![Photo: ARD/Midas program After her husband was murdered and she was threatened, “Maria” (with her two sons in a cacao plantation) welcomed a chance to le](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/fp_col_maria_h.jpg?itok=mYLpTcDA)
For ten years, former cook “Maria” worked in a coca plantation in the Department of Arauca, in northern Colombia on the border with Venezuela. Despite the danger and violence associated with cultivating coca, she processed and sometimes harvested the leaves, hoping to raise enough money to buy a house.
![A bridge in Puerto Caicedo, Columbia A bridge in the municipality of Puerto Caicedo in Columbia](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/cs_colombia_conflictzone.jpg?itok=-c6TRcWF)
By encouraging beneficiaries to identify their most pressing needs and take an active role in the selection, design, and construction process, USAID creates the sense of ownership and achievement in Colombia’s high-risk regions.
![Photo: JRMP USAID and DOJ transform the Colombian judicial process with the Oral Trial Skills Competition for law students](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/cs_colombia_oral_big.jpg?itok=wuZCQY4W)
USAID and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted a national competition for law students that would encourage the participation of universities from throughout Colombia to help adjust their academic programs and better prepare their students to carry out their responsibilities under the new accusatory system.
![Photo: Edgar Hernández Paloquemao now has a new, specially designated Victim’s Attention Center.](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/ba_columbia_homicideafter.jpg?itok=3Spu2lLS)
The Paloquemao legal complex in Bogotá, Colombia has more than 100 courts and a backlog of more than 8,000 homicide cases. Before March of last year, Colombia's largest judicial complex could not address families’ and victims’ needs. Now, however, with the support of the USAID Justice Reform and Modernization Program, the U.S.
![Before: Serankuan children attended classes in a tiny mud one-room school with no restrooms Before: Serankuan children attended classes in a tiny mud one-room school with no restrooms](https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/square_150x150/public/success_story/ba_col_school1.jpg?itok=jChQCGYn)
Due to this lack of easy access, the Government of Colombia never invested in infrastructure for this community. In 2008, first grade students of Serankua were not able to receive basic education due to the inadequate classrooms and sanitary units). Additionally, children from the surrounding indigenous communities such as Garwan, Maranchukwa and Jechikin were not able to attend class at this school because of the lack of capacity.
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