Colombia: Sueños en Ruta (Dreams on Route)

• In Event: Uplifting Young Children’s Voices for Social Change

Proposal

Since the socio-economic and security crisis in Venezuela began in 2015, millions of Venezuelans have left the country to find save harbor. Colombia currently hosts approximately 2.8 million Venezuelan migrants (IOM, 2024). Some remain in Colombia while others continue their journeys either north through the Darién gap in Panama or south to other parts of South America. While there have been numerous news reports about this crisis, the voices and experiences of young children and their families have been virtually non-existent.

This project used a qualitative participatory process to engage young children and their families to tell their stories about their experiences as migrants from Venezuela in Colombia. A local Colombian organization, La Otra Juventud, in partnership with ChildArise and IRC Colombia, facilitated community engagement processes with Venezuelan migrant-led organizations using a range of technologies from digitizing children’s own drawings and maps to wearable GoPro video cameras that children wore to document their homes. The work resulted in four different participatory products: a documentary film, several short video clips, a thematic “vox pop,” and a digital photo book. The presentation will share lessons on empowering young children and families to use technology to be social change agents in hopes of influencing local, national, and global views of Venezuelan migrant children and families.

Author

• Leidy Angélica Esquivel Jimenez, ChildArise