One of Our Best Days So Far

[Ed. note: this brief reflection from San Francisco-based youth activist Rafael Moreno was sent from Colombia, where Moreno & other members of the Fellowship of Reconciliation's youth arts & activism delegation have been visiting young activists in Bogota & Medellin.] Yesterday's visit with members of Red Juvenil was one of the best days of the trip so far. Many of the youth and staff at Red Juvenil remind me of the organization I’m part of — HOMEY’s (Homeys Organizing in the Mission to Empower Youth). I guess it’s because the youth are free to be themselves, have fun, and nobody is seen as more important to their organization than another person; everybody is treated the same.

The people here are very welcoming and it seems as if I knew them before. The many activities we participated in were very interactive and showed how all of us need to work together. One of the activities we did yesterday was: there were two partners and one had to guide the other partner who had their eyes closed. It was harder then you think, since there were times where you had to run really fast and you didn’t know whether you were going to run into somebody since you couldn’t see. This activity was to show people how to trust each other.

Another fun activity we did was silk screen images on t-shirts; I did not participate because I’ve done it many times before and wanted others to get a chance to do it. To end this exciting, fun night, the Red Juvenil members had their music group perform for the U.S. delegates and other youth. The music was real fast but good, everyone was dancing; it ended the night perfectly.