Beginning of Activities in the Alternative Rural School of Puerto Guzmán, Putumayo.

A new Alternative Rural School (ERA) begins activities in the municipality of Puerto Guzmán, Putumayo. This productive and educational collaboration platform will provide ex-combatants and the surrounding peasant community with the possibility of developing successful agricultural production projects; will support the food sustainability of peasant families; it will foster cooperative work and consolidate new multisectoral alliances.

This ERA will initially support the fish production project approved by the National Reintegration Council (CNR) for 90 people in the process of reincorporation, belonging to the COMUCCOM cooperative, who have already received the disbursement of 8 million pesos per person, as agreed in the Final Agreement . The fish farming project will be carried out on a 12-hectare plot of land, obtained through a loan with the Mayor's Office of Puerto Guzmán for 5 years, with the possibility of extending it for another 5 years.

The ERA will offer training and tools for the preparation of fish feed with local raw materials, will support the construction of a biofactory and will provide training to produce organic fertilizers, and will accompany the recovery of cocoa and citrus crops that are already in the zone.

This ERA has allies such as the Italian NGO International Committee for the Development of Peoples (CISP) and the Gran Tierra oil company, with whom joint work will be strengthened to provide participants with training, technical assistance and social support throughout of your projects. The National Learning Service (SENA) will also offer training in construction and with them sanitary batteries will be installed. Since its inception, the Puerto Guzmán ERA will have the support of researchers from the University of Notre Dame , who will assess the impact of the ERA on the lives of ex-combatants and communities in the area.