CPTnet
30 March 2012
COLOMBIA: A Colombian youth tells you why you should go on a CPT delegation to
Colombia 24 May-6 June 2012
Why go on a Christian Peacemaker Teams Delegation to
Colombia?
A young Colombian conscientious objector who worked closely
with a CPT Colombia delegation shared the following with participants in CPT’s
October delegation:
To Our Friends in CPT,
We are the young
people of the earth who go through the world with hands united. We do not want another war to poison the
night and darken the days. We want
to recognize the work of men and women in other parts of the world that with
your support contribute to the building of a better world. To our CPT friends who visited us in the
first week of October we want to say thank you for getting to know our work and
for spreading it to the world, thank you for strengthening our faith and hope
and showing us that we are not the only ones who are struggling. Thank you for the bonds of friendship
that we have created and that foster learning and create ideas for change. As Sister Teresa of Calcutta said: At
times we believe that we are doing is only a drop of water in the ocean but the
ocean would be less without it. To
everyone a thousand thanks! May
God bless us and strengthen us to continue building the kingdom of justice and
peace that God has promised us.
…
Fondly, A Youth of Barrancabermeja
Are you interested in promoting nonviolence and
understanding conflict at a grassroots level? Christian Peacemaker Teams is seeking delegates for a May
delegation to Bogotá and Barrancabermeja in Colombia. An insurgency-counterinsurgency war has
left over 200,000 people dead since 1964 and displaced over four million others
from their homes. CPT’s Colombia
delegations will meet with church, human rights, and social justice organizers
in Bogotá and in Barrancabermeja, the industrial city in the Magdalena Medio
region where CPT’s full-time team has been based since 2001.
Delegates will seek to encourage individuals and communities
experiencing violence, challenge human rights violations, and support movement
vigils, and dialogue. Delegates
will also have the opportunity to connect their own churches and communities
with the work of nonviolence and the situation in Colombia.
Delegates will spend several days in the countryside. Some physical rigors are involved in
most CPT delegations, such as hiking in mud and heat or mountains, hours-long
trips by boat or truck, and generally long days.
Fundraising Expectation: $2500 US / $2600 Canadian, which
includes round-trip airfare from a designated U.S. or Canadian city, all
in-country travel, simple accommodations, two-to-three meals per day,
honorariums and other delegation fees. Those planning to travel from other countries, contact the
CPT office for more information.
For more information contact the CPT Delegations Coordinator
at 773-376-0550 or at delegations@cpt.org. Application deadline is April 15th.
