Alejandra
Artesanía Tejedora de Sueños
Agua Bonita, an Espacios Territoriales de Capacitación y Reincorporación (ETCR), is in Caquetá. Its residents, former FARC combatants and their families, grow pineapples, run a glamping site, and more.
Alejandra’s husband was a combatant, but has since left the territory for a new life in an urban center. She prefers the tranquility of Agua Bonita, where she remains with her four children aged 2 through 17. To support her family, she crafts: beadwork, metalwork, weaving, and more. In so doing, she enriches her community. In so doing, she finds peace and we find beauty.
Alexa
Acacías, an Espacios Territoriales de Capacitación y Reincorporación (ETCR), is in Meta. Its residents, former FARC combatants and their families, raise cattle and goats and run a bakery, convenience store, and school.
Alexa lives there, with her two sons aged 18 and 8 years old. She is mestiza, and very proud of her indigenous father. Alexa joined the FARC as a teen, first as a combatant and later a commander. She also wrote more than 40 songs for the daily “Culture Hour” radio show - required listening for all FARC combatants throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Now she is one of the leaders at Acacias, overseeing the community and its efforts to rebuild and retool for postwar life.
To quiet her mind and practice patience, Alexa revisits the indigenous crafts of her childhood in a corner of her family home. She makes beadwork and metalwork for herself, and to raise funds for her community.
Karen Gómez
Karen is an indigenous woman raised in Comuna 13 under the legacy of Pablo Escobar; a graduate student and social worker who cares deeply. Karen is also our friend, always willing to join us on a visit to AltaVista or a meeting with the Madres de la Candelaria, always listening to others and advising them in ways both subtle and helpful.
Her indigenous identity is powerful and beautiful, learned through community and mentorship, practiced through song and dance and art. In the jewelry we are proud to offer every bead, every color, every pattern tells a story.
