Bienvenidos a Colombia!

Today I begin as a contributor to Fanning the Flames. What allows me to contribute to a blog related to the Freedom Museum? This January and February I will be accompanying social justice workers who work in a human rights center in Colombia, South America. The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum is a museum dedicated to the First Amendment Freedoms. However, it is also a museum dedicated to human rights and First Amendment freedoms around the world. So, when at least 10 people, were killed in a monk-led protest in September in Myanmar, the Freedom Museum takes notice. It also happens that I am a Freedom Ambassador (volunteer) at the museum and I help with adult educational programs, student field trip orientations, and other special events. Danielle Estler—volunteer and intern coordinator at the museum—jokes that this blog will be my penance for abandoning the museum for six weeks. Actually, my experience in Colombia fits right in and I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my experience related to international human rights.

What is going on in Colombia? The Latin America Working Group is a coalition dedicated to a U.S. foreign policy in Latin America that promotes human rights, justice, peace and sustainable development. The group says, “Over 300,000 people are forced to flee their homes from political violence each year.” The Colombian Presbyterian Church runs a human rights center to empower those folks to regain their livelihood. The social justice workers at the center give legal representation, help the people claim government assistance, and encourage them amidst the danger and conflict. The armed situation is volatile and complex. The rights that you and I take for granted here in the United States are not always a given in war-torn Colombia. The Latin America Working Group continues on their website, “U.S. and Colombian nongovernmental groups, alarmed by growing allegations of killings of civilians by members of the Colombian army, call for stricter enforcement of the human rights conditions in the law.”

My goal in Colombia is to observe the work, encourage the people, and communicate to friends in the United States about what’s going on. While there, I will be blogging via “Fanning the Flames.” I look forward to this opportunity and hope old and new friends alike with be able to keep informed through my stories and experiences.