The Martyn Bennett Trust is supporting a new music project for young people in a conflict zone in Colombia. In the Colombian Pacific the lives of many Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Peoples have been devastated by conflict.
The region of Chocó on the Pacific Coast is the poorest part of Colombia with more than 80% of the population living below the poverty line. Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities are struggling to maintain their cultural traditions amidst the threat of massacres and forced displacement.
In the city of Quibdo where thousands of people have been displaced from the surrounding countryside young people are particularly vulnerable to recruitment into guerrilla and paramilitary groups.
Over the next year The Martyn Bennett Trust will be supporting the Mama Ù Cultural Centre in Quibdo which provides a place of refuge for these displaced young people. A place where they can recuperate from the hardships of their everyday life, fulfil their own potential and the overall objective of the Centre which is to encourage the rich and diverse Afro-Colombian and Indigenous artistic traditions and rediscover the values and artistic forms that strengthen identity and resistance.
The Centre runs a range of activities in shanty towns of Quibdo, such as workshops on Afro-Colombian and Indigenous cultural values and ethics, identity and artistic expression, human rights and the empowerment of young people.
The Centre also runs small artistic workshops in the neighbourhoods of Quibdo, an annual Art Festival for young people and conducts research on the cultural traditions of Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Peoples, their music, poetry, dance and games. The Centre records these and supports communities to maintain their living traditions.
The Martyn Bennett Trust aims to support a musical tuition project for the Afro-Colombian and Indigenous young people of Quibdo’s shanty towns and will be posting video footage on the Martyn Bennett Trust Website to show how this project is able to help young people rediscover their culture and stay safe from the conflict that surrounds them.
£5,000 will help keep this project running for another year – that's a minimum of £100 from 50 participants. More will help the Mama Ù Cultural Centre and The Martyn Bennett Trust to do more.
If the physical challenge isn’t up your street we need volunteers to help us run the event. Could you be a:
- Marshall that weekend (particularly those with event experience and first aider skills)
- First Aider that weekend (up to date first aid experience, doctor or nurse)
- General helper on the day (setting up food, water stations, markers)
- Contributor in the run up to the event (home baking, sweet, fruit or water donations welcome or just some free time – even if you are participating)
if you are interested fill out the Run Mama Run volunteer form asap.
