“In response to the current drug war in his home country, Colombia, Deivid Rojas ’11 decided to begin a program, Taller de Paz — meaning “workshop for peace” in Spanish — that would provide internally displaced youth with a safe space to use art as a means of expression and empowerment.

A team of four Swarthmore students, Rojas, Alex Frye ’11, Camila Leiva ’09 and Andres Freire ’10, along with the organization Conciencia Social — Spanish for “social conscience” — launched Taller de Paz in Bogotá, Colombia last summer.

The project has three specific goals: Give refugees access to safe spaces and educational tools, teach them specific skill sets in the areas of technology and teamwork, and guide them through the development of a final project that uses all the skills they’ve learned.” … Read the full story by MENGHAN JIN at the Phoenix Published January 28, 2010