Maria Jaramillo, 36 years old
Barrio Caicedo, Colombia
My name is Maria, I am one of the “displaced” in Colombia—after gangs killed my sister, I was forced to leave our village with my three girls and my sister’s two girls. The violence hit me very hard. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to die, but I couldn’t because I had them to take care of. Now, I try to teach children about the violence and I have a group of about 50 kids. I cleaned up a little park around the corner and on weekends I turn it into an activity center—I teach the children to plant, we fry potato chips in kettles, and we draw. I really try to focus on the boys, because war is made by men. I make them draw flowers so that they understand that flowers are not just for girls. I tell them that just because their mothers mop it doesn’t mean that they can’t. I teach them that when they join gangs, they destroy entire families. And I teach them that one shouldn’t wait for things to be given to them, things should be earned. Sometimes I think I want to leave this neighborhood, it has become just as violent as where I used to be from. But, I can’t. The children, they need me.
As of November 2013, Maria works full time through Underwear for Hope. She hopes to use what she earns to educate her daughters and her nieces and to build a play house in the park for her 50 children to play in.
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