The municipality of Anolaima is situated in the province of Tequendama, in the department of Cundinamarca, one hour and a half from Bogotá. It is a rural community. By its topography, it benefits from a large variety of thermal levels that have enabled it to become the orchard of Colombia. However, the municipalty, according to the Plan of Municipal Development of the current administration, finds itself relatively isolated in comparison to the towns and to the important populations of the department, causing difficulties in the commercialisation of the agricultural products.

In this context, the chain of intermediaries between the producers and the consumers in the towns makes the ‘’campesino’’ (small local producer) receive a poor remuneration for his work meaning a very poor income for the majority of the population and an economy poorly stimulated and poorly diversified for the commune. There is no plan for local development with a view to regroup all the efforts of the population towards common goals generating organising systems with social aims.

As well as its economical problem linked to its isolation, the municipality finds itself confronted to current cultural, social and political tendencies transmitted by communications means. Children’s education is actually of very poor quality and not always very available in rural remote zones where huge infrastructural problems prevail and do not help a qualitative education. All this has for consequence that a young adult obtaining his highscholl degree is unable to continue his education and enter university. Then for these, the only hope is to go to Bogotá to work as there is no employment opportunity on their village. The youth who should be studying further or work locally leave their village to go and "produce’’ outside their community, without further education.

Finally, there are no recognised channels of participation for the children and the young in the public life of the town. They then become the invisible actors of their village. Their hopes, interests and eventual suggestions are not taken into consideration when they are the future of the municipality. They do not have an adequate meeting place for their personal education or development.

With all this situation in mind, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter together with the Foundation Saint Martin de Porres, has envisaged the development of a project for the creation of a social and cultural Center in the municipality of Anolaima, with a double aim: on one hand, it would be an alternative educational project to school education that would link the interests of both children and young to the process of local development. And on the other, this project must have a degree of self research generating a knowledge of the village since to this date no studies have been made that would generate enough and precise information on the social problems of the village and its possible solutions. (click here).