Reconstructing the historical memory of Granizal, Colombia
Marcela Garces Valderrama
Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia
: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry
Abstract
Granizal’s population of 25,000 is home to the highest number of Internal Displaced Population in the country. The reasons for displacement include violence, death threats, and landmines among others. The main contributing factor that leads to a poor quality of life for Granizal community is actually that the region is not legally recognized by the Colombian government, which significantly limits its access to the basic services of quality living conditions. This situation has generated a circle of poverty, because the national and local government is limited to invest in infrastructure, human resources and basic sanitation services as long as the territory is not officially characterized. In addition, there has not yet been a participatory social characterization that retakes its historical memory, which is necessary to advance the process of legalization of the territory. Through a collaborative work between the School of Medicine and the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Antioquia, in cooperation with community leaders and founders, the historical memory of the territory was reconstructed. Through this characterization it was intended to recognize the current state of the territory in terms of habitat, memories of conflict, dispossession, victimization and trajectories of forced migration. Also, aspects such as resilience, community participation and reflections on their life and well-being in the territory were analyzed. Rebuilding the history of victims of the armed conflict in Colombia could promote collective political action and strengthen territorial peace in the perspective of the right to a dignified life. marcela.garces@udea.edu.co
Biography
