Attending the presentation were: Rafael Bejarano, Salesian and Director of "Ciudad Don Bosco" in Medellin; and José San Martín, representing "Misiones Salesianas".
Don Bejarano began the press conference by saying: "Colombia is a beautiful country, whose challenge today is to walk together to build peace. We believe in the dreams of young people, so we work with them.” The Director of Ciudad Don Bosco went on to explain the work that the Salesians are doing for the benefit of young people. "Our proposal is pastoral and psycho-social. It is based on the Salesian Preventive System, which is the pedagogy of trust. It focuses on empathy and on being close to every young person who comes to our work."
Catalina was asked:
Journalist: "Were you forced to join FARC?".
Catalina: "At first it was a case of me wanting to join, because where I lived there was no future. Then, when there were clashes I wanted to run away, but I could not."
Journalist: "How did you leave eventually?
Catalina: "I decided to leave, even though I knew the death penalty awaited me. but I managed to escape one day when the commander was absent."
Manuel is 19 years old today. He joined FARC in 2013 and stayed with them for a year. He followed the example of his brother, who was killed because he dissented from the official line of FARC. "When I saw them carrying him away, and then when he was killed I thought: 'What am I doing here?'. I had the opportunity and I decided to leave that way of life," he said.
"Ciudad Don Bosco" is an educational and social institution run by the Salesians of Colombia-Medellin, where children, adolescents and young people at risk and former fighters are helped and reintegrated into society.
Many of the young people are hiding under fictitious names, but for the Salesians their stories, their lives and their dreams are not fictitious.
