Vida En Comunidad Area Program

Located on the outskirts of Santiago de Cali, the Vida en Comunidad community is a very violent area. From the outside, the community appears quite ordinary " neat row houses built by the government, buses easily available. Despite appearances, however, there is great danger here, especially for children. The tiny, one-bedroom homes are chronically overcrowded. The result of government housing projects, the community was originally intended to shelter families fleeing civil unrest in other parts of the country.

Now, the area is controlled by rival gangs from the Afro or the mestizo (mixed Amerindian and European) populations. Gangs control specific streets that have become their territory, and the environment is like an urban civil war. Yet, both groups " in fact the whole community " are shunned and excluded from the wider society.

Children here live under constant threat of gang and domestic violence. Many are pressured into militia groups to carry arms and ply drugs. With little hope for change, many children and youth abandon school to work and help their families survive. Jobs opportunities are often withdrawn or services denied to people who live in the area once their address becomes known, so unemployment is rampant. Families lack the education needed to get better jobs, so they survive from day to day on low wages as domestic and construction workers, selling goods, or begging on the streets.