Search Results for: combatant

Colombia’s Farc ex-combatants and police paddling together

Colombia’s Rafting For Peace raft team made a big impression on all who attended the 2019 World Rafting Champs in Australia earlier this year (see Rifles for paddles). They were touched by their amazing story and admired the strength these paddlers showed in not only taking on learning to raft, but to also step away

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April 6 was declared as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP) by the UN General Assembly in 2013. This decision represented a significant step in recognising the transformative power of sport and its great potential in advancing positive social change. The International Rafting Federation (IRF) is aligned with the mission and

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Exchanging rifles for paddles: Ticos and ex-guerillas of the FARC

A Costa Rican rafting mission led by the company Rios Tropicales and the United Nations traveled to Colombia to meet with a group of ex-guerrillas from the FARC. Teaching them to tame the rapids of the Pato River, in complete peace, was the reason for the singular adventure. By Alexánder Sánchez It’s a quiet and

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Ex-FARC Guerrillas in Colombia train to be Raft Guides

By Shannon Farley Nine ex-FARC guerrillas in Colombia have a new future ahead of them in adventure tourism, thanks to river rafting guide training provided by the International Rafting Federation (IRF) and Rios Tropicales adventure company in Costa Rica. The new raft guides, who are former combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (known

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River of Reconciliation in Colombia

Former FARC-EP Combatants in Colombia Trade Guns for Paddles By Shannon Farley Former combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP in Spanish) might seem unlikely whitewater rafting guides. However, a project supported by the United Nations at the Miravalle Territorial Area for Training and Reincorporation (TATR) in the Municipality of

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