ALTO BAUDÓ, Colombia, June 19, 2025 – In the remote region of Alto Baudó, Chocó, Colombia, where years of violence between armed rebel and criminal groups have left deep psychological scars, a unique collaboration between Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and local healers is fostering innovative rituals to address trauma. These rituals, blending traditional practices with symbolic acts, use torn photographs and trusted herbs to help communities cope with anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges caused by ongoing conflict. The project, documented by Colombian photographer Fernanda Pineda, was highlighted in NPR’s Goats and Soda series and is showcased at the Photoville Festival in Brooklyn, New York, through June 22, 2025.
One of the central rituals involves tearing and stitching photographs of significant places or loved ones, symbolizing the mending of emotional wounds. Margarita Rojas Mena, a healer from the Mojaudó community, stitches a torn photo of a local school marred by bullet holes from a past armed confrontation. “I cure the ‘evil eye,’ the evil of the nation,” Rojas Mena told NPR, explaining how she uses herbs like the totumo plant, traditionally employed to ease pain, alongside sutures to heal both physical and psychic wounds. The act of rending and repairing photos serves as a metaphor for restoring fragmented memories and reclaiming peace, according to Pineda.
Other rituals incorporate fragrant herbs and leaves, such as the resucito plant, used by healer Teolinda Castro to alleviate pain and comfort those haunted by violent memories. Castro recounted hiding under her bed during a school shooting, fearing for her life. “The resucito plant is used to cure pain. If my child says, ‘Oh, mom, my head hurts,’ I wash their little head with it,” she shared. These herbs, long trusted in the community, are woven into ceremonies to evoke calm and reconnect residents with safer times.
The two-year initiative, running from 2022 to 2024, was a partnership between MSF and seven local healers, including traditional midwife Rogelina Arce Campo. MSF trained 48 community members as health workers to provide basic medical services in this isolated region, where reaching a hospital can take two to three days. Santiago Valenzuela, MSF’s communication manager in Colombia, emphasized the project’s approach: “We created a dialogue between Western medicine and local healers,” blending clinical mental health strategies with culturally resonant practices.
The rituals, chronicled in Pineda’s photography series Riografias del Baudó—a title playing on the Spanish words for river (río) and photograph (fotografía)—offer a glimmer of hope despite persistent violence. Healers report that participants find solace in these acts, which help process trauma and foster community resilience. The exhibition at Photoville, displayed in converted shipping containers, brings global attention to these efforts.
While the conflict in Alto Baudó continues, these rituals demonstrate the power of combining ancestral wisdom with modern intervention to heal invisible wounds, offering a model for trauma care in other violence-stricken regions.