Colombia

La Vida has been supporting projects in Colombia since 2010

Colombia has suffered for decades with armed conflicts fuelled by the lucrative drug trade. Many thousands have been killed and millions have abandoned their homes in search of safety and ended up living in poverty, in unsafe shanty towns on the outskirts of the cities.

Darwin

When he was just eight years old, Darwin was living on the streets of Medellin. He had turned to marijuana, cocaine, pills and glue sniffing to get by after his mother abandoned him. She was surviving through prostitution and later died stabbed. Darwin says he joined the Antorchas family because there was food and he wanted the chance to study. He was “dirty, skinny, with lice in his hair and very lost.” He now goes to college and dreams about learning English, serving his time in the military, and then going to USA to work for the FBI, make lots of money and go back to Colombia.