The cruelty of violence in “Stories from an invisible country”, by Colombian Pilar Lozano

At the beginning of 2023, one of the novelties that Colombian bookstores are taking is the book written by Pilar Lozano and illustrated by Daniel Rabanalwhose title “Stories from an Invisible Land” It couldn’t have been a better time in these times when many are trying to ensure that the national government does not forget.

In approximately 50 pages, the author also titles such as “He was like my shadow” there “Colombia, my grandfather and me”plunges, as if it were a painting, into the rural world of Colombia, this forgotten world where so many children do not have access to education and where their only option to “grow up” is through arms.

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With good sense, Lozano brings together his journalistic knowledge to tell the harsh reality to which he wanted to draw attention and thus address the public of children, in a similar, albeit more profound way, to what he had done so far in his books, all stemming from his experiences in journalism and based on his techniques for telling the little ones about the good, the bad and the ugly of his country.

inside of “Stories from an Invisible Land”originally published in 2017 and reissued this year by Panamericana Editorial, Pilar Lozano he seeks to tell readers what he had only told adults in the newspaper, that a school in Toribío, in the department of Cauca, adapted its content to prevent children from going to war; that football can also serve as a strategy for peace and can teach children the importance of rules; that the stories, no matter how painful, can be told like the most fantastic movies.

“Los adultos detrás de estas cuatro historias, los encargados de dar palmadas de apoyo en la espalda, defienden la (…) idea: todos los niños, pobres y ricos, de campo y de ciudades, tienen derecho a iguales oportunidades para realizar her dreams; right to a quality education that destroys the hatred that led us to kill each other as brothers” – (Fragment)

In a review published by The weatherthe cultural journalist Sergio Alzate He writes, about the book, that it would be good to stop repeating that we are a fragmented country and that it is rural Colombia that is plagued by violence.

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The reality is that the whole country must, in one way or another, come to terms with its present. Violence does not affect a few, but all. In this sense, the author points out, the teacher in Toribío, the football coach in Medellín or the father in Bogotá can all do their part so that violence is not the reference point of Colombian society.

In “Stories from an Invisible Land”, the author explores on the back of a mule four municipalities harassed by the war and which again receive the children it stole from them, recalls Alzate. In the book, the “real heroes” – as the author refers to the teachers of Toribío (Cauca), Granada (Antioquia), Belén de los Andaquíes (Caquetá) and Istmina (Chocó) – hatch plans to chase the shadow of war from the hands of children who once came to handle a gun.

“Education is a certain way to achieve a less unequal Colombia, closer to a country at peace. Not only to the teachers of El Sesteadero, to all the adults who appear in this book and to many others who have been left behind, I would give them the Cruz de Boyacá. They are all on my personal brave list. They are real heroes, flesh and blood, they protect and risk. They are creators of new life” – (Fragment).

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“Stories from an Invisible Land” It is a necessary book to bring the little ones closer to the reality of who we are as a country, a pleasant tool to make them understand what, day after day, so many people want to ignore.

Pilar Lozano He has been working on this type of content for several years. She has already published several titles and for many years she has stood out as a promoter of reading, helping the youngest to discover the magic of literature.

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