From the communities of Cabañas devastated during the civil war in the 1980’s arose a community initiative to prevent youth violence: The Free Schools. It is a comprehensive learning space that brings together community artists and students in order to encourage learning and remove students from the harmful structures in their communities.

The initiative is organized by the collective of university students from ADES’ Scholarship program. As part of their community project, they try to share some of the knowledge gained from their years of university study.

Through sports, dance, theatre, crafts, English, and games, the university students encourage group work, teach community history, and strengthen community art in Santa Marta and San Felipe, Cabañas.

The coordinator of the program, Anabel Riva, says that the Free Schools are a space for artists who seek to improve the living conditions in their communities.

"Formal education in public schools is showing more gaps in the preparation of children and youth for this context. That is why it is essential to complement formal education with all-around subjects that foster art and peaceful coexistence.”

The team of young people in charge of the Free Schools shared that the idea of the schools is that if we don´t do preventative work, hopes of improving the country go down the drain. “The children our the future, and if we only educate robotic students without a sensitivity to community issues, then we have failed,” they said.