About the project

The area of Manrique where the project is located, scored third lowest on the poverty scale and second lowest on the quality of life scale among the 16 districts of Medellin. This heavily populated area has one of the highest numbers of internally displaced people that had to leave their homes due to the armed conflict. In search of a new home they found themselves living in makeshift housing, with no support networks, and jobless. The municipal services have not been able to keep pace with the growing needs of the community and have been struggling to provide basic services such as waste collection .

Unemployment here is twice the national average and half the people rely on day-to-day jobs. One in five children say they go hungry every day because their family does not have enough money to buy food. This mix of poverty, combined with lack of work opportunities and support mechanisms leaves the neighbourhood more vulnerable to a whole range of social disruptions.

People living here are more likely to become victims as well perpetrators of violent actions, something to which they have become accustomed. Domestic violence carries on unidentified, unreported and perpetuated. Two thirds of all reported sexual violence is committed against children and more than half of all the victims of homicides are youth. Illegal armed groups and gangs seem to rule the area after sunset.

As a part of our situation analysis we used the Problem Tree Method to capture the key problem, the roots of the problem and some of the consequences that our community is facing daily. The broken social fabric, absence of positive youth development activities and role models, presence of criminal networks, high unemployment and insufficient life skills, missing livelihood opportunities all contribute to high social, psychological and economical vulnerability of the people we work. When faced with adversary situations, which are frequent in the neighbourhood, and given the lack of social outreach (such as counselling) they frequently deploy negative or even damaging coping strategies such as substance abuse, violence perpetuation, succumbence to peer pressure. Youth present an easy target for recruitment into illegal armed groups providing them with a sense of belonging. Girls, in their effort to build self-esteem and due to peer pressure, start relationships as early as at the age of 10 - they form couples

These negative strategies, when unchallenged, turn into patterns impacting the community - lead to increase in domestic violence, teenage pregnancy, malnutrition among children, dysfunctional families and also compromised health etc. Drug and alcohol addiction is high, leaving a fifth of all men with mental health disorders due to alcohol abuse. Nearly a third of girls experience pregnancy at least once between 15-19 years of age. Hence it is of no surprise that less than a third of children in the district live with their parents. Manrique has the largest proportion of infants with low birthweight within the metropolitan area , and the second highest rate of infant mortality pointing to insufficient nutrition during pregnancy and substance abuse among other factors. Many families fail to provide the children and youth with healthy role models, a stable environment and basic life skills.

The neighbourhood of MarÍa Cano-Carambolas is experiencing the perpetuating cycle of poverty, exclusion and violence. This is why we educate, accompany, mentor and provide practical assistance to the residents of this ‘poorest of the poor’ neighbourhood.