I was born during one of the longest civil wars in the history. In 1964 started an internal conflict between the Colombian government and two guerrilla groups, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC, (Revolutionary Forces of Colombia) and the Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional, ELN (National Liberation Army). Thirty-three years later, I was born in Bogota, the capital of the country, and the conflict has not stopped.
Looking back at my childhood, there is nothing I wish it were different. I have a lot of happy memories of playing with my cousins, having sleepovers, and being surrendered among my extensive family. Every day in the news I would hear about shootings, deaths polls, people being displaced and kidnapped around the country. However, all this news about the war would create a profound impact in my life.
I think the first time I hear and saw terrorist attacks outside of my country was during the 9/11 attacks. I was four years old, yet I remember clearly watching the TV with my grandmother the Twin Towers on fire and hearing that an airplane had struck them. At that moment, I knew that not only bad things happened in Colombia, but also around the world.
For the next ten years in my life, I saw the multiples effects that guerrilla wars have left in my country and people. The FARC, ELN, and other groups targeted mainly the inhabitants of the country because they are the most vulnerable. Many people have to leave all the belongings and come to the main cities - Bogota, Medellin or Cali - with the things they can carry in their hands. Due to the lack of education and job opportunities, many of these people are forced to sell in the street or ask for money.
In 2011, when I was 14, my family decided to move to Miami. One of the first I noticed was the level of tranquility everywhere I went. I felt comfortable going walking my dog at night by myself, something I wouldn’t even think about back in my home country. Little that I knew that series of terrorist attacks would start around the world.
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (2012), Boston Marathon bombings (2013), Florida State University shooting (2014), Charlie Hebdo shooting (2015), Paris attacks (2015), and last month’s Brussels attacks; All of these and others attacks are shaping our everyday lives. Paranoia is rising all around the world. Many people think their country and hometown will be next.
Right after this event happens we want to answer to the many why. Why would anyone do this? Why someone kill somebody? Why today? Why me? However, most of the times we can only answer a few. We want to point fingers. We want someone to take responsibility for this actions and the pain we see in the around the world.
My answer for all this is, terrible things happen to people every day. It’s not the most comforting answer, but if we want to win this fight against terrorism, we have to show that we are stronger than this attacks. It’s is not the moment of the bombings that that us apart, it is the fear that gets inside our head. When we stop our normal activities because maybe something will happen, we are allowing terrorist win; we are allowing terror rule our lives.
We are living in a complex world, during complicated times. We have to let ourselves time to grief and mourn the lives taken in all of this attacks, but it is our responsibility to create a world where terrorism has no power.
In my country, a small light is being lit at the end of the tunnel; a peace treaty has to been in the works for a couple of years. While many citizens are against the what the government is offering, this is a beginning for a lengthy healing process.
We need to come together to find solutions, so war does not take more innocent lives.
