By Kelly O'Connell Reporter
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People are coming from all over and for a variety of reasons.
Hector Aristizabal flew into Georgia from California for this weekend’s protest.
He shared his experiences with News 3.
Hector Aristizabal is preparing for a puppet show.
Getting his hands dirty and trying out his carpentry skills.
For him, this weekend's SOA Watch protest is more than just a production.
“Well, I am one of the few Columbian survivors of torture, I was tortured in 1982 by the Columbian government,” says Hector Aristizabal.
Aristizabal was born in Columbia.
At the age of 22, he says he was kidnapped by his country's military.
“So they hit me all over the place, they blindfolded me, they handcuffed me,” says Aristizabal.
After more than 20 years, he is comfortable talking about his experiences.
One way he deals with his pain is through art.
In a play he wrote, Aristizabal acts out his tortures.
He had no water and no food for 3 days and 3 nights.
Along with being beaten, he says the government used electric shock on him.
He says many of the tactics used on him were taught at the former School of Americas at Fort Benning.
That's why he's participating in the protests.
“Yeah this happened to me, it happened to a lot of people in South and Central America. So you have to, what I’m left with is how can I make meaning out of this,” says Aristizabal.
He says this weekend's protests give him that.
But it's more than just getting his opinion heard.
He says this weekend is also about healing.
“As I share my story with an audience, that helps me heal with my story. I don't have to hold it with myself, for other survivors they see there is a way to find the blessing in the wound,” says Aristizabal.
For him, a wound that is forever in his mind and forever in his heart.
Hector says his brother was kidnapped and killed by the Columbian government.
He says that being at the gates of Fort Benning is also a way to remember and honor his brother, all the while protesting a school that he feels is teaching torture tactics.
