Colombia

MLI in Colombia

MLI has been registered as an international non-profit organization in Colombia since 2017, working to implement humanitarian and sustainable initiatives across the country. Our mission in Colombia is to contribute meaningfully to post-conflict communities by:

Raising awareness about the landmine issue and promoting support for survivors
Cultivating leadership, peacebuilding, and cross-cultural exchange through education
Building long-term relationships between Colombian and U.S. youth

Numerical Data

Peacemakers and Problem Solvers (PMPS)

Since 2018, Peacemakers & Problem Solvers (PMPS) has connected high school students from Colombia’s Urabá subregion—including municipalities such as Chigorodó and Carepa—with peers from schools in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Through virtual exchange sessions, students explore leadership and peacebuilding topics such as conflict resolution, empathy, teamwork, and communication. Working collaboratively with their international peers, they identify real challenges in their communities and design service-learning projects to address them locally.

Impact to date:

Over 150 students and teachers have completed the full curriculum
Youth-led projects have impacted 2000+ people, addressing bullying, mental health, food insecurity, and more

Why it matters: PMPS empowers youth to become global citizens and local agents of change, giving them the skills and confidence to lead peace-focused initiatives in their own communities.

Community Members Benefitted by PMPS

Learn More About PMPS

Diocesano Laura Montoya School in Chigirodó

La Provincia School in Carepa

El Cerro School in Carepa

Celestino Diaz School in Chigirodó

Children Against Mines Program (CHAMPS)

CHAMPS brings landmine awareness among young students in mine-affected rural areas of Colombia—such as the Urabá region in Antioquia and Putumayo—by pairing them with peers from the United States.

Pilot year (2022–2023): 24 third-grade students and 4 teachers from Urrao, Antioquia, connected for the first time with 15 U.S. students from Glenelg Country School, marking Colombia’s debut in the CHAMPS program. Learn more
2023–2024: CHAMPS expanded to three Colombian schools, enhancing landmine awareness in rural Antioquia. The program engaged 55 students—44 from schools in Urrao, Colombia, and 11 from Glenelg Country School in Maryland, USA. Learn more
2024–2025: Students from urban Bogotá and rural Putumayo, both in Colombia, came together to engage with U.S. peers. Across borders, more than 45 students explored the impact of landmines and harnessed the power of youth to drive change. Learn more

Why it matters: CHAMPS raises awareness among children about the impact of landmines, promotes mine safety, and fosters empathy and global understanding through virtual collaboration.

Learn More About CHAMPS

Urrao, Antioquia

Puerto Caicedo, Putumayo

Bogotá, D.C.

Future in Colombia

Continue PMPS programming in Chigorodó and Carepa, with planned expansion into additional municipalities across the country.
Expanding CHAMPS partnerships into new rural areas, mine-affected areas.
Explore a mine detection dog program in partnership with local stakeholders to support demining efforts and survivor care.

Donate to expand PMPS and CHAMPS programs across Colombia.
Partner with us to introduce mine-detection dogs to Colombia and support demining and survivor assistance.
Volunteer or support our local teams as we grow and reach more communities.