Here in the countryside the guerrillas have always been, since I was very small I have memories of the guerrillas. In the village we knew that they were there, some of them even, we knew them, even though we did not have a direct relationship with them, sometimes I would see them pass by, and they would greet like a member of the village itself. A memory that stayed very engraved for me was, when there were very strong winters and the roads got very ugly, it was very difficult to walk around and take out the harvest, so you would always find the boys using picks and shovels fixing the road a little so that it did not get damaged so much, that always seemed to me very good, because it is that with that single action they helped a lot. And so it was, with how much things had to be done to fix them, they were there collaborating and helping. That idea of helping people was very engraved in my mind.
My family are farmers and although the work in the field was what we learned the most, we also had the opportunity to study and at least finish with a baccalaureate. I said that I wanted to be a veterinarian, I have always liked animals, take care of them and know how to keep them well. Unfortunately there was a very difficult time where everything got very bad, no silver was enough, my family had to get rid of some animals and practically what was harvested was not enough, it was as if you could no longer sell the products. At the same time, there began to be a very strong fear because it was said that the paramilitaries were taking the villages and were fighting with the guerrillas. Everything got very tense. We never saw a fight or anything like that, but it was heard that they were taking villages and that people were being massacred. In our village people lived with a lot of fear.
That same situation made me start to think a little bit more about everything. I started to wonder why these things were happening. And I felt interested in getting to know a little bit more about the ELN. It struck me that when I had the opportunity to speak to them clearly and ask them my interest, they paid attention and started to explain to me their point of view of things and their position, the reason for the struggle. It wasn’t that they told me, ‘walk, come with us’ or something. I liked that a lot, they even talked to my family. In fact, I realized that they already had a good confidence, which I didn’t know.
After a while, I made the decision to join the ELN, because I share their vision, their ideology, I have been able to get to know it in practice and I have been met by honest, warrior and hardworking people, who really are for the people. Then, I felt identified and joined in. Today I am very happy that I did. I even found the possibility to fulfill part of my dreams and at the same time help people, which is what always caught my attention.
by Sofia Helena
From: https://eln-voces.net/?p=12237