Mónica Lorza
Mónica Lorza . Mónica is a Colombian architect who has worked on anti-violence activism in Colombia and has been an active organizer in the humanist movement for over ten years. She was a World March organizer in New York and took part of March activities in Bogotá, Santiago, and Punta de Vacas. She shared her testimonio during a sign-making gathering at a fellow organizer's home in Queens, NY (transcription and translation below):
Translation.
Hi, my name is Mónica. I am from Colombia. I live in New York. I am 31 years old. The March and the connection to my personal story. I believe I come from a very violent country and I was always connected with organization that worked on the conflict, and we worked a lot on the topic of social convivencia. We understood conflict as a creative force, but in the form we were seeing in Colombia, which was armed [conflict]. When I discovered the [humanist] movement and discovered it definition of violence I understood that violence was something more broader and [way] beyond an armed conflict and it comes from ourselves and our interior. And that led me to work on more personal [level] things and on the search of nonviolence at a more personal level. The March and the world: It role and significance today. I believe that is is an inspiration for the entire world, it is an inspiration for me, and it is an inspiration that other kinds of thinking can exist beyond what we talk about on a daily basis. We often think that peace and nonviolence are a dream, but the March is a reality- it is a realization that it is not a dream but that peace can be a reality. The March and the future: Its contribution and projections. I don't know. I don't know what may happen. I believe we rare opening like Pandora's box and that what may come and what may turn out is unknown. Things may happen in 10 or 20 years, like a new wave that not even us have dreamt. [cut] when I was first told the story about the World March to me it seemed only that. It seemed just a story to me. I did not believe in it and I saw it as an illusion. I didn’t understand why I was doing things, [and] even though I was very involved with the [humanist] movement I didn’t think it made any sense. It has been a year, and the March will arrive in the United States in three days, two days, and it is a reality now. So it makes me think about how things that are planned and dreamt for the future can be possible as long as group of people carry on that dream and makes it a reality, as it the case with this march that will be coming through. Item Link
Translation.
Hi, my name is Mónica. I am from Colombia. I live in New York. I am 31 years old. The March and the connection to my personal story. I believe I come from a very violent country and I was always connected with organization that worked on the conflict, and we worked a lot on the topic of social convivencia. We understood conflict as a creative force, but in the form we were seeing in Colombia, which was armed [conflict]. When I discovered the [humanist] movement and discovered it definition of violence I understood that violence was something more broader and [way] beyond an armed conflict and it comes from ourselves and our interior. And that led me to work on more personal [level] things and on the search of nonviolence at a more personal level. The March and the world: It role and significance today. I believe that is is an inspiration for the entire world, it is an inspiration for me, and it is an inspiration that other kinds of thinking can exist beyond what we talk about on a daily basis. We often think that peace and nonviolence are a dream, but the March is a reality- it is a realization that it is not a dream but that peace can be a reality. The March and the future: Its contribution and projections. I don't know. I don't know what may happen. I believe we rare opening like Pandora's box and that what may come and what may turn out is unknown. Things may happen in 10 or 20 years, like a new wave that not even us have dreamt. [cut] when I was first told the story about the World March to me it seemed only that. It seemed just a story to me. I did not believe in it and I saw it as an illusion. I didn’t understand why I was doing things, [and] even though I was very involved with the [humanist] movement I didn’t think it made any sense. It has been a year, and the March will arrive in the United States in three days, two days, and it is a reality now. So it makes me think about how things that are planned and dreamt for the future can be possible as long as group of people carry on that dream and makes it a reality, as it the case with this march that will be coming through. Item Link