Restoring ecosytems and society in Columbia

My story of hopefulness is a community association composed of indigenous communities, black communities and peasant communities along a new river in Colombia. They were impacted by the construction of a dam 20 years ago and at the beginning, they responded with strikes and anger, but eventually they organised to restore their livelihoods and created an association of 96 community based organisations, with the aim to create a unique sustainable development model under agroecological principles, with a unique governance system. In each of the family, or traits they cultivate more than 80 food species, avoiding chemicals, pesticides and fertilisers and are able not only to have healthy diets but to support communities around them including trading in their local stores. They also jointly decided to restore the river basin and planted diverse tree species to protect the mangrove forests with a joint action to stop these production by large trim companies. They ensure clean drinkable water in every household with solar energy and traditional water filters, solving a health problem. They use the earnings from the agricultural production into education and have been able to ensure that the young leaders of the community returned to the community. This is a true regeneration model to restore ecosystems and societies.