BENPOSTA NATION OF CHILDREN

Benposta is a Spanish ONG Founded in Colombia in 1974 with the social mission of developing programs and actions to help and give support to children that suffer the consequence of exclusion and social marginalization with attention to the fundamental rights of the children.

Benposta is a little paradise for children, in this little piece of land on the edge of Bogota' ,there are fifteen houses, a theater, a football field, two bars, a first aid room, a club and a post office.

It is in every aspect a little nation and they call it: "Nacion de muchachos", (Nation of the children).

Benposta in Bogota’ was started the 17 April 1974 from father Jesus C. Silva Mendez who founded the first house in Spain in 1957.

Sofie, she is the Mayor of Benposta, she is 18 and has been elected in 2007 by the population of the community.

In Benposta there are election to nominate the mayor and the vice mayor, every week there is a general assembly that take place in a little house used as a parliament.

In Benposta, there is a theatre were the children are performing all the time they can, they are passionate about sports, music, dancing and many others activities, the teachers are multi task people with a great passion and human sense




One of the boys that works in the little bakery of Benposta, the children that are living in the accommodation of the little village are working and taking part in the cleaning, cooking and general care of the garden and houses

Benposta is giving a house an education and a family to children of every age until 18 years old, the oldest are helping and teaching to the children, all the aspects of life and life in the community, with the support of various teachers and external personnel.

The refreshing corner in the music house


Lunch time

A night in patrol

La Hormiga is a little city of 20.000 people situated in the southern part of Putumayo, 50 km from the boarder with Ecuador.

Since a year, police and soldiers have managed to control the city and surroundings, from the paramilitary and guerrilla groups that where operating in this area as in all Putumayo.

To maintain the control of the city they patrol day and night constantly, not only for military reason but to make the people feel more secure.

At night police is patrolling the center and the boarder of the city, soldiers are patrolling the rural surroundings.

Flash photography is not permitted, the lights of the jeeps are setting on just when the area is secured from the team.


Police is stopping the convoy to check out a brothel, the violence in the city is at an alert level in the red district, two days before this patrol a 17 year old prostitute has been killed with four shoots in the head, prostitutes are a very good font of information and sometimes they knows too much.


After a emergency call we rush towards a street just outside the city center, a girl has just been stabbed, she will tell me after, that a man attacked her while she was going back home, fighting and screaming has made the man nervous and he stabbed her before abort the sexual attack.
The man is captured shortly after.





The gasoline station of the city is constantly under surveillance, is one of the most dangerous place to work, not only guerrilla and paramilitary wants gasoline but also common people can introduce them self with a gun asking to fill up their tanks.


At late night soldiers are walking outside the city, is a routine patrol, the risk of an ambush is very high but those soldiers are use to shoot every day, and they don't wear helmets unless there is a big fights.


The Patrol is getting throughout a rural part around a petrol refinery, the act of sabotage to the pipe lines is a daily aspect of the war.
The soldiers are patrolling only by walking in a strict silence and communicating by hands.

Pet smuggling in Bogota'

The veterinary unit arrive accompanied by police in a shop in the center of Bogota', in the Caracas street are located all the pet shops of the city, 9 of 10 are illegal or are smuggling pets illegally..



Some of the dogs are in critical condition and dehydrated, unfortunately the law in Colombia doesn't permit any persecution for the owner, but the animals are seized.



Two of the 50 dogs seized in half an hour from 3 shops, some of them are living in their own excrements and are destinate to the black market for fights.



A white Pit Bull probably destined to the fights market, is saved from his owner.



Dogs are checked from the veterinary of the "ADA"



The president of "ADA" explain the motives of the raid to a shop owner that will lose twenty dogs considered in critical condition.



The owner of a shop is questioned by the vice-president of the "association for the defense of animals and ambient" and by a lawyer of the association in constant presence of the police.



Raid in a illegal veterinary shop, in the fridge at the first floor they are found Ketamin (used as a hallucinogen also by people) and unauthorized vaccine.



Some of the cages where the animals were kept before the raid.



In a cage under the sun for most of the day, sharing a tiny space with other pets.

"Manaure, the northern salt mine of south America"

House beside the salt mine. Manaure, Apr 2008.



During the process, the water is becoming red for a chemical reaction.



Manaure, workers are preparing the salt for collection.



Manaure, workers are preparing the salt for collection.



Manaure, workers are preparing the salt for collection.



The village of the workers of the mine is just next to the salty water.



A worker is dividing the dirty salt from the good one.



Worker on his way home after a 12 hours shift under the sun.

Almacafe' the coffe' soul

Almacafe' the coffe' warehouse. Colombia, Santa Marta Feb 2008. Trucks arriving from the mountains of Sierra nevada.

Storing coffe bags is a responsibilty job, one of the more common incident is falling under a mountain of bags with the risk of suffocation or bones fractures.

Almacafe' the coffe' warehouse. Colombia, Santa Marta Feb 2008.

Every single bean of coffe' that is falling in the floor is picked up and put back in the bag.This man does this all day in the werehouse.

The coffe' is store in atemperature in between 35 and 40 degree, and for a maximum period of four months to avoid deterioration.

Alfonso Campo Chief of operation, is having a first look of the cargo just arrived.

Alfonso Campo Chief of operation in a brefing with a guard at the wherehouse entrance. Security is very tight with complicated rules to avoid paramiliatry and guerriglia, attack.

Guards at one of the entrance, is a risky job, often not paid enought.

Set the coffe' for the tasting.

The firs step of a coffe' tasting is smelling it.

Tasting and spitting, the coffe' "somelier" at work in his laboratory.

In the laboratory of Almacaffe' the coffe' get tested before can be allowed to enter in the production chain.

Machinery at work.

The coffe' ready to be exported is poured in to the shipments bags and swen.

Workers are loading and lifting coffe bags during the daily shift that can be 12 hours long.

Workers are loading and lifting coffe bags during the daily shift that can be 12 hours long.

Loading the truck with 600 bags, 8 workers can do it in less than fourty minutes. Each bag weight 70 kg.

Workers are loading and lifting coffe bags during the daily shift that can be 12 hours long.

A worker is pouring one of thousands daily bags in the production machinery.

The truck is ready to live for the port.