Text & Photos: Julie Schwietert Collazo

Happy 2009!

One of our big projects this year (there are so many!) is to really get Voces de Mompox/Mompox Voices up and running.

If you’re new to CollazoProjects, Voces de Mompox is an after-school program we started in Mompox, Colombia back in July during our month-long visit to this geographically isolated town. We met an incredible group of 9th graders, who began learning how to use cameras, videos, writing, and web technology to tell the world about themselves and their country.

The kids were both moved and motivated by readers’ comments, and by the outpouring of support for their writing, photos, and videos. So far, we’ve raised just over $500 for the project, and we’ll be partnering with other social entrepreneurs to get the kids a physical space and the equipment they need to continue their reporting from Colombia.

A digital camera is currently on the way to the kids, so expect to hear and see more from them soon.

In the meantime, here are a few of our own photos from Colombia, a preview of the stories we have to share with you in 2009….

A father and son continue the more than century-old tradition of hand-crafting gold and silver filigree jewelry.

Images from the Escuela de Taller, a trade school that teaches men–and women!–the craft of ironwork, simultaneously offering rehabilitation opportunities to men who were once members of paramilitary forces.