Educating through planting and music, a commitment by young leaders in Quibdó, Colombia

Four youth organizations in Quibdó join forces to contribute to strengthening the life projects of adolescents through art and planting. They have consolidated a strategy to promote memory, ancestral knowledge and artistic practices, recognizing the importance of cultural roots in the future prospects of children, adolescents and young people in the municipality.

Education through planting and music to strengthen the life projects of adolescents linked to the MIA Educational Institution is the name given to the initiative led by Nepono Werara, Redsodech, Reyes de la Selva and F.A.C.E. within the framework of the Mae Kiwe Intercultural project, which is supported by the United Nations Secretary General's Peacebuilding Fund. Motivated by the risks to which adolescents are exposed, youth organizations have decided to bet on actions that allow them to identify in them skills, talents and abilities to lead mobilizing and transforming processes for their lives and their territory, this action was carried out in coordination with the Funabi Foundation and UNHCR.

Educating from planting in conjunction with the urban art of rap and freestyle, recovers the meaning of life and care, as a way to involve fathers, mothers and caregivers with their sons and daughters, strengthen assertive communication processes, recognize skills, potentialities in them, share their own knowledge and promote food security from a sustainable and community perspective. "Jhumarabha Udhe (let's sow together). From the Nepono Werara organization we work with young people, boys and girls, understanding the meaning of the territory and its care, how we perceive the good living of the Embera peoples, which is given from living in harmony with Mother Nature, the moon and the knowledge of our elders. By planting and being able to enjoy its benefits, which go beyond food security, it means a free space of our own in which we can carry out our cultural and spiritual practices and survive as native peoples" said Usy Caizamo, a young leader of the Nepono Werara organization.

The educational institution that has also joined, recognizes the impact of developing and linking strategies such as these to their educational processes, understanding that social realities exceed their capacity to respond to the countless risks that their students face on a daily basis. The young people are promoting this strategy to join forces with various sectors of society and advocate for the generation of spaces that provide protection for children and adolescents.

From lulo to borojó, and from basil to cilantro, the first steps were taken to consolidate a vegetable garden that adolescents can take ownership of with the support of their families and educational institution, inspired and with great challenges for its sustainability.

Nepono Werara, Redsodech, Reyes de la Selva and F.A.C.E. continue to lead processes in the neighborhoods and communities of Quibdó where they have an impact, promoting the generation of community gardens, ecotourism initiatives, strengthening the circular economy and food security, bringing more adolescents and young people closer to the planting processes and the territory.