Development Cooperation Handbook/Stories/Community at Work

MDG5: Improve maternal health

Youtube ⇒ playlist
⇒ Colombia 2 – Production

Barrio Jan Pablo II, Ciudad Bolivar, Bogota', Colombia , May 2011
Project managed by the Social Integration Secretariat of the Alcaldia of Bogotá

⇒ Jan Pablo II - playlist

One sixth of Colombia's population lives in Bogotá, a metropolis of around 8 million people that continues to grow with the continuous and increasing influx of individuals and families escaping poverty and violence of the rural areas. But what migrants from rural areas find in big cities like Bogota is often more poverty and more violence.

The Government of Bogotá is implementing a comprehensive programme of food security called “Bogotá without hunger”. This policy is centred around community canteens located in areas where most of the poor, vulnerable and marginalised population lives.

Marisol Grenette, an active leader of Juan Pablo II, is an example of a single mother who moved out of poverty. She came to the city with dreams of a better life. At the beginning, things went very wrong and she found herself unemployed, single and with a small daughter to look after. She didn't lose courage and steadfastness and held on. She formed a group of other young mothers and they lived together, taking care of each other, organising a common kitchen and opening a nursery for their children and those of others. Then, came the support of the local government. And their small community became the locality community centre. They now also manage a library, a mess, a health centre, an education programme and an economic self-empowerment scheme.