“I’m so glad you came up here.  Down there, in Bogota, that’s where the rich people live.  But here….this is the real Colombia.”

Leaving Bogota in a hired car, we drove due south towards the outskirts city of Soacha.  Accompanied by Matt ‘Mateo’ Alexander, Ahmsa founder and current Board president, my family (mom, dad, sister, sister’s boyfriend) was venturing out of the confines of the tourist-friendly sections of Bogota on our family trip for the first time. I had recently joined the governing board of Ahmsa and was excited to see the organization’s work firsthand.

On the surface, Bogota looks really impressive—strong infrastructure, great museums, chic restaurants and bars—but we felt like we were getting a sanitized version of the city.  The trip with Mateo promised to show another side of Bogota—and demonstrate why the work of Ahmsa is so important.

Turning off from the highway, we started a long ascent.  At first, people swarmed in the streets in front of clusters of buildings that were sturdy, if relatively unadorned.  The further we climbed, however, the more the road and buildings started to appear more deteriorated.  Soon, the road ended and we continued on a rough dirt road.  Houses became more infrequent and ramshackle.

View from Altos de la Florida

Finally arriving in our destination Altos de la Florida, the view of the Soacha valley and Bogota was spectacular.  Yet, despite the beauty, we would soon learn that the distance between the town—really, a collection of one-room, tin-roofed homes thrown together on the slope of the hill—and the jobs of Bogota and other infrastructure (schools, hospitals, even regular sources of running water) represented a major challenge for everyday existence for all the families in the community.

Amidst the obvious challenges of everyday life in Altos de la Florida, we saw several powerful examples of the positive effect that Ahmsa had on the lives of residents. Everywhere we went, Mateo and Milton were greeted with smiles and hugs, like family members coming by for a visit.  The level of trust, respect, and appreciation was a beautiful thing to behold.  Milton was especially impressive.  A former gang member who had lost both of his parents as a child, he know served as the main project coordinator for many of Ahmsa’s projects.  Milton projected a quiet confidence and you could tell that he had vast credibility with the people with whom he worked.  Milton had been there; he knew what the struggle looked like.

In Altos de la Florida, we met a woman who had used a micro-loan from Ahmsa to open a small store.  The store had been so successful that she had saved enough money to invest in a few cattle from which she sold milk as well.  Another entrepreneur used a loan from Ahmsa to start a multifaceted business that sold phone cards, children’s toys, and stylish ‘hipster’ bags that he knitted himself.  We bought several.

We also stopped at the Ahmsa-sponsored MegaRed Internet Café, the first in the neighborhood of Cazucá, one of the roughest parts of Soacha.  There, we met a group of youth in their late teens who were gearing up for the internet café’s grand opening later that week.  The kids’ smiles and the obvious pride they felt for the operation filled the sparsely decorated room with joy and a sense of hope for the future.  We asked them what they thought people would use the computers for.  They looked at us like we were crazy.  ‘For Facebook!’ they all said.  ‘And to find jobs.’  I guess some things really are the same the world over.

The young leaders of MegaRed

Finally, we ventured to the town’s new jewel: a community center and clinic built with the vision and support of Ahmsa.  Perched precariously on the side of a hill at the top of Altos de la Florida, we saw posters on the walls advertising various classes for youth and adult development: literacy classes, classes on finances, math classes, health classes.  Clearly, the space was well-used.  In fact, when we arrived there was an adult literacy class taking place.  The students—all women—were excited to tell us about the lessons and where they were from.

Virtually everyone in Altos de la Florida had been displaced from another area of Colombia.  In our short time there, we met people from all reaches of the country, from the pacific coast to the Caribbean coast, from the interior coffee regions to the middle of Bogota.  The families had been forced out for individually distinct, yet collectively similar reasons.  The entire group was shocked by a statistic that Mateo shared with us: only the Sudan has more internally displaced persons (IDPs) than Colombia.  Over 4 million—out of a population 42 million—have been displaced since 1985.  A handful of those four million were standing in front of us, working hard to compose a new community that would be safer than their last.

Community Center, Altos de la Florida

As we were walking out of the classroom, I started a conversation with an older woman from the community.  Signaling her house 200 yards from the community center, she said that the class was giving her a second chance to learn.  She said that she had never gotten past third grade, so she felt like she was learning everything for the first time.  I mentioned that school gets to be more fun the older you get and she smiled.

Then she stopped and, touching my shoulder and pointing towards the capital city she said in Spanish: “I’m so glad you came up here.  Down there, in Bogota, that’s where the rich people live.  But here….this is the real Colombia.”

Without question, Ahmsa is working in the real Colombia and having a real effect.

“I want to take this opportunity to put into context for you the transcendental change that we have had in terms of security in the area where we work in Cazucá. Some years ago, the evil custom of social cleansing was predominant, which involved massacres which took the lives of the majority of young people in this community.”

“Today, thanks in part to Ahmsa’s work with these young people, the murder rate has diminished by 85 %. We still have this problem but we have recently begun a youth project called MegaRed, with the objective of improving the lives of these young people. It is very important that the youth show the community that they are positive agents for the community itself, and that they are good examples for their peers.”  –Milton G.

Stay tuned for more Ahmsa fundraising events in your area, or you can connect to the Ahmsa community on our Facebook Causes page, or you can donate directly online.

Says MegaRed’s precocious 17-year-old manager, Nelson Obanda, “Our dream is to open more locations and to keep teaching more youth the skills that we’ve learned. Thank you for giving us such an important opportunity to totally change our lives, giving us the chance to choose a better future for ourselves.”

World Cup Final Fundraising Event in Seattle

On Sunday, July 11th, Ahmsa fans are gathering at the Two Beers Brewing Company in Seattle to enjoy the World Cup final over a beer and some barbecue, with all net proceeds going to support Ahmsa’s work fighting poverty.

If you find yourself in the Seattle area, you can’t miss this great opportunity to meet other Ahmsa supporters and enjoy a good game!

If you can’t make it but would still like to support Ahmsa’s work, treat yourself to a beer and donate directly online.

Leonardo’s home and workshop contains a jumbled collection of cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, and small glass containers. In his kitchen sits a massive bottle-sealing machine, which he bought thanks to a micro-credit loan from Ahmsa and the Rotary Club of Bogotá. Leonardo produces and sells soaps, cleaning materials, perfumes, and colognes to communities all over Colombia.

Leonardo and his bottle-sealing machine

As a boy, Leonardo and his family were displaced from their home by the armed conflict, and he wasn’t able to go to school. He taught himself how to read by watching movies on an old TV set and matching the subtitles with the dialogue.

Now, he supports his wife and child with his new business in La Florida, just outside of Bogotá. “The business is doing so well that I have run out of materials,” he admits. He will use another loan to purchase more raw materials so he can keep expanding his sales. He wants to thank all the supporters and donors of Ahmsa for making his new business possible.

Flor with her nephew and son in front of her food store

Flor owns a small food store in the settlement of Manzano, which overlooks Bogotá from the outskirts of Soacha.  She has four sons and lives in the modest space behind her shop. Flor is the leader of a group of women from the community who have received microcredit loans through Ahmsa and the Bogotá Rotary.

Because borrowers in this community often lack the legal collateral to guarantee loans, they use the model of “social collateral” adopted by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, in which borrowers form their own groups and guarantee repayment by peer pressure. Flor’s group of borrowers has repaid its loans punctually and has seen a parallel increase in the amount they are able to borrow.

“With a little more money, I want to make the store into a supermarket,” Flor reflects.  “It would have everything—food, soap, toilet paper—things people need here.” One of her biggest challenges is transporting the goods she sells from neighboring Soacha up to the steep hills surrounding Manzano.  She might hire someone to help her carry the goods, or might eventually hire a truck to transport them more quickly.

Flor points out that expanding the store will take serious work and planning. “You have to be responsible with the loans and make sure that you’re using them wisely.”

Ahmsa has been supporting families in Cazuca, Colombia since 2005.

Event details:

FORO RESPONSABILIDAD Y SOSTENIBILIDAD

Conozca las mejores prácticas en Responsabilidad Social Empresarial y entienda su razón de ser desde una perspectiva académica y corporativa.

Panelistas y Temas:

John Karakatsianis, Director de Sustainable Projects – Triple Cuenta de Resultados

Clara Leal, Directora Ejecutiva de Alianzas por Colombia – Alianzas Público-Privado

Matthew Alexander, Presidente y Fundador de Ahmsa – Negocios Inclusivos

For more information and registration, please see www.uniandinos.org.co