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Emmy’s inspirationMy name is Emmy Carolina Vargas and I am 19 years old. I live in the neighborhood of Rincon del Lago, one of the worst slums of Bogotá where many families displaced by the armed conflict have settled. There is much gang violence in the slum and little hope or opportunity. Near where I live, there is the organization Creciendo Juntos (“Growing Together”). I have been fortunate to be able to attend this center from since I was 8 years old until I was 16. In those years I was able to achieve many things and today I feel proud to have taken part. They helped me to understand my reality around me and helped me become a better person today.

When I was in high school I was happy to become a volunteer at Creciendo Juntos in the afternoons. I worked with different groups of children and youth of all ages. This helped me realize that this was what I wanted to do with my professional life – to work with young children. I am now studying at the university, in my third semester of learning child pedagogy. Each day I love more my major and its focus.

This was all possible because of the experiences I had in Creciendo Juntos from my early childhood years and it was because of them who encouraged me to follow my dreams to be a teacher.Program update

Thanks to your support, 15 different Anabaptist Churches are receiving funding to work with children and youth around Bogotá, including Creciendo Juntos, where Emmy attended. Altogether they reach about 500 students. This year the youth workers from the different churches met together for the first time to learn from each other.

Other newsIn September there was a major breakthrough in the three-year long peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the rebel group FARC. The government believes they will be able to sign a peace deal within six months, which would bring an official end to decades of conflict.

Emmy Carolina with her sister and brother.

Emmy’s mother and grand-mother.

Fall 2015–ColombiaHealing and Hope

Story by Martha Garcia and Elizabeth KesslerPhotos by Proyecto Creciendo Juntos