Photo Credit: ASCODESA
02/03/2005

On July 14, 2004, a village leader brought his community back to their homes in Saiza, Cordoba in the foothills of the Andes Mountains in Colombia. It was the fulfillment of a dream that was born almost 5 years earlier when the community was forced to flee their homes by the violence that is endemic in the region.

The community decided to return to Saiza in the midst of the conflict that in the last 10 years had caused 150 deaths in the community. Their attitude was "even if they kill us we are going back." The community decided that to return safely, they needed to take a position of independence and autonomy, refusing to take sides in the conflict that was swirling around them. "We have to forgive the armed actors for what they have done. We are not afraid anymore - not after suffering hunger and the destruction of the lives of our children. We forgive them but they must stop displacing us. They must respect us. We are all Colombians."