A Letter from one of our volunteers who visited our project with ACJ in Bogotá

Clara Ines Diaz M.

“My motivation to support ACJ in Bogotá through Children Change Colombia (CCC), last year, coincided with my opportunity to visit them this year.

When we arrived with Carol and Marta, my hosts, we had a warm welcome with around 20-30 children having mid-morning snacks, but a “tinto” brought us a chance to participate in one of the weekly meetings with the women leaders, on the first floor. ACJ offer to them a safe space to learn, share their experiences, to build their confidence, to explore different sources of income, and to become heroes in their own community. 

I would have loved to stay listening/chatting to them, but now our “tinto” really was waiting for us, real tinto from a huge “greca” (cafetiere) as the people from Bogotá call it. 

The second part of the visit was spectacular, the children and teachers had done an excellent job preparing a performance for us, with songs and dances, from Colombian music to Tik-tok. I can imagine the choreography required a lot of time and patience to put together, but what fun they had and shared with us.

I remember a teenager that sang a song specially composed, I can’t remember the song’s lyrics, but I loved it and I imagine him as a singer, in few years, if the opportunity came to his door.

My overall impression is that children in ACJ are treated with respect, that they feel valued, safe, and most importantly loved. We had an activity where we received empty cards and a pen to write our names, and the idea was to add a complement to the owner’s card which were rotating from left to right. I loved the activity, because it builds their confidence, their capacity to complement others, and motivates them to participate.