Student. Footballer. Brother.
Oscar’s family ran for their lives
Oscar, 10 years old: “I used to live in Buenaventura, Colombia. I liked living there because we always went to the beach on the weekends and my sister Darly and I would go into the mangroves and hunt for little crabs. Now we live in Soacha and there is no beach here, but that’s okay because I have many friends and I play football a lot. My friends call me Ronaldo, because I am so good at football! My mom is looking for a football club for me so that I can become a better football player. I have four footballs at home. These are the things that make me happy.”
Oscar and his family fled from Buenaventura, a city on the Pacific Coast of Colombia, a few years ago when a family member was killed by an illegal armed group. They moved to Cali and then to Soacha, a shantytown outside the capital, Bogota. There they live in a makeshift house with no running water. Soacha is inhabited by thousands of other families who have fled the decades long violence in Colombia. Oscar goes to a local school where other displaced children study. His mom is the sole breadwinner and works as a hairdresser which allows her to keep the family in Soacha where she says it’s safer and they can move freely.
Refugees. Ordinary people living through extraordinary times. Share their stories.
The majority of Colombia’s 5.7 million displaced people are trying to rebuild their lives in illegal settlements in urban centres like Soacha. These shantytowns have no basic services such as access to clean water or electricity. UNHCR is helping people like Oscar and the wider community where he lives by advocating with the government to get them the services that they need and are entitled to.
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