Jaidë

The Embera Dobida community of Puerto Antioquia, in Chocó, can be reached by boat via the Bojayá River. This community has 141 inhabitants: 31 men, 27 women, and 83 children. It was founded approximately 30 years ago. On April 7, 2023, the first recorded suicide occurred. Yadira Birry, 16, took her own life. That same night, there were three more attempts, and to date, there have been more than 15 suicide attempts in the community.

Nelli Birry, 10, is the eldest daughter of Liria Cheito, who attempted to commit suicide using her paruma (a traditional garment of her community) on April 7, 2023, tired of being mistreated by her husband. Nelli holds a fish she just caught in the Embera Dobida community of Puerto Antioquia, Chocó.

Rope to tie a dog at the house of Liria Cheito, who attempted suicide by hanging herself with her paruma (a traditional garment of her community) on April 7, 2023, tired of being mistreated by her husband

Liria Cheito attempted to commit suicide with her paruma (a traditional garment of her community) on April 7, 2023, tired of being mistreated by her husband. She is the mother of three children in the Embera Dobida community of Puerto Antioquia, Chocó.

The Embera Dobida community of Puerto Antioquia, in Chocó, has 141 inhabitants: 31 men, 27 women, and 83 children, and it was founded approximately 30 years ago. It is one of the 45 Embera communities along the Bojayá River, where, according to the diocese, there have been 60 cases of suicide between 2015 and 2024, and more than 400 suicide attempts. The constant wars in the area, forced recruitment, isolation due to the conflict, accusations by armed groups, and lack of government assistance are some of the reasons why many of these people have decided to take their own lives. In Puerto Antioquia, on April 7, 2023, the first recorded suicide occurred. Yadira Birry, 16, took her own life. That same night, there were three more attempts, and to date, there have been more than 15 suicide attempts in the community.

Oniri Birry, 7, is the youngest daughter of Liria Cheito, who attempted suicide with her paruma on April 7, 2023, tired of being mistreated by her husband, in the Embera Dobida community of Puerto Antioquia, Chocó.

Marneli Birry, 10, is braiding her mother Liria Cheito's hair. Liria attempted to commit suicide with her paruma (a traditional garment of this community) on April 7, 2023, tired of being mistreated by her husband, in the Embera Dobida community of Puerto Antioquia, Chocó.

Some of the indigenous people from the Embera Chamí community, displaced to Bogotá by the Colombian armed conflict, survive by making and selling handicrafts on the streets.

Luisa Chamorro, 17 years old, lives in the Emberá community of Unión Baquiasa, in Colombia’s Chocó region. She attempted suicide for the first time on November 27, and nearly a year later, she tried again on December 31, 2024. She prunes the grass on her land on January 8, 2025.

Ahitana, 23, is a woman from the Embera Chamí community, displaced to Bogotá from her territory in Chocó due to the armed conflict. She lives in La Rioja, one of the three places the community occupies in the city. She has faced a hostile city, mistreatment, and few opportunities. She has attempted suicide several times, the most recent on April 1, 2024.

Nereisa Dumasa, 10 years old, is one of the sisters of Yameli Numasa, who died by suicide at 17 on December 26, 2021, in the Emberá Unión Baquiasa community in Colombia’s Chocó region. She plays with a knife at her home on January 6, 2025.

The Emberá Dobida community of Unión Baquiasa, in Chocó, has 584 inhabitants. According to the diocese, four suicides and 17 attempts have been recorded between 2021 and 2025. Ongoing wars in the area, forced recruitment, isolation due to conflict, accusations from armed groups, and lack of government assistance are some of the reasons why many people have decided to take their own lives. On December 26, 2021, the first recorded suicide occurred. Yameli Numasa, 17 years old, took her own life. On January 1, 2025, Luisa Chamorro, also 17, attempted suicide.

A child from the Emberá community of Unión Baquiasa, in Colombia’s Chocó region, holds a bird he hunted with a slingshot. In this community of 580 inhabitants, 17 suicides and hundreds of attempts have been recorded between 2021 and 2025.

Luisa Birry, 21, is the eldest sister of Yadira Birry, who committed suicide in 2023 in the Embera Dobida indigenous community of Puerto Antioquia, Chocó. Luisa attempted to take her own life before her sister did.