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Trujillo
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Colombia
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Amidst the beautiful mountains of Colombia at 1200 msnm
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there is a nice small town of working people and great biodiversity
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called Trujillo.
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Characterized by the hospitality of its inhabitants
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and its fertle land for agriculture
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at some point in their history their tranquility was marred by their violence
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As in a witch hunt, civilian leaders and ordinary people
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were judged and eliminated by the state in a cruel and insensitive way
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and there was nothing the people could say or do in their own defense
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The State committed countless crimes against Humanity causing fear and generated displacement
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Currently, there continues to be unfortunate events such as
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forced recruitment, drug addiction, increased high school dropouts and micro trafficking.
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For this, and since then, Trujillo has lost the sense of belonging thus causeing a kind
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of neglect and apathy against the town by its inhabitants
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in addition to the social stigma acquired by his dark past
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However, over the years various groups of young people have worked towards rebuilding
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the social fabric and regain a sense of belonging despite the difficulties.
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and inconveniences to develop initiatives and processes that benefit the community
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Here are some of these...
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Initiatives such as summer camps,
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drawing, and painting workshops,
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School theater and building playgrounds
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Foremost among these is the youth association Manguala
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with its "Cinestres" project
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which uses a film to give a message of substance abuse prevention
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and against recruitment of the youth in to armed groups.
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But, what do young people think?
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"Fortunately, consciousnesses has awoken
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in the young people
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and they fight for everything
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that's wrong.
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The violence as stopped
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and we are seeing major changes
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in both the youth and adults
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we are instilling principles and very significant values
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and the youth directly involved
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in showing that Trujillo is not a violent place
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Trujillo is a good place to live!"
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"Actually the young people of Trujillo are creating strategies
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to foster environments where only knowledge
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and cultural strengthening of the youth Trujillo reigns
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We want to get ahead"
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"Many people still fail to measure the importance
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of these processes conducted by the youth
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because young people are changing consciousness
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and the thinking of people by the activities they perform
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The Trujillo community is more optimistic;
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that you can do things
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and that you can fight for a cause
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because it is worth it
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Hopefully this serves as an example
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for many young people in other towns
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where we can achieve great things
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when there is no support from the government
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or from the community."