneficiaries and about 3300 indirect. In 2001, with the help of the Vision Mundial foundation, the new canteen has been opened,where children can eat a warm meal. Till the year 2011 the participants of the workshops had had to travel to Bogota to take part in the classes, which was of no convenience to anyone. Thanks to the financial support of Academy of Arts Guerrero, the community of Soacha succeeded last year in constructing the brand new cultural center, in which the classes are being held. Encouraged by this achievement, the foundation decided to help in building a new home for the leader of community,Juanito. This year, one of the most important aim is to start a program of micro entrepreneurship, encouraging women to set up their own business, based on producing and selling chocolate products.
Key Dates:	1997 - The beginning of the initiative 2001 – The construction of the canteen 2011 – The construction of the cultural center
Norminating Organization Details
Name of Organization:
Contact Person:
Type of Organization:	Non-Governmental Organisation

Partners:

Name of Organization	Address	Contact Person	Organisation Type	Type of Support
Club de Leones	Carrera 53C No. 134 – 70 Int. 3 Apto 802.bogota, Colombia tel :3153310285 , e-mail afmatiz@hotmail.com	Alejandro Figueroa, not provided	International Agency	Other
BBVA	CRA 9 nº 72 – 21 PISO 10 BOGOTA, COLOMBIA TEL 3471600	Mauricio Florez, not provided	Private Sector	Financial Support
Foundation Sadarriaga Concha	Cra 11 Nº 94 – 02 , Bogota, Colombia tel 3143305501	Jose Miguel Barrera, not provided	International Agency	Financial Support
Conexion Colombia	Calle 92 Nº15 – 48 oficina505 Bogota, Colombia tel. 2572186 extension 216	Mauricio Florez, not provided	Private Sector	Financial Support

Category
Children and Youth
Civic Engagement and Cultural Vitality
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion

Narrative:

Situation Before the Initiative Began:
The situation in Soacha before the initiative began had been dramatic. The inhabitants of the district had lived in an absolute poverty and suffered from malnutrition. The violence, overpopulation and lack of education were daily experience of children, youth and adults. Due to the problems with drugs and alcohol, children were often left with no choice, but to be heads of the families.

Establishment of Priorities:

The prioritization was made by the director of the foundation in cooperation with the community of Soacha. One of the earliest priority was reduction of malnutrition, which has been achieved by building, with the help of the community, a canteen. Equally important goal was to provide children with education programs. Among the main priorities are development of the art programs, social integration of youth and children, economic growth and improvement of living condition. By involving community in common activities it is expected to diminish the level of violence and crime. Since last year the prioritization is being done by the council of the foundation, which involves adults (among them women) and youth from the Soacha region.

Formulation of Objectives And Strategies:

The main objective of the initiative is to provide the inhabitants of the Soacha region with tools that would help them get integrated with society and develop economic and cultural abilities. The strategy implemented is based on artistic activities which would result in increased self-esteem, integration of the community and enhanced social cooperation. The aim is to prevent violence, alcoholism, drugs abuse and thus generate changes that will lead to achieving peace. The aims are constantly revised and updated. Among the new aims are establishment of micro entrepreneurship program, finishing a construction of a new house for the community leader and buying a bus, that would facilitate the communication between region and foundation.

Mobilisation of Resources:

The foundation Art Without Borders, since its inception has been sponsored and covered by the Academy of Arts Guerrero, artistic training institution with 25 years of existence.
All financial and technical resources of the Foundation have came from different entities.
The human resources are the most important for us and thus we have a dedicated team of people, which consists of:

Name Profile Responsibilities
Carlos Guerrero Plastic artist, teacher, manager of culture and foundator of the Fundación Arte Sin Fronteras. Director of the foundation

Andrea Millán Graphic designer and publicist Development of the images
Luisa Guerrero Actress, teacher Sub Direction
Orlando López Artist, designer, manager of international realtions Development of international projects
Javier Narváez Marketing and advertisment Development of marketing projects
Víctor Hugo Guerrero Plastic artist and adviser on disability Adviser on disability
Cristina Tavera Anthropologist and philosopher, dedicated to social programs. Director of the social programmes

Process:

The initiative began in the year 1997, when a student invited the director of the Academy of Arts Guerrero to the district Bella Vista, one of the four municipalities of Soacha region, to show him the conditions of living of the inhabitants. Struck by what he had seen, Carlos Guerrero decided to create the workshops of plastic arts for children. Soon after, the first difficulty occurred. The criminal groups of the district, dissatisfied with the presence of strangers, started to threaten him and made him leave the area. Therefore, the director started the second stage of the program and invited the pupils to the academy, which caused another problem – the transport. Due to the lack of money, the children were unable to pay for the public transport, hence Carlos Guerrero had to rent a bus for about 50 students in the age between 7 and 14 years old. On the spot, the children, before the classes, had been receiving a warm meal. The project in this shape had functioned for about 12 years. Unfortunately, the mentioned way of operating absorbed monthly a large amount of money, so it was decided to direct the entire effort to building a proper cultural center, located in the district of Bella Vista. With the help of the private companies, which donated building materials, such as concrete and bricks, and the parents of the children, who built the center, the aim was achieved. The opening took place in the year 2011 and since then, the new phase of the project has started. Meanwhile, in the year 2001, with the help of the church and Vision Mundial, a Christian humanitarian organization, the foundation has succeeded in building a canteen, where children can eat a warm meal each day for 300 pesos, which is approximately about 15 American cents. With the new cultural center, the new problems aroused, among them: the security of the professors arriving to the district, the costs of the transport, late come backs. The new aim, which would help in overcoming these difficulties is buying a proper bus. Encouraged by the success of the cultural centre, last year the foundation has started building a new house for the leader of the Bella Vista community. Recently, the artistic programs were open for the adults; it is also planned for this year to help set up a micro entrepreneurship business for the women of the district.

Results Achieved:

The financial sustainability is achieved through the grants and donations of different entities.
Everyone can participate in the arts programs, there is no restriction of age, and the groups are heterogeneous. The arts programs provide a high level of inclusion. Thanks to the education, the inhabitants, particularly children, gain visions of a different life, other than they knew before and opportunities that await them in the future.
The displaced people come from different regions. Thanks to the art, especially music, they maintain they cultural heritage; the arts activities support the memory and knowledge recovery.
The classes related to the body, help children to become conscious about the other, which leads to environmental awareness. The students are taught not to litter and care about local environment. Moreover in the near future it is planned to organize workshops about recycle and place containers in the cultural center.
The institutional sustainability is achieved thanks to the links with Ministry of Culture. The initiative is part of the conducted cultural policy of the social inclusion and recovery of the ancestral memory. The Ministry sponsors also the cultural projects; the foundation received recently the grant to develop the arts programs in cultural center.

Lessons Learned:

One of the most important lessons learnt was the belief that people coming from pathological sites can achieve very much, when they are helped and when someone has a faith that a change is possible. Today, we know that it is vital to generate intergenerational processes, because it is equally important to include children, youth and adults in the initiative. It is the only way to achieve established priorities, particularly the improvement of safety and diminish the level of alcoholism. It is also important to generate the horizontal processes with the community and include them in the decision making process. Equally vital thing is to empower individuals, make them believe in themselves and give tools that would enhance their self-esteem. Another important lesson we learnt, is that it is fundamental to joint public and private support to generate investment.

Transfers:

The initiative has benefited from the experience of the Teatro Comunitario from Argentina, which is a foundation that unite and organize a community through an art. The initiative is open to anyone, who wants to participate in an amateur theatre and is aimed at social inclusion and integration.
The art activities of the vulnerable community can be adopted in other countries and other regions of Colombia. The examples of mobilizing the people through the arts can be found in Medellin and in Brazilian favelas.

Related Policies:
NOT PROVIDED

References:
Nińos de Soacha y Kabul se comunican con el arte, Jorge Quinero, El Tiempo, 23.05.2011, p.24
Desde el arte se busca ayudar a los mas necesitados, Juan Manuel Ramirez, Portafolio, 3.05.2011
Nińos aprenden a ser artistas, El Tiempo, 6.12.2006
El bus de los pequeńos artistas, Santiago Moya Escallon, El Tiempo, 11.12. 2005, p.2-3
Nińos desplazados en sintonia con el arte, El nuevo siglo, 11.10.2005

Supporting Material:

There are no supporting materials