AWARD YEAR
2023
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions
KEYWORDS
social issues, displaced people, poverty, armed conflict, shelters
COUNTRY
Colombia
DESIGNED BY
Paulina Gomez
WEBSITE
https://issuu.com/paulinagomez1802/docs/centro_re_paulina_gomez
RE Care Center
RE CareCenter is a space that brings together solutions for the reintegration of victims in Colombia
How does it work?
The RE center was born from an exhaustive investigation about the recovery process of the victims of the armed conflict, since among them there are many differences, the only characteristic that unites them is the need to move forward after this traumatic event. This is why the center offers different spaces for each type of victim, starting from the most important thing, which is their recognition before the State, since the latter grants certain aids for their subsistence, to the need for shelter, since many of them are displaced from their villages. Complementing the above, the need for psychological support from conversation circles, the ease of training to find a job and art as a way to express their pain and transmit it to the rest of the people.
The RE center is a hinge between the victims who turn to it out of necessity and the rest of the city that sees it as a center where the memory of the conflict is promoted.
Why is it needed?
Currently in Colombia, the peace agreement does not offer comprehensive solutions for victims and ex-combatants, so they lack real opportunities to integrate into society. There are organizations that are in charge of providing basic services including economic assistance, however, due to the fact that many of these people come from the countryside, they do not get a job because they lack the required studies or skills. This is especially true in the capital city of Bogota, where thousands of displaced people are received in search of a new horizon.
This is why the Center offers these basic aids and spaces in which these people can be trained to apply for jobs and also generate a network of contacts in case they prefer to start a business. This center results in a solution beyond what is strictly necessary.
Apart from the above, art has been a way for many of these people to dialogue with the rest of the world and to heal, since art is directly connected to feelings.
How does it improve life?
This project does not make life easier through a product, but it does improve the quality of life of a group of people seriously affected by a situation that in Colombia has unfortunately been going on for more than 50 years. Through this project we want the victims to find a way to be "reborn" through the different aids that are proposed and thus give them the opportunities they need so much. Despite being a problem that has been occurring for decades in the country, there are still many deficiencies in the way it is treated, leaving aside fundamental aspects such as the mental health of people or the simple fact of having a shelter where they can find people who may have gone through the same situation and empathize with each other in order to form bonds from new horizons.
The RE center is that hand that the victims need to move forward and overcome this event without forgetting it, since the memory prevails, but it becomes a scar in the process of healing.