Help SOLIVIDA: Aid Displaced Families in Cali, Colombia

SOLIVIDA is a non-profit organization that assists displaced families within the city of Cali, Colombia. This organization was founded in 1992 as the Solidarity for Solid Life Association, and was legally established as ESAL in 1996. Their work consists of providing legal and psychosocial support to the victims of armed conflict, documenting the victims’ information in order to lead them on a path to recovery, and improving the victims’ ability to access justice and make it easier for them to exercise their social rights. SOLIVIDA has a very ethical outlook. Victims are given the opportunity for acceptance and solidarity to integrate as new citizens on equal terms. It respects all cultures that come for help and continues to care for victims long after they receive care for the first time. As victims of armed conflict are burdened by stigma, SOLIVIDA’s care must consolidate strategies must also be aimed at the recipient population so victims can be integrated fluently without the loss of rights for the victim population. Since its founding, SOLIVIDA has helped approximately 4,750 families and around 25,000 individuals that were affected by different forms of violence.

This summer, I had the opportunity to visit and work with SOLIVIDA. I saw and helped many of the families in need. Most of the victims do not have a stable home-life and job and some cannot even write their own name. They come to SOLIVIDA and some wait hours to receive relief kits that contain basic necessities that aid them in their daily lives.

SOLIVIDA’s office is very small and does not receive a lot of donations. It contains a small rack for clothes, a fridge where they sometimes receive donations from a meat processing facility, and many file cabinets that contain records for each person that was assisted by the organization. Despite SOLIVIDA’s efforts, there is still a very large portion of the victim population that does not receive care. Furthermore, it does not help that SOLIVIDA does not receive much aid itself. It needs funding for more supplies in order to assist more families around Colombia.