Donations



University semester for a young student

$ 800 USD



One year of university for a young student

$ 1,600 USD



University degree for a young student

$ 8,000 USD

Educating children, youth and adults for community progress, wellbeing and social inclusion

Thank you!

Dozens of young people have managed to enter and complete their university studies thanks to the support and donations from the Chicago community, raised through different events and activities organized by the Codo a Codo Internacional team, as well as scholarships granted by various universities they have accessed.

Currently, other young people from the Altos de la Florida community have begun their higher education and need our help to continue their studies.

Hermana Norma Inés Bernal Velez

Founder

Originally from Antioquia, Colombia, she pursued higher studies at Colegio Santa Clara in Bogotá and attended Universidad Externado de Colombia, where she earned her degree in Social Work. She began her professional career with the Christian Youth Association, leading a program for children living on the streets. She also directed the welfare department at Florameria, a flower company, where she was part of the professional team that established a network of entrepreneurs in southwestern Cundinamarca, covering municipalities such as Madrid, Mosquera, and Funza.

At 40, she joined the Community of the Auxiliary Sisters of Purgatory. As a nun, she worked in Mexico for four years with indigenous communities. Upon returning to Colombia, she worked with displaced people, farmers, and populations affected by armed conflict in Barrancabermeja, where she also directed the Community Training School, serving 23 municipalities within the Diocese of Barranca.

Later, she moved to Bogotá and began working in the Cristo Sacerdote Pastoral Zone, assisting displaced populations as coordinator of Social Pastoral and staff at the School of Peace and Coexistence. She also led the social pastoral at the Archdiocesan Food Bank in coordination with Father Daniel Saldarriaga.

In 2004, alongside a group of lay friends, she founded the Codo a Codo association, where she has served as president and legal representative for over 20 years. Through this role, she has worked in vulnerable communities, primarily in Altos de la Florida, in the municipality of Soacha near Bogotá. The efforts there have provided opportunities to dignify the lives of children, youth, women, and seniors living in extreme poverty with significant personal and community needs. This work has been coordinated with the Codo a Codo International Organization in Chicago.

In 2005, she moved to San Sebastián, Spain, where she worked with prisoners and migrants. In 2007, she returned to Colombia and coordinated the Justice and Peace Commission of the Conference of Religious in Colombia, championing issues of peace and reconciliation.

She then joined the Colombian Communication Service (SERCODES), where she contributed to the design, planning, and execution of the "Helping to Help" project, traveling to the most violence-affected areas of the country to work with rural, displaced, and indigenous women who were victims of the armed conflict.

She was a co-founder of women’s collectives with an ecumenical perspective, bringing together female leaders working for peace, including the Collective of Thought and Action for Women, Peace, and Security, as well as GEMPAZ, the Ecumenical Women’s Group for Peace, a national organization with branches in various cities and municipalities.

One of her guiding principles has been: “With you and your people, from justice and mercy.”

Support

Donations

University semester for a young student

$ 800 USD

One year of university for a young student

$ 1,600 USD

University degree for a young student

$ 8,000 USD

Educating children, youth and adults for community progress, wellbeing and social inclusion

Patricia Taneja

Fabiola Carrasco

Blanca Domanski

María Mercedes P. de Oliveros

Hermana Norma Inés Bernal Velez

Father Guillermo Campuzano

Patricia Muñoz Rocha

Margarita Marchán

Consuelo Alexander

Hilda Lozano

Emilia Abuchaibe

Maria Elena Ortega