Living Psalm 119:9-16

Living Psalms Book

¿Con qué limpiará el joven su camino…?
-Salmo 119,9

“Los que más sufrimos esa violencia
fuimos los niños y los gallos”.
-Alfredo Molano
“No puede dejar de llorar”

Un reporte

En un momento dado
llegaron a decir
que eran 21,
pero alguien refutó ese primer dato.
Entonces dijeron que 120
hasta que entregaron las últimas armas
en agosto 2017,
y fueron 112 niños
caminando desarmados
sobre el llano
y los centros de transición.

En 50 años de guerra se llevaron a 18, 667.

Cada bando lleva su estadística,
cada bando participa
en esta aritmética atroz,
decía Kapuściński.

Cuando dijeron que había acabado,
39 niños fueron reclamados por sus familias
y ocuparon asientos en escuelas
y miraron canchas en sus barrios
y durmieron en las camas de sus casas.
¿Con qué van a limpiar su camino
cuando ya no estén los comités del CICR
o cuando salgan los chalecos azules de la UNICEF;
cuando no queden materiales en las escuelas
y a las canchas las cubra la hierba
y el polvo de las mineras pilotee otra vez por la casa?
¿Con cuál palabra cuentan en la ceniza
donde lo quieto no tiene paz
y aun se escuchan las bondades de los muertos?

En 2016 se firmó, en Bogotá, Colombia, el Acuerdo Final para la terminación del conflicto & la construcción de una paz estable y duradera, entre el gobierno de Juan Manuel Santos y representantes de las FARC-EP. En esa coyuntura, se ubicó uno de los saldos más duros de esta guerra interna que atraviesa el país hace poco mas de 60 años: la vinculación, uso y reclutamiento de niños, niñas y adolescentes para la guerra.

‘How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
-Psalms 119:9 (NIV)

Those of us who suffer the most from this violence
were the children and the roosters.
-Alfredo Molano
“He can’t stop crying”

A Report

At one point
they came to say
that there were 21,
but someone refuted that first fact.
So they said that there were rather 120,
until they handed over the last weapons
in August 2017,
and there were 112 children
walking now disarmed
on the plains of the mountains
and Transition Centers.

In 50 years of war they took over 18,667.

Each side has its statistics,
each side participates
in this atrocious arithmetic,
said Kapuściński.

When they said it was over,
39 children were claimed by their families
and took seats in schools
and they looked at fields in their “barrios”
and they slept in the beds of their houses.
How can a young person stay on the path of purity,
when the ICRC committees are no longer there
or when the blue UNICEF vests come out;
when there are no materials left in schools
and the fields are covered with grass
and the dust from the mining companies drifts
through their houses again?
What word do they count on in the ashes
where the still stance has no peace
and you can still hear the goodness of the dead?

In 2016, the Final Agreement for the termination of the conflict & the construction of a stable and lasting peace was signed in Bogotá, Colombia, between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and representatives of the FARC-EP guerrilla movement. At this juncture, one of the hardest corollaries of this internal war that the country has been going through for over 60 years struck the country: the recruitment or involvement of children and adolescents by armed forces and armed groups for war.

Living-Psalm-119-9_Maldonado-for-March-17 Download

Living Psalm 119:9-16 was written by Alex Maldonado.

Living Psalms Book is created by UCC Witness & Worship Artists’ Group, a Network of UCC connected artists, activists and ministers bridging the worship and liturgy of the local church with witness and action in the community. Maren Tirabassi, editor

Logo is detail from Living Psalm 80 by Sophia Beardemphl, Redwoods, CA. Recovering from significant bullying, Sophia, age nine, read Psalm 80 and thought of brokenness that needs mending. She drew this broken and mended bowl.