Justapaz

I (Krista) had first heard of Justapaz from Janna Hunter-Bowman who co-taught one of my classes at Goshen College. After learning a bit about the organization in an academic context in the U.S., I was very excited to actually visit the organization here in Colombia. While sitting out on the patio drinking coffee that our hosts had warmly offered us, the Justapaz staff shared with us about their work.

Justapaz is a Mennonite organization that started in 1990. It focuses on peace, nonviolence, and conflict resolution. It works with churches of different denominations including Catholic and Evangelical, as well as secular organizations. It first began with working on the issue of conscientious objection, and has now expanding to include several other projects.

Justapaz still works with conscientious objection. The program includes training/education, political advocacy, and accompanying cases. In 2009, the consitution changed to acknowledge conscientious objection as a legitimate and legal possibility for religious or conscience reasons. This has opened the door for Justapaz to accompany people who do not want to do the required military service, though it still is not easy. They are currently accompanying 4 cases. In a context of armed conflict, the military is idolized. Because of this, part of Justapaz's job is to educate about nonviolence. As in many countries, the poor make up a large part of the military. It is possible and legal to buy your way out of the military. A person can pay a fee to avoid military service. Of course, only the rich can afford this.

Another area of work for Justapaz is the recruitment of minors (which is illegal). This includes recruitment by both legal and illegal armed groups. They have a network of connection to protect children from being recruited that includes both educating families about the issue and how to avoid it and physically removing children from situations of illegal recruitment (this sometimes involves relocating the child to a different city to protect them). They are part of a coalition working against the integration of boys and girls into the war. This coalition reports cases of child recuitment and violations against children to the UN to try to put pressure on the government to stop. Some children are recruited to be soldiers, but there are also other ways of using children. These uses include, as messangers, trafficking drugs (children are less likely to be stopped and searched), carrying threats, and sexual slaves.

Youth are required to register with the military when they are 17-years-old. When they are 18, they have an appointment. However, for anyone who might try to avoid military service, there are trucks at strategic locations (bus stops, universities, etc), where a young man who has not fulfilled his service can be detained and taken to the military. He can be taken against his will and suddenly moved across the country.

Justapaz also works with documentation. This project tells the stories of victims. This program is especially important because many people do not report cases to the police out of fear. They fear retaliation, and they also do not trust the authorities. It is known that the police and other "authorities" work with illegal armed groups. Justapaz works with investigation and advocacy. They document violations of human rights against people connected to churches, as well as experiences of hope in churches. They have a publication called "A Prophetic Call" that is a summary of these cases. They gave each of us in the delegation a copy of the most recent publication, and if you will be geographically near me in future you are welcome to borrow it. You can also find an electronic copy on their website (www.justapaz.org).

While visiting Justapaz, I was delighted to be unexpectedly reunited with a good friend from high school, Becca Kragt! She is doing the SALT program (a Mennonite 1 year service term) with Justapaz in Bogota. She has been working with the sister  church program. This program encourages churches from the North (U.S. and Canada) and churches from Colombia to build relationships with each other. They are intended to be relationships in which churches can support each other and feel connected to each other, as well as learn about each other's situation. It is not intended to involve financial support (this is strongly discouraged). Churches learn about each other and share prayer requests. Sometimes members from congregations are able to visit their sister church (both from the North to Colombia or from Colombia to the North). The Sister Church Program is hoping to build more focus on political advocacy in the future.

Goodness, once again, a lot of information. The crazy thing is that everything in this post and my last post was just one day of learning during the Seed delegation. (Be grateful that Josh is covering more days than I am. ;)) I know that it is a lot of information, but I think most people who are reading this blog are from the U.S., and it is important that those of us from the U.S. learn about what is going on in Colombia because our government's policies to very greatly affect the situation there.

To speak more generally of Seed delegation, I have greatly enjoyed the experience over the past week. I am so glad that the leaders were kind and flexible enough to let Josh and I join the group even though we could not stay for the whole time. Josh will write more about what we did during the other days, so I will not say much more about our other activities, other than to say that it was a great mixture of learning/education, meetings with organizations and churches, discussion, fellowship through eating together (so important!), exposure to poverty and wealth, free time to explore a bit of Bogota on our own, and simlpy singing and being together as a group and with our host families.

Being part of the Seed learning delegation was a powerful experience. Even though we were only able to be with the group for half the time, I was amazed by the genuine relationships we built with the Seeders and other participants. The Seeders offered a great amount of time and energy to educate us and invite us into their lives and work here in Colombia. Their passion for their work and compassion for their communities was obvious. I owe them many thanks for all that they shared with us. They are truly an inspiration to me and I will not quickly forget them.

Well, I'm afraid I've used over 2 hours of internet time at this internet cafe between the last post and this one. While of course there is more to say, my stomach is reminding me that it is time for lunch, and I'm sure your eyes could use a rest. Josh will be posting later today on more of Seed (really, break up reading time over a few days or something), and we will post one more time when we get back to the U.S. to put on pictures and say a word or two of closing thoughts. Today we will be packing and doing last minute things to get ready, and then we will leave tomorrow morning (at 5am!) to begin traveling back to the U.S.! It's crazy to think that our time here is nearly done, and to be honest, I don't think that reality has quite set in yet. But I am also excited to be going to Oregon upon our return to spend time with my family and for my sister's wedding! There is a lot to think about and a lot to do. So much beauty we have experienced over these past weeks and so much beauty yet ahead of us. Gracias a Pachamama.

Until next time,
Be well,
Krista