Food to the Displaced Indigenous Camp in Bogota

To enter into the camp you have to prove that you are coming with donations because the fear of Bienestar (family social services) coming to take away the babies is so high (they’ve already removed a dozen children). It has already been deemed a place of humanitarian crisis and the next step would be Bienestar coming with the excuse that the mothers in this camp are unfit mothers, taking their babies to put into who knows what kind of foster homes. These homes are provided with the funding to take care of these babies instead of investing that money into the mamas who are wonderful mothers but need support due to the displacement they are suffering. It’s a cycle of colonization that Indigenous people have seen since colonizers arrived to the Americas.

 

The Embera, and 14 other communities living in the camp have been suffering from political violence and illegal mining presence in their territories for the last several decades and in the last few months have been arriving to Bogotá in desperation. Illegal armed groups in their territory have forced them to seek refuge here and unfortunately the Colombian government and Bogotá’s municipal government refuses to acknowledge that it’s happening or aid them. The lack of press coverage is astounding considering the conditions our Embera relatives are living in, however, also unsurprising considering the political climate regarding press coverage of the underbelly of the Colombian government. It’s clear the hope is to brush this under the rug before the international community gets a hold of it and especially to villainize the Embera and Indigenous further from the rest of the Colombian people.

 

Promises have been made in the past to help ease the violence however nothing has been confirmed or followed through on leading to the present situation here. In December a little boy died from lack of medical care due to an intestinal illness and exposure to the elements and a couple weeks ago another died. They are seeking true solutions to the violence in their territory and support in returning to their homelands without the fear of violence, aggression and renewed displacement. As of now the government has yet to acknowledge the existence of this camp of almost 2,000 people.

 

After delivering previous donations and clothing to the camp my hope now is to focus on having food delivered. My contacts within the camp tell me they haven't eaten in a week now and the children are being given flour and water to help their bellies stop hurting.

 

I have friends and family on the ground who have agreed to help bring the food once they receive the donations but am always looking to add to the list so that we don't exhaust the few volunteers we have. <3. Please email me through the fundraiser. If you follow me on social media you can also reach out to me through those channels.