Catalina is 21 years old and has been linked to "Ciudad Don Bosco" in Medellín since she was 16 years old. She decided to join the guerrilla forces to escape the mistreatment and abuse at home, but she soon realized that handling a gun, living in the jungle and staying away from her family was even worse; so she didn't stop in her struggle until she managed to escape even from there.
Claudia is also 21 years old and since 2015 she has participated in the Salesian program for minors removed from armed conflict. After being without food, walking for days in the mountains "treated worse than animals", she met with Salesians, began to feel the affection of a family and to share her human growth with other teenagers and young people.
Both have become leaders and points of reference for other young people who have not been able to have a childhood. With effort and sacrifice, in recent years they have pursued their dream and now they have fulfilled it: they are two professionals helping others in the health sector.
Catalina has always known she wanted to be a nurse because when she was with the guerrilla she had attended courses and enjoyed them. Claudia, on the other hand, experienced a traumatic experience: her father died "for lack of medical care", why she wanted to become a nurse, so that something similar would no longer happen in the place where she was born.
Thanks to the Salesian program of Medellin's "Ciudad Don Bosco" for minors taken from armed conflict, hundreds of children have started a new life, having overcome their traumas, recovered self-esteem and have had the will and the spirit of sacrifice to return to studying.
For all of them, there is now a future full of opportunities wherein to try to fulfill their dreams.
