Pastora is a community leader in the Panorama district of Soacha, a city on the outskirts of Bogotá, Colombia. Historically, Panorama has been a place of refuge for thousands of forcibly displaced people from various parts of the country due to the violent internal conflict, and more recently, Venezuelan migrants.

“When we arrived in our territories, we weren’t very well accepted. They looked down on us, saying we were people of bad origin, that we were invaders,” Pastora recalls. There were no services available in the area: “we had no electricity, no running water, no sewage.”

By dint of patience and bold meetings, the situation changed. Today, Pastora is working with other women leaders and JRS to create training centres. These spaces foster links between community members from different backgrounds, enabling them to understand each other and share their difficulties. Pastora has forged bonds of unity in her community, bringing together people from different backgrounds in the hope of building a future of lasting peace.

Our forcibly displaced friends teach us to have:

A heart that holds patience