Mounzekh! This is how we say “good morning” in Kággaba, the language of koguis, an ethnical group which lives in the mountains of the Serra Nevada of Santa Marta, Colombia. They believe that before the mother of the world, the sea, appears, it was only darkness. They need to know the truth of God and, with this purpose, PEPE arrived to them.
We have been impacted by a picture where all children are-barefoot, because the scarce resources that the country gets only cover the food. We are trying to get shoes and food for the children and soon they are going to receive vitaminized rice that that was donated through a partnership.
The Koguis goes through rough social patches and among them there is the lack of education for children. There are no educational establishments, and they live far from the main cities of the region. Because of this, they can only start studying when they are around 12 years old. But, to the glory of God, this reality is changing.
We set up a unit of PEPE with 40 children there and they have been taught in their own language and culture, since the missionary-educators are from the community. A curious fact about them is that the Koguis people are always dressed on white clothes, because wearing another way would be considered a betrayal to the culture.
Among more than 100 native communities in Colombia, we are already present in two: Wiwas and Koguis. Now we dream in arriving until the Arahuaca children. I count on your prayers so this dream can come true.
Adalci de Ávila
PEPE Colombia national coordinator
Carmen Lígia– text edition (Portuguese version)
Translated by Débora Cristina Ribeiro dos Santos
