Located in a small village called La Quisquina (Palmira, Colombia), and shining amid the Andean Mountains, appears this small chapel as a symbol of hope and reconciliation, between its past – tinted by the armed conflict in Colombia – a history of cruelty, despair and devastation and its present.
In the past, thirty years ago, after the demobilisation agreement was signed between Colombia's government and the ‘19th April Movement’ (M-19), some of the guerrilla members were offered a piece of land to live and work in the area, among the locals, to start a new way of living in peace, as civilians and political actors.
Today, every Sunday morning, the small chapel welcomes its parishioners as a reminder of faith, love, and especially hope, in a country hit by decades of armed conflict.
La verdad os hará libres, 'The truth will set you free', is written on a large wooden cross next to the chapel.
In the past, thirty years ago, after the demobilisation agreement was signed between Colombia's government and the ‘19th April Movement’ (M-19), some of the guerrilla members were offered a piece of land to live and work in the area, among the locals, to start a new way of living in peace, as civilians and political actors.
Today, every Sunday morning, the small chapel welcomes its parishioners as a reminder of faith, love, and especially hope, in a country hit by decades of armed conflict.
La verdad os hará libres, 'The truth will set you free', is written on a large wooden cross next to the chapel.
'La verdad os hará libres' ('The truth will set you free'). © Maria Angel
Maria Angel is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at University College London.