Beto
Working for peace
All about Beto
Beto is a 16 year old boy from La Libertad which is a poor gang run community in Medellin, Colombia. The environment he grew up in was very violent, at home especially due to his adopted older brother Germ'an who repeatedly beat him and his younger sister well into Betos teens until he became sick of the threats and the violence, he fought back and won. Before Beto was born he had an older brother Freddie, but he was taken away by the people who baby sat him saying Betos mother was unfit to care for him and they kept him. Later on when Beto
was older he joined the local church as an alter boy, and from there he joined a workshop, a drama club and later on he
joined the peace group ¨Redepazs¨ child movement. He made a local chapter of the organization and made many activity's for the members to do. At one conference he replied to what one member said about the lack of justice "What's it matter that we have a right to peace and that we have a right to justice if we're dead?". The children made there own organization in 1998. What
Beto is hoping to accomplish is to teach children to respect adults and adults to do the same for children and protect the rights of children. Beto continued to fight because he wants Colombia to be safe for the children and also spread peace. His organization was nominated for the Noble Peace prize multiple times but never won.Medellin
This is the scene after a shooting in the city of Medellin, Colombia when a man was shot to death by two unknown gunmen in his home on Sept. 26, 2009
Colombian Church
This is a church not much different than the church Beto worked in as an alter boy were he was first introduced to drama, a work shop and eventually the peace organization that he joined and is still in today
How the Medellin slums of Colombia look like?