These are the stories of people who reflect Colombia’s diversity and who are united by the pain wrought by the armed conflict, and through a shared hope for a true and lasting peace.

Stephen Haymes’ academic work focuses on the study of afro-descendant communities who were displaced from the Colombian Pacific coast.  A researcher on peace issues, human rights education, and the socio-political attacks suffered by these communities, he is the author of Race, Culture and the City: A Pedagogy for Black Urban Struggle. “Race is a social construction, and one of the most powerful instruments for generating false mythologies and false beliefs”. He is also a student of the works of Celestin Freinet. “Urban societies have substituted work with employment, forgetting the importance of being committed to not only their own well-being, but that of the whole community too. The biggest challenge of all is for these people to be able to live autonomously, developing their own model of peace”.

Delphine and Mario wrote the stories for the ‘Beautiful madness’ after a trip to the Naya river basin in June 2016.  During that journey they accompanied the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (CIJP) and met with women and men from indigenous, Afro-descendant and farming communities from around Colombia, and witnessed the inauguration of the University for Peace’s first campus, the beginning of an initiative that seeks to generate initiatives that will bring peace to the territories.