It was late 2009 when the CRESER NGO team found a group of people interested in forming a community coalition under the CADCA model in the Las Palmeras community in the Yarinacocha district, Coronel Portillo Province, Ucayali Department, Peru.

Start of the Las Palmeras Community Coalition, 2009

Since 2010, CADCA’s Community Change Model processes have been implemented, bringing together various sectors to conduct diagnostics, develop logical frameworks, and create a strategic plan, similar to many other coalitions around the world. However, this coalition has faced a history of challenges, gained valuable insights, and achieved significant milestones. Today, it is recognized at both the district and provincial levels, occupying a seat on the Multisectoral Committee for the Prevention of Drug Use in Ucayali.

The Las Palmeras Coalition has seen multiple leaders in its presidency, including Llenu Akadiete and Misawa Katayama. Since 2010, Mrs. Lidia Carrasco has played a key role in strengthening and consolidating the coalition with her creativity, optimism, perseverance and courage in securing resources from private institutions and local governments.

The coalition’s efforts are focused on revitalizing and maintaining Plaza Las Palmeras as a healthy space, along with the surrounding streets and schools where marijuana use is a concern. The Plaza includes a sports area and a green space where many young people and adults carry out healthy and unhealthy activities.

Educational Visits to Businesses that sell alcoholic beverages

To address these issues, the coalition has implemented various strategies. They started with changes to the physical environment, placing preventive signs on trees and sports infrastructure, adding signage to the corners of the Plaza, and painting murals at the local water service company that provides drinking water service within the Plaza. They also organized sporting, recreational, educational, and culinary events, along with contests, door-to-door outreach to neighbors and businesses, various workshops, parades, and even a debate for Yarinacocha mayoral candidates in the Plaza’s center.

Painting of Posters/Murals

In 2010, beginning its sustainability efforts, the coalition registered as a legal entity in the Public Registry and gained formal recognition in the Yarinacocha District municipality and Coronel Portillo province as a social organization. This meant that the coalition now had a legal identity document.

In 2011, with the technical assistance of CRESER and the leadership of the Las Palmeras Coalition, a multisectoral effort led to the development of the 2011-2014 Municipal Plan on drugs for the Yarinacocha district.

In 2012, the coalition began seeking financial support from private companies to fund their sports and recreational activities in La Plaza, with their first ally being the company CREDICOM, which continues to support them to this day. They also secured resources from municipalities, the regional and provincial governments, DEVIDA (the governing body for drug policy), and individual contributors.

In 2013, through a municipal ordinance, the provincial municipality of Coronel Portillo activated the Multisectoral Committee for the Prevention of Drug Use (COMUL), calling on all formal organizations involved in addressing the issue. Since that year, the Las Palmeras Coalition has been an active member, driving political impact at the provincial level. In the same year, the Las Palmeras Coalition began its support for parenting classes in the nearby educational institutions Diego Ferré Sosa and Las Perlas. During these years, they also began recruiting children through face-painting sessions and securing scholarships to train young people in a training center.

In 2014, to ensure financial sustainability, they started their “solidarity dinners” to raise money for their operating expenses, though these dinners were paused during the pandemic.

In 2015, with the aim of attracting and engaging young people, they introduced workshops in the rap music genre, giving them the opportunity to present their compositions and interpretations alluding to the prevention of drug use. They also launched baking workshops for mothers.

In 2018, they established a calisthenics academy for youth, holding outdoor sessions. They succeeded in getting the district municipality to install pull-up bars and rings in the Plaza. That same year, considering it was an election year, they hosted the Urban Electoral Forum, where district mayoral candidates of Yarinacocha presented their platforms in front of youth in the center of the Plaza.

2018- urban electoral forum

In 2020, the coalition founded a Taekwondo academy for children and adolescents, progressing from classes to local championships to regional and national championships, with students earning 20 first- and second- place medals to date. The academy operates out of the home of Mrs. Lidia Carrasco. The Las Palmeras Coalition has raised funds through food sales, raffles, and sponsorships to cover travel expenses for competing students, and to pay for exams that help participants earn Taekwondo belts, with several youth achieving black belts.

Taekwondo Club

In 2022, the Regional Government of Ucayali awarded Mrs. Lidia Carrasco, president of the Las Palmeras Coalition, with the “Order of Merit of the Ucayalina Woman” on International Women’s Day, in recognition of her contributions to society.

Award given to President

Until 2013, the coalition received resources and technical assistance from the U.S. Embassy through the non-governmental organization CRESER, which continued to provide sporadic and remote support until 2018.

Support from private company

Cre-Ser also facilitated the formation of the Consortium of Coalitions at the district level of Yarinacocha. Since 2023, it has formed the Provincial Network of Community Coalitions of the department of Ucayali to achieve the sustainability of the coalitions and strengthen their capacities and influence in favor of public policies for the prevention of drug use, where the Las Palmeras Coalition has the main leadership. The president of the Network is Mrs. Lidia Carrasco.

The Las Palmeras Coalition has built a strong organizational capacity. While led by its president Mrs. Lidia Carrasco, the coalition is supported by a structure of active, temporary volunteer members and a youth committee that serves as a core pillar.

The coalition has faced challenging periods due to the health problems of their coalition members, as well as high rates of dengue and chikungunya at the provincial level, climate-related disasters typical of the jungle, and municipal authority crises. The COVID-19 pandemic also claimed the lives of several coalition members. Despite these setbacks, the coalition consistently overcomes every adversity, and today stands as a model of resilience, with the capacity for self-sustainability and self-management.

They have managed to develop an outstanding ability to obtain and manage material and human resources from local governments, health centers, the regional government, police, private companies, and professionals, as well as through fundraising activities. As a result, the coalition is recognized as a key organization in drug use prevention in the region and is actively included in regional prevention policies and intervention plans by the regional government and DEVIDA, the national governing body responsible for drug policy.

The Las Palmeras Coalition is a symbol of resilience and innovation in drug prevention efforts and stands as a testament to the power and effectiveness of CADCA’s coalition model. By bringing together different sectors and fostering community-led solutions, the coalition has overcome challenges and brought lasting positive change in the Ucayali region.