“But if we have peace,” Yeny said, “then we don’t have to worry about people getting killed. First comes peace, and then come justice, and life, and everything else. Peace has to be the first step.”
Their discussion continued the whole way to the soccer field, each kid trying to convince the others. But it was a teasing, happy discussion, because they knew that all children’s rights were important, and that was exactly what they were going to tell the grown-ups. No matter which rights each of them voted for, the adults couldn’t help but notice that what the children wanted was peace.
All the way to the field the streets were filled with children wearing white. Some carried signs with a giant peace symbol. Others were tossing white balloons in the air. Still others were singing. And in the distance, on the field, music was already playing.
None of the meetings had come close to having this many people. There must have been hundreds and hundreds of kids, and Yeny knew that this wasn’t the only voting station nearby. Celia had said they were hoping that three hundred thousand young people would vote that day. Yeny hoped that María Cristina got to be one of them.
In the field, tables were set up everywhere, and kids were starting to get in line at each one. Yeny saw some children as young as four or five, and others as old as seventeen. Some looked pretty tough. Some looked as if they came from rich families, and others wore ragged clothes. But everyone was laughing and talking to each other, and for once, the way they looked didn’t seem to matter. Face-painters had set up booths in the center, and a clown was juggling oranges. Across the field, a bunch of kids in bright, colorful costumes had gathered to practice a dance. Later there would be skits and songs too. Farther along, in the middle of the crowd, Yeny even saw a television camera.
And then she saw Joaquin. She grinned at him, and she thought she saw the flicker of a smile on his face before he turned away.
The lineup for voting moved fast. The children that Yeny talked to already knew exactly which right they wanted to vote for, and most of them wanted peace. When it was Yeny’s turn, she carefully read the colorful ballot. It listed twelve basic children’s rights: survival, health, food, education, play, equality, love and family, protection from abuse, expression of opinions, access to information, justice, and peace. Yeny had no trouble making her decision. She put a great big tick mark next to PEACE.
Even the soldiers and other armed groups respected the children’s day of peace.
That night, the TV news program talked only about the election, and a government official made an amazing announcement. It wasn’t three hundred thousand Colombian children who had voted for their rights—it was 2.7 million. In every place that had held an election, more than ninety percent of the kids had shown up to vote. And everywhere, children had chosen the right to survival, the right to peace, and the right to love and family as the most important and most abused.
“Can you believe it?” Rocio asked. Her family, Juan’s, and Yeny’s had crammed into Rocio’s little living room to watch the news. And Rocio practically had to shout into Yeny’s ear over the racket of everyone’s cheering.
“Look at that,” Yeny said. “The official is so amazed by the vote that he’s in tears.”
The television, the radio, and the newspapers were full of news about the success that the children of Colombia had achieved that day. Not only had they told their parents and the other grown-ups of their country what was most important to them; on top of that, for the first time anyone could remember, there had been a day—a whole day—of peace. No bombs, no shootings, no kidnappings.
“I bet my father’s listening right now,” Juan said. “I bet he’s really happy, and the grupos armados are probably thinking twice about how they’ve been doing things. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start letting go of the hostages. Dad could be home any day now!”
Yeny glanced at Aunt Nelly and her parents. They had big grins on their faces.
“Anything is possible,” Aunt Nelly said. “I think you kids proved that today.”
Many kids talked about peace to everyone they met, sharing peace stickers and anything else that would spread the word.
Historical Note
The Children’s Movement for Peace really does exist in Colombia, and though the characters in this book are imaginary, their experiences of organizing the peace carnival and the details of the voting day are very real.
In 1996, many children in Colombia began gathering together to discuss their rights. UNICEF—the United Nations Children’s Fund—helped young people across the country meet each other and discuss ideas to promote peace. Those children talked to other children, and soon, around the country, kids were gathering in fields, churches, parks, anywhere they could, to host peace carnivals and to organize a vote for the most important children’s right.
Many adults were eager to help them. Close to thirty organizations assisted with everything from ballot-making to publicity. The children wrote letters to the grupos armados, asking for peace on election day, and most groups wrote back, promising to respect the children’s right to vote.
Sure enough, on October 25, 1996, the guns, bombs, and kidnappings stopped for a full day. In three hundred towns and cities, 2.7 million children voted for their rights. In some places, the turnout was so high that they ran out of voting cards, and the children had to copy the ballot onto paper napkins to cast their votes. For the first time any of the children could remember, there was peace—and it happened because they were so passionate about peace and their basic human rights.
And this was only the beginning. Until the children’s vote, the peace movement in Colombia had been weak because it was not united. The children’s vote changed that. In fact, it inspired ten million adults to vote, the following year, on ways to bring peace to their country.
Today, the Children’s Movement for Peace continues to grow. Children in Colombia are leading workshops about peace, helping other young people who have survived violence, and teaching adults how to treat their own children with respect. Colombia is still a violent country, but both children and adults are working steadily toward solutions.
The Children’s Movement for Peace has been nominated for every Nobel Peace Prize since 1998.
Note: Many of the photographs in this book were taken in the years following that first day of peace in 1996, as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) offered increasing resources and encouragement to the Children’s Movement for Peace.
Children’s Movement for Peace representatives travel to the countryside too. They talk about peace with children who work in the fields and might not hear about it in school.
Around Colombia, the Children’s Movement for Peace teaches workshops about non-violence. Children learn to become workshop leaders.
Colombian teenagers speak to classes of younger kids about building a peaceful country.
In towns and villages across the country, children gather with workers to share their experiences.
Glossary
adios – goodbye
arepas – corn pancakes
arroz confrijoles – rice and beans
arroz con polio – rice with chicken
buñuelos
buñuelos – hot, fried dough snacks
chiva – a jeep used for public transportation
cumbia – a kind of Colombian dance music
desaparecidos – the “disappeared,” people who have been kidnapped and never heard from again
disculpe – excuse me
empanadas – hot, fried pastry pockets, usually filled with meat or potatoes
gracias a Dios – thank God
gracias por venir – thank you for coming
grupos armados – the armed groups
guagua – a giant rodent
hola – hello
huevos pericos – scrambled eggs with tomato and onion
licuado de mango – mango milkshake
lo sienio, chicos – I’m sorry, kids
mercado – market
muy bien – very well
panela – a sweet brown cube made from sugar cane juice that dissolves to make a hot drink
platanos – plantains or starchy bananas, eaten fried por favor – please
sapo – a toad; also used for a person who talks too much and gets other people into trouble
señora – ma’am
señorita – Miss
tamales – corn dumplings cooked in plantain leaves
tatabra – a wild pig
yuca – cassava; a root vegetable, eaten fried or boiled
tamales
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Clara Nelly Becerra for telling me about the Children’s Movement for Peace in Colombia, for helping with research, and for reading the manuscript and offering suggestions. I am indebted to Holly Caird and Pilar Riano-Alcala for their research help, and to Mireille Evans for her many stories, manuscript reading, helpful comments and answers to my questions, and photos. Thank you to Juan Mesa and Leonor Morales for checking the manuscript for inaccuracies, and to Jacqueline McAdam-Crisp, Rachel Crisp, and Sheldon Crisp for their feed-back and encouragement. Susan Braley, Margo McLoughlin, and Gastón Castaño have offered enormous emotional support. I’m grateful to Gena K. Gorrell for her brilliant editing, and to Margie Wolfe, Carolyn Jackson, Melissa Kaita, Phuong Truong, and Emma Rodgers at Second Story Press for turning this tale of courage and resolve into a beautiful book. To my friends and family, I extend a special thank-you for being such a loyal and enthusiastic cheering section.
Photo Credits
Photos are reprinted with permission from the following sources:
Cover photos: All photos © UNICEF/Jeremy Horner
Cover illustrations: © istockphoto
Page 3: © Mireille Evans
Page 16: © UNICEF/HQ99-0160/Jeremy Horner
Page 22: © Mireille Evans
Page 33: © UNICEF/HQ99-030336/Jeremy Horner
Page 48: © UNICEF/HQ99-o347/Jeremy Horner
Page 53: © UNICEF/HQ99-0231/Jeremy Horner
Page 68: © Mireille Evans
Page 85: © UNICEF/HQ99-0162/Jeremy Horner
Page 96: © UNICEF/HQ99-0242/Jeremy Horner
Page 99: © UNICEF/HQ99-0274/Jeremy Horner
Page 101: © UNICEF/HQ99-0167/Jeremy Horner
Page 106: © UNICEF/HQ99-0364/Jeremy Horner
Page 107: © UNICEF/HQ99-0165/Jeremy Horner
Page 108: © UNICEF/HQ99-0247/Jeremy Horner
Page 109: © UNICEF/HQ99-0161/Jeremy Horner
Yeny and the Children for Peace Page 7
