“For me, peace is a dream — a dream I hope will soon come true,” 18-year-old Valery from Colombia says.
Valery, along with many other women and girls living in conflict zones, is seen as a weapon of war — making her particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence and exploitation. This intensifies existing gender inequalities and limits opportunities for education and financial independence.
Violence causes devastating ripple effects in girls’ lives
Instability and uncertainty have a damaging impact on girls’ mental health, creating lasting trauma that affects their overall well-being and development.
“While there are many problems, the one that most affects our lives is violence,” 23-year-old Yadis explains. “It leads to school dropouts, and girls and women are often seen as objects of war, used for purposes that have nothing to do with us. This violence has also severely impacted our security, limiting our freedom of movement and imposing restrictions on our daily lives.”
Finding peace through art and music
Thanks to the generous support of caring people like you , Plan launched the Empower Art for Peace project to help girls like Valery and Yadis.
“We chose art as a medium because it is a powerful catalyst for emotions, enabling individuals to process negative experiences and transform them into meaningful actions,” Sara Erazo, who manages the project, shares.
The Empower Art for Peace project promotes reconciliation and peacebuilding in areas heavily riddled with conflict. By fostering students’ creative energy in school through music, art and creative exercises, they can develop leadership skills while expressing themselves artistically.
Through these creative outlets, young people are gradually empowered to recognize and demand their rights as individuals.
Valery has inspired members in her community with her leadership journey through music.
“For me, music has been the lifeline I need,” Valery says.
A minute of silence
“The situation that most impacts the lives of adolescent girls and young women in our region is the societal context,” 18-year-old Nicol says. “It often limits our self-acceptance as girls or women. Sometimes, we wish we had been born as men to avoid the challenges we face, such as sexual harassment, which is a daily occurrence. These issues cause us to feel less confident — sometimes we avoid wearing certain clothes or even going outside to avoid these situations.”
“I wrote a song ‘Un Minuto de Silencio’ — the song is a minute of silence for the young people who left us, for the government that focuses only on statistics, and for the mothers who cannot stop crying,” Nicol says.
How YOU can help paint a peaceful future
Your generous gifts can inspire other girls, like Nicol, to utilize creative outlets to help them recover from trauma, violence and anxiety.
Whether it’s music bringing communities together to sway to the beat or a beautiful painting or poem to inspire conversation, the Empower Art for Peace project provides a safe space for expression, especially in places where verbalizing certain thoughts and opinions might be dangerous.
“Instead of picking up a gun, we can pick up an instrument, a book or start making art or poetry,” Valery says. “We need to move away from violence and explore possibilities.”
Thank you for helping to curate a future of peace and possibility for girls and young women in Colombia.