“Caminata por la Vida”: Pilgrimage in Colombia - in the Name of GRACE

Approximately 400 people will go on a Peace Pilgrimage in the area of the peace community San José de Apartadó from October 1st to October 5th, 2008. Peace workers from Israel, Palestine and many more countries - including representatives of the “new South American spirit of resurrection” from Mexico, Ecuador and other countries - will be led by Sabine Lichtenfels and Padre Javier Giraldo, together with experienced regional guides.

The idea for this pilgrimage grew out of the long standing cooperation between the Peace Research Centre Tamera, Portugal, and the Peace Village San José de Apartadó. Together with the inhabitants of other Colombian Peace Villages, they will show with this peace action their commitment to build up a global peace force which no longer stops at national borders.

The pilgrimage will pass through villages and hamlets surrounding San José, where, due to their remoteness, people live near military posts, police headquarters and other significant locations of the rebellion, totally unprotected between the fronts of the civil war. The goal of the pilgrimage is to become familiar with the threat to which Colombian peasants are exposed, to develop peace strategies, and to strengthen the Ring of Power – a confraternity for a future without war!
A media team will accompany The Caminata por la Vida – Grace Pilgrimage 2008.

“Creating Knowledge for a Peace Culture”

Following the pilgrimage an Educational Camp is to take place from October 7th to October 17th in San José de Apartadó. This event will mark the start of the Global Campus. In cooperation with the Campesino University of Resistance (Universidad del la Resistencia), participants will learn ecological and technological strategies for sustainability and self-sufficiency, for social knowledge, for conflict resolution and community development for peace villages, for social sustainability as well as non-violent resistance – knowledge that is needed to develop stable, nonviolent and self-sufficient peace villages.

The Caminata por la Vida – Grace Pilgrimage is an international peace action "in the Name of Grace"
It is a concrete peace action as well as an exemplary initiative for the development of a global peace force for a future without war. We invite you to participate in the pilgrimage and the subsequent Educational Camp, and also hope you will support this action by financially sponsoring the participation of Colombian pilgrims.   

For more information and current reports: grace-pilgrimage.com