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Displaced from her finca La Sierrita in Sierra Donado in 1997, Miriam registered as a victim of forced displacement in 2000, and has since received two humanitarian aid payments. She’s currently waiting to hear the status of her request for housing (“la vivienda”), again. She has 12 children between the ages of 10 and 34 and works at home, while her husband works odd jobs around El Carmen.
Emil was displaced from his home in Arena de Sur in 2000. All three armed groups passed through before he was forced to moved to El Carmen. It “made no difference” which group was there, “they were all armed.” He returned in 2011 along with 50 other families and is now a community leader. It costs the equivalent of about $15USD to get to the Office of Victims (“Oficina de Víctimas”) in El Carmen from where he lives. He is able to make this trip two to three times a week with the support of his community, who help him pay his way so that he can keep on top of pressing issues, such as consistent electricity/light. With regards to his personal life, he has not received humanitarian aid, but does this work on behalf of the greater community.
Diogenes was displaced from his home in Arena del Sur in 2000 after the massacre of El Salado. He had been an elementary school teacher for 12 years prior, staying put and continuing to work despite the rotating presence of three armed groups. His school’s contract with the government finished in 2013, and has since been unable to find more funded teaching work in the area. He’s considering switching careers, while he waits for the humanitarian aid promised to him by the government in May of 2014.
Displaced from her finca La Sierrita in Sierra Donado in 1997, Miriam registered as a victim of forced displacement in 2000, and has since received two humanitarian aid payments. She’s currently waiting to hear the status of her request for housing (“la vivienda”), again. She has 12 children between the ages of 10 and 34 and works at home, while her husband works odd jobs around El Carmen.
Emil was displaced from his home in Arena de Sur in 2000. All three armed groups passed through before he was forced to moved to El Carmen. It “made no difference” which group was there, “they were all armed.” He returned in 2011 along with 50 other families and is now a community leader. It costs the equivalent of about $15USD to get to the Office of Victims (“Oficina de Víctimas”) in El Carmen from where he lives. He is able to make this trip two to three times a week with the support of his community, who help him pay his way so that he can keep on top of pressing issues, such as consistent electricity/light. With regards to his personal life, he has not received humanitarian aid, but does this work on behalf of the greater community.
Diogenes was displaced from his home in Arena del Sur in 2000 after the massacre of El Salado. He had been an elementary school teacher for 12 years prior, staying put and continuing to work despite the rotating presence of three armed groups. His school’s contract with the government finished in 2013, and has since been unable to find more funded teaching work in the area. He’s considering switching careers, while he waits for the humanitarian aid promised to him by the government in May of 2014.
Maria, 49, was displaced from her home in pueblo Santa Fé in 1993 and has received humanitarian aid 4 times in the past 22 years. She is currently waiting for news about her request for housing (“la vivienda”).
Luisa Victoria, 64, was forcibly displaced from La Negra Coloso on October 2nd, 2001. “They burned our ranch; we left with the clothes we had on.” That same year her daughter became a desaparecida. Whe now cares for her grandchildren as her own. They are 8 and 11. She’s been checking in on the status of her humanitarian aid for three months.
Oscar, 53, from Guamito, was displaced from his home in 2001. I met him in September of 2014 at “La Cadena Humana,” a thousand plus person peaceful gathering that stretched from San Jacinto towards El Carmen, for a few miles along the main highway. He was there with people from his community as acting leader. In January of 2015, his 21 year old daughter died from complications of “chikungunya” - a virus spread by mosquitos that causes high fever and, often, long-lasting joint paint. Chikungunya arrived in South America in 2013, but by late 2014 had affected roughly 20,000 people. The mortality rate is less than 1 in 1000.
Sonia, 59, lived in Loma Central until 2005, when she was displaced from her home. She lives in El Carmen with her two daughters, and has received one humanitarian aid payment since. She was at the office inquiring after the possibility of securing housing.
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Displaced from her finca La Sierrita in Sierra Donado in 1997, Miriam registered as a victim of forced displacement in 2000, and has since received two humanitarian aid payments. She’s currently waiting to hear the status of her request for housing (“la vivienda”), again. She has 12 children between the ages of 10 and 34 and works at home, while her husband works odd jobs around El Carmen.
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Emil was displaced from his home in Arena de Sur in 2000. All three armed groups passed through before he was forced to moved to El Carmen. It “made no difference” which group was there, “they were all armed.” He returned in 2011 along with 50 other families and is now a community leader. It costs the equivalent of about $15USD to get to the Office of Victims (“Oficina de Víctimas”) in El Carmen from where he lives. He is able to make this trip two to three times a week with the support of his community, who help him pay his way so that he can keep on top of pressing issues, such as consistent electricity/light. With regards to his personal life, he has not received humanitarian aid, but does this work on behalf of the greater community.
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Diogenes was displaced from his home in Arena del Sur in 2000 after the massacre of El Salado. He had been an elementary school teacher for 12 years prior, staying put and continuing to work despite the rotating presence of three armed groups. His school’s contract with the government finished in 2013, and has since been unable to find more funded teaching work in the area. He’s considering switching careers, while he waits for the humanitarian aid promised to him by the government in May of 2014.
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Maria, 49, was displaced from her home in pueblo Santa Fé in 1993 and has received humanitarian aid 4 times in the past 22 years. She is currently waiting for news about her request for housing (“la vivienda”).
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Luisa Victoria, 64, was forcibly displaced from La Negra Coloso on October 2nd, 2001. “They burned our ranch; we left with the clothes we had on.” That same year her daughter became a desaparecida. Whe now cares for her grandchildren as her own. They are 8 and 11. She’s been checking in on the status of her humanitarian aid for three months.
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Oscar, 53, from Guamito, was displaced from his home in 2001. I met him in September of 2014 at “La Cadena Humana,” a thousand plus person peaceful gathering that stretched from San Jacinto towards El Carmen, for a few miles along the main highway. He was there with people from his community as acting leader. In January of 2015, his 21 year old daughter died from complications of “chikungunya” - a virus spread by mosquitos that causes high fever and, often, long-lasting joint paint. Chikungunya arrived in South America in 2013, but by late 2014 had affected roughly 20,000 people. The mortality rate is less than 1 in 1000.
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Sonia, 59, lived in Loma Central until 2005, when she was displaced from her home. She lives in El Carmen with her two daughters, and has received one humanitarian aid payment since. She was at the office inquiring after the possibility of securing housing.
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Berlis, 16, studies at the SENA (technical college) in El Carmen de Bolívar. Her mother, Rosa Maria Vegaschico, 58, was born in Floralito, but was displaced in 2000 by paramilitaries. She has received humanitarian aid but no housing ("vivienda"), although she has requested it and done the necessary paperwork.
Fidel Perez Suarez, 70, from the department of Córdoba, was displaced the 13th of May, 2004, two years after his son disappeared. He remains ‘disappeared.’
Elsi Salcedo, 36, was born in El Carmen but displaced in 2000 from her family’s finca in El Salado, where one of the armed conflict’s most notorious massacres took place. Between the 16th and 21st of February, 2000, 450 paramilitaries killed 60 people, resulting in a massive exodus, leaving El Salado abandoned. In total, however, 354 people were killed in El Salado from 1999-2001. Elsi was at the Oficina checking in on the status of her housing request, a possibility for some people who qualify. She was raised by her grandparents; her father was absent, and they say her Mother died when struck by a lightning bolt.
Berlis, 16, studies at the SENA (technical college) in El Carmen de Bolívar. Her mother, Rosa Maria Vegaschico, 58, was born in Floralito, but was displaced in 2000 by paramilitaries. She has received humanitarian aid but no housing ("vivienda"), although she has requested it and done the necessary paperwork.
Fidel Perez Suarez, 70, from the department of Córdoba, was displaced the 13th of May, 2004, two years after his son disappeared. He remains ‘disappeared.’
Elsi Salcedo, 36, was born in El Carmen but displaced in 2000 from her family’s finca in El Salado, where one of the armed conflict’s most notorious massacres took place. Between the 16th and 21st of February, 2000, 450 paramilitaries killed 60 people, resulting in a massive exodus, leaving El Salado abandoned. In total, however, 354 people were killed in El Salado from 1999-2001. Elsi was at the Oficina checking in on the status of her housing request, a possibility for some people who qualify. She was raised by her grandparents; her father was absent, and they say her Mother died when struck by a lightning bolt.
Humberto Yepez, 79, father of seven children, was displaced from his finca in El Salado in 1992. The threats he received were warning enough to leave his land on which he grew tobacco, corn, yuca, and pigs. He has not received humanitarian aid of any kind.
Delainis, 37, was displaced from her home in Ovejas, department of Sucre, in 1997. She said that “they" killed her father "in his sleep for being a campesino,” after her mother had given them coffee and turkeys and whatever else they had come in requesting. “We’ve been here for 18 years and have not yet received humanitarian aid.”
Beatriz, 33, was at the office seeking humanitarian aid. Her family is now comprised of herself and her mother; all of the men in her family have died. Her two uncles were threatened and killed. The first was murdered because, as the boss of the farm, it was said he was “conspiring” to sell goods to the guerillas (Las FARC). The second was later sought out in Barranquilla, a city about 100 miles north of El Carmen.
Leticia left her home in 1991, along with the rest of the pueblo, after paramilitaries killed her brother. She has worked every day since in El Carmen de Bolívar at a job that never put away “401K” or retirement funds for her. She has just quit and will start somewhere new, again.
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Berlis, 16, studies at the SENA (technical college) in El Carmen de Bolívar. Her mother, Rosa Maria Vegaschico, 58, was born in Floralito, but was displaced in 2000 by paramilitaries. She has received humanitarian aid but no housing ("vivienda"), although she has requested it and done the necessary paperwork.
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Fidel Perez Suarez, 70, from the department of Córdoba, was displaced the 13th of May, 2004, two years after his son disappeared. He remains ‘disappeared.’
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Elsi Salcedo, 36, was born in El Carmen but displaced in 2000 from her family’s finca in El Salado, where one of the armed conflict’s most notorious massacres took place. Between the 16th and 21st of February, 2000, 450 paramilitaries killed 60 people, resulting in a massive exodus, leaving El Salado abandoned. In total, however, 354 people were killed in El Salado from 1999-2001. Elsi was at the Oficina checking in on the status of her housing request, a possibility for some people who qualify. She was raised by her grandparents; her father was absent, and they say her Mother died when struck by a lightning bolt.
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Humberto Yepez, 79, father of seven children, was displaced from his finca in El Salado in 1992. The threats he received were warning enough to leave his land on which he grew tobacco, corn, yuca, and pigs. He has not received humanitarian aid of any kind.
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Delainis, 37, was displaced from her home in Ovejas, department of Sucre, in 1997. She said that “they" killed her father "in his sleep for being a campesino,” after her mother had given them coffee and turkeys and whatever else they had come in requesting. “We’ve been here for 18 years and have not yet received humanitarian aid.”
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Beatriz, 33, was at the office seeking humanitarian aid. Her family is now comprised of herself and her mother; all of the men in her family have died. Her two uncles were threatened and killed. The first was murdered because, as the boss of the farm, it was said he was “conspiring” to sell goods to the guerillas (Las FARC). The second was later sought out in Barranquilla, a city about 100 miles north of El Carmen.
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Leticia left her home in 1991, along with the rest of the pueblo, after paramilitaries killed her brother. She has worked every day since in El Carmen de Bolívar at a job that never put away “401K” or retirement funds for her. She has just quit and will start somewhere new, again.
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Enalba, 59, one of 12 brothers and sisters, lives in a hand-made home of mud, plastic, and wood, on the side of a hill off the highway in barrio Nariño, in El Carmen. She cooks outside over wood and fire, sells street food from dawn until about 10 am, and then begins cooking lunch and dinner for neighbors to patch together an income. Her two sons and her then husband arrived in El Carmen roughly 35 years ago, when they were displaced from both La Piedra and Respaldo. Down the road, in another part of Nariño, is a small church and school run by a Swiss nun, where Enalba learned to read about 4 years ago.
Every time I was at the office, Jorge was there, too,, working on pushing paperwork through for members of his community who couldn’t travel with him because of lack of resources or time. As the representative of his community, he has taken on the responsibility of traveling to the office, organizing community members’ paperwork, inquiries, and handling personal cases on behalf of his community. They depend on him for accurate information and for moving the processes through. He was forcibly displaced to El Carmen in 2001.
Noris Esther was displaced from La Canzona to El Carmen in 2000, after paramilitaries killed her daughter-in-law that July. Years later, after the paramilitaries and the other armed groups left La Canzona, she returned with her grandson, whom she’s raised as her own after her daughter left him at her door as an infant. After three years of avocado crop damage that has affected the agricultural economy of many of the “veredas” (communities/pueblos) of the Montes de Maria (along with ñame, yuca, and platanos, avocados had been a staple crop) they are finally flowering again.
Enalba, 59, one of 12 brothers and sisters, lives in a hand-made home of mud, plastic, and wood, on the side of a hill off the highway in barrio Nariño, in El Carmen. She cooks outside over wood and fire, sells street food from dawn until about 10 am, and then begins cooking lunch and dinner for neighbors to patch together an income. Her two sons and her then husband arrived in El Carmen roughly 35 years ago, when they were displaced from both La Piedra and Respaldo. Down the road, in another part of Nariño, is a small church and school run by a Swiss nun, where Enalba learned to read about 4 years ago.
Every time I was at the office, Jorge was there, too,, working on pushing paperwork through for members of his community who couldn’t travel with him because of lack of resources or time. As the representative of his community, he has taken on the responsibility of traveling to the office, organizing community members’ paperwork, inquiries, and handling personal cases on behalf of his community. They depend on him for accurate information and for moving the processes through. He was forcibly displaced to El Carmen in 2001.
Noris Esther was displaced from La Canzona to El Carmen in 2000, after paramilitaries killed her daughter-in-law that July. Years later, after the paramilitaries and the other armed groups left La Canzona, she returned with her grandson, whom she’s raised as her own after her daughter left him at her door as an infant. After three years of avocado crop damage that has affected the agricultural economy of many of the “veredas” (communities/pueblos) of the Montes de Maria (along with ñame, yuca, and platanos, avocados had been a staple crop) they are finally flowering again.
The FARC killed Arjemiro’s brother in 2002 and a year later, his nephew. Now 63, Arjemiro was detained and tortured by the auto-defensas (AUC, paramilitary wing) in 2000. He was forcibly displaced from Balsamo to El Carmen that same year.
Omayra, 39, is part of the League of Displaced Women (“La Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas”), who, over the course of several years and with the partial backing of a US Grant under the vision and leadership of human rights lawyer Patricia Guerrero, built 100+ houses for and with other women who were facing very uncertain futures as victims of internal displacement from all over Colombia. This community (built for and by women) was the first of its kind and set an example of female and “victim” empowerment in the country. One of the former members of La Liga is overseeing a similar project in Turbaco, a city 40 km south of Cartagena.
Dolores retired in 2013 after a poorly executed operation on her lower abdomen left her unable to work. She has to travel monthly to Cartagena from El Carmen ($15USD round trip) for doctors visits. After her husband was killed in 1995, she received 150.000 mil pesos, or $75 USD. She’s left several messages at the office checking in on the status of her humanitarian aid payment but came to inquire in person.
Daisy Bertel was four in 1999 when her family was forcibly displaced from Floralito. She’s here verifying an appointment for humanitarian aid on her family’s behalf.
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Enalba, 59, one of 12 brothers and sisters, lives in a hand-made home of mud, plastic, and wood, on the side of a hill off the highway in barrio Nariño, in El Carmen. She cooks outside over wood and fire, sells street food from dawn until about 10 am, and then begins cooking lunch and dinner for neighbors to patch together an income. Her two sons and her then husband arrived in El Carmen roughly 35 years ago, when they were displaced from both La Piedra and Respaldo. Down the road, in another part of Nariño, is a small church and school run by a Swiss nun, where Enalba learned to read about 4 years ago.
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Every time I was at the office, Jorge was there, too,, working on pushing paperwork through for members of his community who couldn’t travel with him because of lack of resources or time. As the representative of his community, he has taken on the responsibility of traveling to the office, organizing community members’ paperwork, inquiries, and handling personal cases on behalf of his community. They depend on him for accurate information and for moving the processes through. He was forcibly displaced to El Carmen in 2001.
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Noris Esther was displaced from La Canzona to El Carmen in 2000, after paramilitaries killed her daughter-in-law that July. Years later, after the paramilitaries and the other armed groups left La Canzona, she returned with her grandson, whom she’s raised as her own after her daughter left him at her door as an infant. After three years of avocado crop damage that has affected the agricultural economy of many of the “veredas” (communities/pueblos) of the Montes de Maria (along with ñame, yuca, and platanos, avocados had been a staple crop) they are finally flowering again.
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The FARC killed Arjemiro’s brother in 2002 and a year later, his nephew. Now 63, Arjemiro was detained and tortured by the auto-defensas (AUC, paramilitary wing) in 2000. He was forcibly displaced from Balsamo to El Carmen that same year.
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Omayra, 39, is part of the League of Displaced Women (“La Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas”), who, over the course of several years and with the partial backing of a US Grant under the vision and leadership of human rights lawyer Patricia Guerrero, built 100+ houses for and with other women who were facing very uncertain futures as victims of internal displacement from all over Colombia. This community (built for and by women) was the first of its kind and set an example of female and “victim” empowerment in the country. One of the former members of La Liga is overseeing a similar project in Turbaco, a city 40 km south of Cartagena.
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Dolores retired in 2013 after a poorly executed operation on her lower abdomen left her unable to work. She has to travel monthly to Cartagena from El Carmen ($15USD round trip) for doctors visits. After her husband was killed in 1995, she received 150.000 mil pesos, or $75 USD. She’s left several messages at the office checking in on the status of her humanitarian aid payment but came to inquire in person.
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Daisy Bertel was four in 1999 when her family was forcibly displaced from Floralito. She’s here verifying an appointment for humanitarian aid on her family’s behalf.
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Evelyn, 50, was displaced in 2001 to El Carmen. Though humanitarian aid should arrive every 3 months, she has not received any assistance since mid 2014. She is raising 5 children on her own, and does not have outside income.
Luis Fermin Chamorro, 45, born in Caracoli (next to El Carmen), was displaced in 2006. He went from Caracoli to Sinselejo and eventually back to El Carmen.
Edith, 36, lived on her family’s aguacate finca in Macayepo, a well-known vereda in Los Montes de Maria. On March 14th, 1999, she and her 13 siblings were displaced when a group of unidentified armed men arrived in Macayepo and told everyone to leave immediately. Her first humanitarian aid check arrived in 2014 because in “those years,” the late 90s, there was no real system in place for reparations. She is registered as head of house, and wants her five sons to be able to work in a sector besides agriculture. Her parents still work the land growing ñame, yuca, and rice. Her father was of that “other generation,” she told me,, that never spoke to his children or treated them with much regard. She wants to study fashion after her sons are older so that she can make her own clothes.
Evelyn, 50, was displaced in 2001 to El Carmen. Though humanitarian aid should arrive every 3 months, she has not received any assistance since mid 2014. She is raising 5 children on her own, and does not have outside income.
Luis Fermin Chamorro, 45, born in Caracoli (next to El Carmen), was displaced in 2006. He went from Caracoli to Sinselejo and eventually back to El Carmen.
Edith, 36, lived on her family’s aguacate finca in Macayepo, a well-known vereda in Los Montes de Maria. On March 14th, 1999, she and her 13 siblings were displaced when a group of unidentified armed men arrived in Macayepo and told everyone to leave immediately. Her first humanitarian aid check arrived in 2014 because in “those years,” the late 90s, there was no real system in place for reparations. She is registered as head of house, and wants her five sons to be able to work in a sector besides agriculture. Her parents still work the land growing ñame, yuca, and rice. Her father was of that “other generation,” she told me,, that never spoke to his children or treated them with much regard. She wants to study fashion after her sons are older so that she can make her own clothes.
Maria Mercedes was displaced from Oveja, Sucre 17 years ago.
Adaluz Moreno’s husband was killed in 1996 in Mamón de Maria. After 3 months of mourning she came to El Carmen, but because of system errors she didn’t appear as a victim of displacement. Since 1996 the government has sent her three humanitarian aid checks. She’s here sorting out the paperwork surrounding the death of her husband.
Laura Cardenas, 20, accompanying her father Luis to the office.
Luis Roberto Cardenas Villamil, 77, from El Carmen, checking in on the status of his humanitarian aid.
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Evelyn, 50, was displaced in 2001 to El Carmen. Though humanitarian aid should arrive every 3 months, she has not received any assistance since mid 2014. She is raising 5 children on her own, and does not have outside income.
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Luis Fermin Chamorro, 45, born in Caracoli (next to El Carmen), was displaced in 2006. He went from Caracoli to Sinselejo and eventually back to El Carmen.
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Edith, 36, lived on her family’s aguacate finca in Macayepo, a well-known vereda in Los Montes de Maria. On March 14th, 1999, she and her 13 siblings were displaced when a group of unidentified armed men arrived in Macayepo and told everyone to leave immediately. Her first humanitarian aid check arrived in 2014 because in “those years,” the late 90s, there was no real system in place for reparations. She is registered as head of house, and wants her five sons to be able to work in a sector besides agriculture. Her parents still work the land growing ñame, yuca, and rice. Her father was of that “other generation,” she told me,, that never spoke to his children or treated them with much regard. She wants to study fashion after her sons are older so that she can make her own clothes.
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Maria Mercedes was displaced from Oveja, Sucre 17 years ago.
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Adaluz Moreno’s husband was killed in 1996 in Mamón de Maria. After 3 months of mourning she came to El Carmen, but because of system errors she didn’t appear as a victim of displacement. Since 1996 the government has sent her three humanitarian aid checks. She’s here sorting out the paperwork surrounding the death of her husband.
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Laura Cardenas, 20, accompanying her father Luis to the office.
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Luis Roberto Cardenas Villamil, 77, from El Carmen, checking in on the status of his humanitarian aid.
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Adriana Valdez, 20, was displaced from San Isidro in 2000 because of the FARC. She lives in El Carmen and was at the office seeking assistance enrolling in coursework at SENA, a technical school.
Marelbis Vitola Luna, 50, was displaced from vereda San Rafael in 1999 and has lived in El Carmen since. She has received humanitarian aid before and is no stranger to the system and its "ticks."
Deris, 47, was displaced in 1987 from Guamanga after an unidentified group of armed men killed her uncle, who was father to three older children and one who had just learned to walk. The next day, her family arrived in El Carmen but found no support at the local level of government because of the time period and the “stage” at which Deris and her family had experienced forced displacement and violence. There was little infrastructure in place at that time to assist with victims of armed conflict; in fact, these victims were not even acknowledged in such terms at the time. Her family experienced trauma again in 1991, when the AUC (the Auto Defensas, paramilitary group) killed another family member in Guamanga, Luis Agame. She registered as a victim of the armed conflict and forced displacement in 2003. She received vivienda (assistance for housing) in 2007, and her father registered his case in 2014.
Adriana Valdez, 20, was displaced from San Isidro in 2000 because of the FARC. She lives in El Carmen and was at the office seeking assistance enrolling in coursework at SENA, a technical school.
Marelbis Vitola Luna, 50, was displaced from vereda San Rafael in 1999 and has lived in El Carmen since. She has received humanitarian aid before and is no stranger to the system and its "ticks."
Deris, 47, was displaced in 1987 from Guamanga after an unidentified group of armed men killed her uncle, who was father to three older children and one who had just learned to walk. The next day, her family arrived in El Carmen but found no support at the local level of government because of the time period and the “stage” at which Deris and her family had experienced forced displacement and violence. There was little infrastructure in place at that time to assist with victims of armed conflict; in fact, these victims were not even acknowledged in such terms at the time. Her family experienced trauma again in 1991, when the AUC (the Auto Defensas, paramilitary group) killed another family member in Guamanga, Luis Agame. She registered as a victim of the armed conflict and forced displacement in 2003. She received vivienda (assistance for housing) in 2007, and her father registered his case in 2014.
Jean Carlos, 19, from San Isidro, works as a moto-taxista (“motor taxi”) in El Carmen. He was hoping to enroll in the SENA (technical school) to study mechanics, but as of late February 2015, they still hadn’t processed his application nor had they begun classes. The going rate for moto-taxistas for any destination within El Carmen is 1 mil, or $.50.
Aurelio, 73, was displaced from his finca in Guamanga in 2001. The woman with whom he had been living had registered and received humanitarian aid, but left Aurelio in the lurch without any money. He lives alone in barrio Jorge El Gaitan in a house made of palm and wood and sleeps in a hammock. Nearby are two large tamarindo trees that his two grandsons pick tamarindos from to sell at 1 mil ($.50) per bag. “Los propios desplazados no tienen vivienda,” he says.
“Those who are really displaced don’t have where to live.” He is alluding to one of the issues of the Ley de Víctimas that has seen many people, like Aurelio, alone and retired, deserving of housing and economic collaboration left out of the system, while others, who may already have housing or live with family, have already received once or more than once.
Will remain Anonymous. This “'vendedor ambulante,” or mobile vendor, walks several miles a day and stops in to local business, such as the Oficina de Vîctimas, to sell coffee and snacks that he carries around in compact thermoses all day. He prefers to be self-employed, is independent, and lives alone.
Al Paredo, 57, was displaced in 2006 from El Carmen. He lives with his brothers in a barrio called "El Silencio."
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Adriana Valdez, 20, was displaced from San Isidro in 2000 because of the FARC. She lives in El Carmen and was at the office seeking assistance enrolling in coursework at SENA, a technical school.
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Marelbis Vitola Luna, 50, was displaced from vereda San Rafael in 1999 and has lived in El Carmen since. She has received humanitarian aid before and is no stranger to the system and its "ticks."
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Deris, 47, was displaced in 1987 from Guamanga after an unidentified group of armed men killed her uncle, who was father to three older children and one who had just learned to walk. The next day, her family arrived in El Carmen but found no support at the local level of government because of the time period and the “stage” at which Deris and her family had experienced forced displacement and violence. There was little infrastructure in place at that time to assist with victims of armed conflict; in fact, these victims were not even acknowledged in such terms at the time. Her family experienced trauma again in 1991, when the AUC (the Auto Defensas, paramilitary group) killed another family member in Guamanga, Luis Agame. She registered as a victim of the armed conflict and forced displacement in 2003. She received vivienda (assistance for housing) in 2007, and her father registered his case in 2014.
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Jean Carlos, 19, from San Isidro, works as a moto-taxista (“motor taxi”) in El Carmen. He was hoping to enroll in the SENA (technical school) to study mechanics, but as of late February 2015, they still hadn’t processed his application nor had they begun classes. The going rate for moto-taxistas for any destination within El Carmen is 1 mil, or $.50.
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Aurelio, 73, was displaced from his finca in Guamanga in 2001. The woman with whom he had been living had registered and received humanitarian aid, but left Aurelio in the lurch without any money. He lives alone in barrio Jorge El Gaitan in a house made of palm and wood and sleeps in a hammock. Nearby are two large tamarindo trees that his two grandsons pick tamarindos from to sell at 1 mil ($.50) per bag. “Los propios desplazados no tienen vivienda,” he says.
“Those who are really displaced don’t have where to live.” He is alluding to one of the issues of the Ley de Víctimas that has seen many people, like Aurelio, alone and retired, deserving of housing and economic collaboration left out of the system, while others, who may already have housing or live with family, have already received once or more than once.
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Will remain Anonymous. This “'vendedor ambulante,” or mobile vendor, walks several miles a day and stops in to local business, such as the Oficina de Vîctimas, to sell coffee and snacks that he carries around in compact thermoses all day. He prefers to be self-employed, is independent, and lives alone.
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7
Al Paredo, 57, was displaced in 2006 from El Carmen. He lives with his brothers in a barrio called "El Silencio."
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1