Postcode Lottery in Colombia with ICCO

Last week, the Dutch National Postcode Lottery visited several projects of ICCO in Colombia. The Lottery, who is an important donor for ICCO, regularly visits projects of their beneficiaries. This year, the Lottery's managing director and several members of their Supervisory Board wanted to visit project of ICCO in Colombia. This past week, they were in Bogota, together with ICCO's chairman of the Executive Board, Marinus Verweij and others.

Colombia is a country that suffers internal armed conflicts. Due to these conflicts, many people are  driven from their land, forced to leave everything they have behind. What is left to them is a life of poverty in the large cities. ICCO in Colombia therefore focusses on the rights of these displaced people, on their role in the peace process and tries to stimulate their economic development.

Through partners MIGD and PCS, the Postcode Lottery was introduced to a number of indigenous farmers. These farmers have also lost their land and must start again from scratch in another place. By joining a network of farmers, they are now able to sell their products better and have gained a stronger economic position. With the help of ICCO's partners receive training in the cultivation of new crops and learn about marketing of their products for a better price by selling directly to consumers and for export. The honesty and strength of the farmers was impressive. Emilio, one of the farmers, says: "I'm just a farmer and I want to hold on to my traditions, but I am not a beggar and want to work for my money. My first crop failed because the climate was different in my new territory, but through education and because we have a group of farmers who joined forces, now I  manage to make money again and can build something".

The second partner who was visited was the Fundacion Pequeño Trabajador. This organization works with children in the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods of Bogota. FPT helps them to make a living under good circumstances, by making and selling homemade items. That way, the organization tries to keep these children from the hardship of illegal child labor. In addition, they provide the children with education and good nutrition. During the visit, the children proudly showed the products they made and presented themselves confidently to our group of Dutch people. What struck the delegation of the Lottery most was the resilience of the children, their maturity and eloquence and also the joy that exploded from them, despite their difficult circumstances.

As Marinus Verweij said: "In this country you can see how ICCO's approach can make impact. Both by continuing to fight for human rights as well as focusing on educational and economic development for children and adults, slowly progress can be seen on the longer term". For the Postcode Lottery the visit was an interesting introduction to our work. 

ICCO has been supported by the Postcode Lottery since 2008.The Dutch Postcode Lottery was founded in 1989 with the aim to contribute to a fairer, greener world. This is done by increasing public awareness and raising funds through a lottery. No less than 50% of its' profit is donated to 81 organizations who work on poverty alleviation, human rights, nature & environment or social cohesion within the Netherlands. Since its launch, the Postcode lottery has become Holland's biggest and most popular charitable lottery, who donated an amount of 270 million euro to these good causes in 2010. In addition to an annual institutional contribution, the Lottery provides opportunities for publicity among a broad Dutch public, as well as 2 annual opportunities to submit projects for extra funds.

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