Jesús and Oscar are two brothers, aged 17 and 19, respectively, who live in Junín, a remote village in northern Colombia. Their father, an important community leader, passed away a year ago. His passion for baseball, along with his courage, live on in his sons.
Despite their young age, they have taken on roles as young leaders and support each other in this new challenge. They train younger friends and children from the village at weekly baseball training and awareness-raising sessions, implementing the techniques and methods that they learned from their father from an early age.
The two brothers are very grateful for the support from Grupo Internacional de Paz (GIP), which enables them to follow in their father’s footsteps. This support includes in particular the provision of the programme structure for the weekly sessions and sport equipment. They also very much appreciated taking part in the technical and methodological training of trainers conducted by GIP, the National Baseball Federation and the World Baseball and Softball Confederation (WBSC). The workshop enabled coaches, such as Jesús and Oscar, to share their experiences and strengthen their capacities in delivering high-quality sports training, at the same time reflecting on their role as leaders within their community. Extensive discussions took place on how sport can be used to generate change and initiate processes towards peaceful societies, as well as promote children and young people’s positive development and life prospects. One of GIP’s regional coordinators says he was impressed with how the two boys had internalised the methodology and its application, and how they had grown and gained confidence in their abilities to contribute to their community.
Participants of the “Hitting a Home Run for Peace” project
Junín is one of the communities participating in the “Hitting a Home Run for Peace” project, implemented in partnership with GIP. The programme aims to support social transformation, peace and sustainable career prospects for children and young people. Like many regions in the country, Junín faces numerous challenges linked to the armed conflict of recent decades, that continues to damage the economy and the environment, divide society and induce insecurity and violence.
Jesús confirms this: “Most of my friends my age have already left the village or are planning to do so to find jobs in town because there is nothing for them to do here, or because they fear being abducted and enrolled by armed groups.” Determinedly, Oscar adds: “I love living here and I don’t want to leave the village. I want to be a leader in my community. I believe if we all work together, we can do many things in Junín and make it a good place. I like to share these thoughts with other young people in the community, and also with the adults. I am very much looking forward to the entrepreneurship training, because I believe there are many opportunities to start businesses here.”
And indeed, there are: since our last exchange with Oscar, some of the women (especially mothers) have participated in an entrepreneurship training led by a local trainer using SA4D’s curriculum and teaching materials. Following this training, the participants have collectively decided to learn how to produce “achiote” – a local grain that once transformed into paste or powder is used to season traditional dishes. Their production will then be sold at the market. This is the first sustainable business initiative to emerge – more will certainly follow.
Another big event for the inhabitants of Junín was the installation of internet connection, which has contributed to mitigate the remoteness of the village by reducing their distance from the rest of the world – at least virtually.