My name is Camilo* I’m a
young Afro-Colombian who left his
homeland due to threats by paramilitaries
and FARC guerrillas. In april 2006, a massacre took
place and the paramilitaries killed a
six young guys. Then some time
later, in August, several paramilitaries
were killed in a disco and from
then on everything was just a time
bomb. The next day some guys from
the FARC got on our bus, looking
like the American dream, and when
the bus got to the corner where the
paramilitaries had been buried, a
gun fight broke out. The bus driver
cried because he didn’t know what
to do. They made us climb up a hill
and lie on the ground. Four people
died and about forty were injured.
The FARC guys left and then the
next odyssey began. We had to leave
the bus and escape!
*Names and places have been altered upon the
request of the narrators.
*Excerpts from the book “Voices, Stories of Violence and hope in Colombia” 2009