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Weaving the Future: Nasa Youth and the Strength of Culture


Willington is currently the coordinator of the youth program in Huellas, Caloto, but he met the Álvaro Ulcue Chocué Youth Movement when he was 16 years old “at first I liked the artistic theme of dance, music and weaving, I fell in love and then I entered the political training schools of the territory and from here at a time it was decided that I was part of the support group of the youth program” being this an opportunity for the communities to recognize their work and that was how in an assembly he was elected coordinator. The Youth Movement has left many lessons for his life, “I learned to lead processes, to guide young people, how to face the territorial problems and also those that come to our territory from outside”.


This program with 43 years of existence is the result of many struggles “it is the dream that at some point many elders had so that the communities could develop” mentions Willington. It was born together with an integral life plan in 1990, which, since its creation, has been dedicated to working for the children, adolescents and youth of the resguardo through dance, music, weaving and political training, which allows minimizing the problems that affect youth, and to form young leaders at the community level, as well as at the level of the ACIN (Association of Indigenous Councils of the North of Cauca) and the CRIC (Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca)“for many of them their base has been the political training provided by the Youth Movement and this has allowed them to be formed and develop leadership also in the cultural and territorial sphere” strengthening them as an indigenous organization.


To form critical, analytical and proactive young people to strengthen the life plan with clarity and political identity is the objective of the Youth Program of Huellas, Caloto being this plan “the space where we collect many thoughts, both indigenous, Afro and mestizo, is the dream which we draw for the future” is the route that shows them the way to achieve what they want in their territory, understanding it as a whole in which nature, animals, children and youth are important. This plan has three fundamental pillars to be able to guide others. The first is unity to confront disharmony, followed by culture “because it is what identifies us as indigenous Nasas, our language, customs, rituals, and finally the land because as indigenous people we do not see it as something material but as something that welcomes us, that has life and allows us to maintain ourselves in these earthly spaces”. Within the actions that are demarcated in the integral life plan, Willington highlights the care of the territory, the strengthening of the culture through the major rituals, the saakhelu and the exercise of liberation of the land.


As a process, the youth program has been participating for years in different projects that come to the territory to strengthen the communities and this is how they are integrated into the Mae Kiwe Intercultural process “has been a strength for us and a very nice experience because we have known other spaces, interculturality has been a very important point to strengthen us as a territory”.


For Willington, the project can contribute to the consolidation of peace in the territories by promoting spaces for dialogue with different actors and through the development of culture “because if there is no culture there is no peace and peace generates that young people feel safe to influence in decision-making spaces” and also highlights the importance of continuing to strengthen political training processes that take into account their customs and traditions, their own law and the law of origin with a view to the survival of the peoples.


With the experience in Mae Kiwe Intercultural they want to continue strengthening the processes of formation of young people who assume leadership in the communities “we as young people want to assume leadership and that these serve so that we can have a better collective environment, we dream of unity to be able to be at peace with ourselves and with the territory”.



About the project


The project “Mae Kiwe Intercultural: Building Bridges and Fostering Intersectional Learning to Advance Safe and Meaningful Peacebuilding and Political Participation of Afro-descendant and Indigenous Young Women and Men in Colombia” is funded by the United Nations Secretary General's Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and aims to forge and strengthen a protective social and political environment in which young people from Afro-descendant and indigenous communities, especially young women, participate and influence peace and decision-making processes alongside and in cooperation with local and regional government institutions, and are protected from the serious risks and violations associated with civic participation and advocacy.

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