Illustration by Global Voices.

By Yuri, a member of the Mi Historia journalism project.

I was walking through the most worn and lonely streets of Villavicencio, the capital of Meta, a department in the centre of Colombia where the Andean, Orinoco and Amazonian ecosystems converge. It had rained all morning, and the thick clouds weren’t letting the sunshine through.

Back at home after school, my mood was dwindling with every word my nan uttered. I call her Mum, because she has raised me for as long as I can remember. She has always been kind and supportive, but she didn’t understand that each of her words hit my heart like a dagger.

“Why do you want to go there? She’s your mum, I know, but all you’re going to learn over there are bad habits,” she told me, angry, while I cowered at the strength of her voice. I was crying, but she hadn’t noticed, so she carried on.

“Do you want to go there to learn how to smoke, to drink, or – like her – to get pregnant at 15 and not finish school? If you decide to go, you’d better forget about me,” she stated, and then walked off, leaving me alone in the living room. 

I know there are hundreds of underage girls in the country who get pregnant and leave school, but just because my mother was one of these girls doesn’t mean I will go through the same, I thought to myself. I only wanted to visit her, stay a few days with her and my younger siblings. They lived in a nearby town called San Carlos de Guaroa. 

Although my body surrendered to the soft bed I enjoyed sleeping in every night, this time I couldn’t stop thinking about what my nan had said. I decided to research this issue, which doesn’t just happen in Colombia, but everywhere in the world, and I felt perplexed by the information I found.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) revealed that up to February 28, 2018, Latin America and the Caribbean still had the second-highest rate of teenage pregnancy worldwide, estimated at 66.5 births for every 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 19. 

It may not seem like many, but it’s a worrying number. Almost seven out of every 100 girls get pregnant before celebrating their 20th birthday. I wanted to prove my nan wrong; I wanted to prove that I could turn 15 without getting pregnant, and that I could finish school. Back then, I was just 13 years old.

“This is not a dream; it’s a goal I must achieve,” I repeated to myself a thousand times until I fell asleep. 

The next morning, my nan woke me up with breakfast ready on the table. “Get up, sweetheart, breakfast is ready,” she said with a barely audible voice, but loud enough to wake me up. 

“Thanks, mum, I’m coming,” I said, getting up slowly from bed.

I felt different, it was as if something ineffable, something magical ran through my body.

After breakfast, I realized my life had taken a 180-degree turn, and this would be good for me. It sunk in when, leaving school, I wasn’t absorbed in my own thoughts, but rather focused on what I needed to do to achieve my goal and improve each day. 

One afternoon, I heard my nan speaking on the phone with one of my uncles, who lived in a community, or rather, as it is best known, a boarding school called Benposta. “She wants to go, but is there any room?” she asked longingly.  

Benposta is a charitable organization that creates communities for children and young people with projects and actions that promote their recognition as social subjects and subjects of rights. In Colombia, there are three branches and many projects in various regions of the country.

I don’t know what he said, but my nan’s face beamed with happiness. I had heard a lot about that place, but since I wasn’t old enough, I hadn’t been able to go. Now that I was of age, I hoped I could go there. However, Benposta is in Bogotá, so it would be really far for me to see my family, but I knew I’d achieve things that are worth the few visits I could make. 

We were sitting at a table at the bakery when my nan confirmed what I was thinking. It filled me with joy that what I had wished for so long had come true. I hugged her and kissed her, overjoyed. 

I went for the interview and they accepted me. I arrived at Benposta a few days later. It was a sunny afternoon in March 2018. I was barely 13, and I was focused on getting settled in. I made several friends and adapted, little by little. I had already embraced Benposta as my second home. 

In this place, time flew. I loved to read and write, and people quickly picked up on this. They emphasized this to me, along with how organized and sensible I was.

While at Benposta, I received sex education and learned how to protect myself. I learned about the sexual and reproductive rights that we all have. It was a great help not to be ignorant about these issues of how to be careful when having sex to avoid pregnancy.

The time went by, and I was about to turn 15. The excitement was all over my body, but not because of the party I’d be thrown (my quinceañera). I was excited because I had just reached my first goal.

A report by the National Statistics Department (DANE in Spanish) indicates that in Colombia, 2 out of every 1,000 girls aged 10 to 14 became mothers in 2020. Furthermore, 54 out of every 1,000 teenagers aged 15 to 19 experienced a pregnancy during the same year. I hadn’t.

Unwanted pregnancies also arise in cases of sexual violence, and many girls remain silent out of fear. Since they do not know their options, these pregnancies progress, leaving not only the trauma of the rape but also a child as a result. In these cases, the girls have no control over their pregnancy, as they never gave consent. For this reason, if our youngsters knew about sexuality, they could draw strength to talk about it and seek justice by knowing their rights.

These issues are very important for young people, and we need to overcome the taboo of discussing them with our peers. Many believe that talking about these topics “encourages” others to engage in risky behaviour, but that is not the case. Taking care of our health is essential.

Today, I am in 11th grade, a few months away from graduating from college and achieving my other goal. I have realized that I did this not only for my family but to prove to myself that I am capable of achieving what I set out to do. I concluded this chapter in my life by meeting with my biological mother a few months ago.