BENPOSTA NATION OF CHILDREN

Benposta is a Spanish ONG Founded in Colombia in 1974 with the social mission of developing programs and actions to help and give support to children that suffer the consequence of exclusion and social marginalization with attention to the fundamental rights of the children.

Benposta is a little paradise for children, in this little piece of land on the edge of Bogota' ,there are fifteen houses, a theater, a football field, two bars, a first aid room, a club and a post office.

It is in every aspect a little nation and they call it: "Nacion de muchachos", (Nation of the children).

Benposta in Bogota’ was started the 17 April 1974 from father Jesus C. Silva Mendez who founded the first house in Spain in 1957.

Sofie, she is the Mayor of Benposta, she is 18 and has been elected in 2007 by the population of the community.

In Benposta there are election to nominate the mayor and the vice mayor, every week there is a general assembly that take place in a little house used as a parliament.

In Benposta, there is a theatre were the children are performing all the time they can, they are passionate about sports, music, dancing and many others activities, the teachers are multi task people with a great passion and human sense




One of the boys that works in the little bakery of Benposta, the children that are living in the accommodation of the little village are working and taking part in the cleaning, cooking and general care of the garden and houses

Benposta is giving a house an education and a family to children of every age until 18 years old, the oldest are helping and teaching to the children, all the aspects of life and life in the community, with the support of various teachers and external personnel.

The refreshing corner in the music house


Lunch time

A night in patrol

La Hormiga is a little city of 20.000 people situated in the southern part of Putumayo, 50 km from the boarder with Ecuador.

Since a year, police and soldiers have managed to control the city and surroundings, from the paramilitary and guerrilla groups that where operating in this area as in all Putumayo.

To maintain the control of the city they patrol day and night constantly, not only for military reason but to make the people feel more secure.

At night police is patrolling the center and the boarder of the city, soldiers are patrolling the rural surroundings.

Flash photography is not permitted, the lights of the jeeps are setting on just when the area is secured from the team.


Police is stopping the convoy to check out a brothel, the violence in the city is at an alert level in the red district, two days before this patrol a 17 year old prostitute has been killed with four shoots in the head, prostitutes are a very good font of information and sometimes they knows too much.


After a emergency call we rush towards a street just outside the city center, a girl has just been stabbed, she will tell me after, that a man attacked her while she was going back home, fighting and screaming has made the man nervous and he stabbed her before abort the sexual attack.
The man is captured shortly after.





The gasoline station of the city is constantly under surveillance, is one of the most dangerous place to work, not only guerrilla and paramilitary wants gasoline but also common people can introduce them self with a gun asking to fill up their tanks.


At late night soldiers are walking outside the city, is a routine patrol, the risk of an ambush is very high but those soldiers are use to shoot every day, and they don't wear helmets unless there is a big fights.


The Patrol is getting throughout a rural part around a petrol refinery, the act of sabotage to the pipe lines is a daily aspect of the war.
The soldiers are patrolling only by walking in a strict silence and communicating by hands.