What I Found When I Returned to Colombia

I cried almost every day on this trip.

After two years, I returned to Colombia; to say I was blown away would be a huge understatement.

I first traveled there three years ago when we were exploring the idea of bringing Make a Miracle to Colombia. The thought of expanding to a new country was scary. Not that many years before, I knew nothing about starting a nonprofit, especially one in Peru. Now I was going to do it all over again in Colombia?

After much prayer and thought, I knew it was time to take the first step. It quickly became clear that Montería was where Make a Miracle's Colombia hub would be, and Lady Cáceres, our Director of Education, moved there from Peru for several months to get us started.

When I returned two years ago, we had only three college students in our scholarship program. During that trip, we approved a few more students, but as updates came over the following two years about our rapidly growing outreach, it never quite felt real.

In 2023, we planted a seed. Today, that seed is a massive tree with endless fruit.

In June, I led a trip of 16 volunteers from the USA to our location in Colombia. The students we approved just two years ago, who frankly weren’t all totally sure what they even wanted to study, were actually graduating from college. We got to host an incredibly fancy graduation party where the parents of these kids who came from nothing got to watch their child walk across the stage as the first college graduates in the family. I’ll never forget the pride exuding from each of the moms and dads.

I felt a bit like one of those parents watching Lady Cáceres organize the entire event with such professionalism, warmth, and style. She started with Make a Miracle as a volunteer at just 16 years old, and now she is helping families in another country break the cycle of poverty through education.

One of the best parts of leading these trips is experiencing the awe of the impact of Make a Miracle for the first time all over again through the eyes of the trip participants. When you work everyday on something, it’s easy to forget to step back and appreciate the massive significance of the work.

Several volunteers had traveled to Peru with us before, and many shared how blown away they were by Colombia. The same warmth and family atmosphere that you see in Peru were there, but Make a Miracle Colombia's unique culture and traditions gave them even more reasons to fall in love with this Colombian MAM community.

Visiting our three Star Kids locations was especially emotional. What struck me most was watching our Miracle Scholars serve the younger children. They are pouring back into their communities in the same way our students in Peru have done for years.

That is when I realized: this isn't just an NGO anymore. It's a movement.

Make a Miracle Colombia is creating a culture of service, leadership, and hope that will continue for generations.

I am deeply humbled and incredibly proud to be a small part of this story. And I could not be more proud of our team on the ground: Lady, Ana, Luis, Karen, and Gina. Their dedication, love, and hard work have built something truly extraordinary, and it's only possible because of our Miracle Makers who chose not to turn a blind eye.

Three years ago, Colombia was simply an idea.

Today, it is changing lives.

And I have never been more excited about what comes next.