School Offers Hope, Peace to Colombians
by Maria Cristina Caballero, Miami Herald op-ed
May 22, 2002

Colombia struggles every day against terrorism. While the terrorist attacks from the factions in conflict have dramatically increased on the verge of the presidential election, some leaders have quietly prevailed in working toward development and peace. No one has achieved more-concrete and amazing results in Colombia than Father Francisco de Roux, director of Colombia's Magdalena Medio Development Project, which oversees more than 90 development projects in 29 municipalities.

Father de Roux -- who has a doctorate in economics from La Sorbonne in Paris and a mast er's degree from the London School of Economics -- is building trust and social capital in the middle of a war region.

''After years of study, I finally realized that the key issue is to empower people through education and development,'' he said during a recent visit to Harvard. He was the main speaker of a discussion hosted by Joseph Nye, dean of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School. His presentation sparked a host of actions here.

De Roux and his team aim to educate, train and empower the poverty-stricken population to help themselves through building schools, businesses and enhancing a University Toward Peace (Unipaz). De Roux started each project with an average investment of $40,000, with a $5 million loan from the World Bank: ''That's less than half what a Black Hawk helicopter costs,'' he likes to point out. The European Union recently approved $30 million to support a ''lab toward peace,'' where the core goal is to expand de Roux's projects. Each project will have an a verage investment of $1 million. All of the new projects would benefit about a million Colombians.

De Roux's team works in extremely adverse circumstances. Ten of his employees have been killed by the warring factions. Nevertheless, he and the people of Magdalena Medio are determined to go ahead with this project as a symbol of hope for Colombia.

After his presentation at Harvard, many asked how they could help. De Roux told them that the priority is to help the University Toward Peace. ''Providing alternatives and hope to young Colombians who are willing to study and dedicate their professional lives to this country's development would be one of the best ways to help Colombia,'' he said.

About 4,000 Colombian teenagers who have applied to study at Unipaz don't have the $200 per semester tuition cost. So a group of graduate students here decided to create a foundation, Fundapaz-Colombia, whose priority will be to coordinate academic and economic support for Unipaz.

De Rou x agreed to be a member of the board of directors. Two Kennedy School professors, John Thomas and Alfred Schipke, also will be on the board.

''We dream to educate women and men for peace and harmony with their fellow Colombians and with Colombia's natural resources,'' de Roux said.

Colombian teenagers have told him that they would like to study about economic development, management, law, human rights, conflict resolution, leadership and medicine. Right now, Unipaz offers bachelor programs to become teachers, nurses, veterinarians, environmental and sanitation engineers and agronomists. But Unipaz is in a critical economic situation because few students can pay the tuition.

Unipaz also needs academic support. Fundapaz is proposing a mentoring program or to send the university's professors and students some updated materials related to their field of study. Help in financing textbooks and/or tuition is also a goal.

The mentoring program could begin by Internet, so Unipaz is seeking donations of computers with Internet access. A Harvard Law School student and a Latin American scholar are accelerating the official creation of Fundapaz -- whose treasurer is a Colombian who works in Harvard's financial department.

About 4,000 Colombian teenagers' futures depend on the generosity of the people who have had more opportunities. We still have time to give them hope.

If you would like to join the efforts to help the Colombian University
toward Peace, please send an e-mail to: [email protected]

return to top