Testimonies of war and peace. A view from the schools of the catatumbo region

Abstract

In Colombia the latent armed conflict has been characterized by different forms of violence, with particularities of time, contexts, actors and dynamics that make it even more complex and with a prominent characteristic, regarding the violation of dignity and human rights especially against the civilian population. The Catatumbo Region and its inhabitants have closely suffered the effects of more than five decades of violence and it is hoped that after the signing of the peace treaty with the guerrilla group that had the greatest influence in the region, the situation would have changed for the better. This research collects the opinions of a group of students belonging to the Filo de Palo Headquarters, and teachers working in the community. A mixed research is developed in which the survey and the interview are used as data collection instruments. The results show that the informants think that there have been many effects both at individual and community level. They show a certain pessimism towards a better future and conclude that the educational process is one of the sectors that demands greater support from local authorities in order to offer new and better opportunities than those currently experienced by the academic community.

Keywords

• armed conflict
• educational actors
• types of violence
• catatumbo region