leading workshops about peace, helping other young people who have survived violence, and teaching adults how to treat their own children with respect. Colombia is still a violent country, but both children and adults are working steadily toward solutions.
The Childrenâs Movement for Peace has been nominated for every Nobel Peace Prize since 1998.
Note: Many of the photographs in this book were taken in the years following that first day of peace in 1996, as the United Nations Childrenâs Fund (UNICEF) offered increasing resources and encouragement to the Childrenâs Movement for Peace.
Childrenâs Movement for Peace representatives travel to the countryside too. They talk about peace with children who work in the fields and might not hear about it in school.
Around Colombia, the Childrenâs Movement for Peace teaches workshops about non-violence. Children learn to become workshop leaders.
Colombian teenagers speak to classes of younger kids about building a peaceful country.
In towns and villages across the country, children gather with workers to share their experiences.
Glossary
adios
â goodbye
arepas
â corn pancakes
arroz confrijoles
â rice and beans
arroz con polio
â rice with chicken
buñuelos
buñuelos
â hot, fried dough snacks
chiva
â a jeep used for public transportation
cumbia
â a kind of Colombian dance music
desaparecidos
â the âdisappeared,â people who have been kidnapped and never heard from again
disculpe
â excuse me
empanadas
â hot, fried pastry pockets, usually filled with meat or potatoes
gracias a Dios
â thank God
gracias por venir
â thank you for coming
grupos armados
â the armed groups
guagua
â a giant rodent
hola
â hello
huevos pericos
â scrambled eggs with tomato and onion
licuado de mango
â mango milkshake
lo sienio, chicos
â Iâm sorry, kids
mercado
â market
muy bien
â very well
panela
â a sweet brown cube made from sugar cane juice that dissolves to make a hot drink
platanos
â plantains or starchy bananas, eaten fried
por favor
â please
sapo
â a toad; also used for a person who talks too much and gets other people into trouble
señora
â maâam
señorita
â Miss
tamales
â corn dumplings cooked in plantain leaves
tatabra
â a wild pig
yuca
â cassava; a root vegetable, eaten fried or boiled
tamales
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Clara Nelly Becerra for telling me about the Childrenâs Movement for Peace in Colombia, for helping with research, and for reading the manuscript and offering suggestions. I am indebted to Holly Caird and Pilar Riano-Alcala for their research help, and to Mireille Evans for her many stories, manuscript reading, helpful comments and answers to my questions, and photos. Thank you to Juan Mesa and Leonor Morales for checking the manuscript for inaccuracies, and to Jacqueline McAdam-Crisp, Rachel Crisp, and Sheldon Crisp for their feed-back and encouragement. Susan Braley, Margo McLoughlin, and Gastón Castaño have offered enormous emotional support. Iâm grateful to Gena K. Gorrell for her brilliant editing, and toMargie Wolfe, Carolyn Jackson, Melissa Kaita, Phuong Truong, and Emma Rodgers at Second Story Press for turning this tale of courage and resolve into a beautiful book. To my friends and family, I extend a special thank-you for being such a loyal and enthusiastic cheering section.