Returning to Colombia: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles & the Indigeonous Church
In the remote regions of northern Colombia, ITEC’s UAV training program is moving forward in an exciting way! In 2022, Dylan, an American owner of a hotel on Colombia’s coast, partnered with ITEC to address the unique challenges faced by the indigenous Wayuu people. His vision was to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to deliver essential supplies to Wayuu communities that are often cut off by severe flooding.
The Wayuu people reside in the Guajira Peninsula, an area prone to heavy rains that result in prolonged flooding. These conditions leave entire villages isolated for months, creating life-threatening situations due to the lack of access to medical care and other life-saving resources. Dylan’s idea wasn’t just about providing aid; it was about equipping the local Wayuu church to serve their communities, both physically and spiritually.
In April 2023, ITEC’s team traveled to Riohacha to conduct medical, mechanical, and UAV trainings with Wayuu Christ followers. The UAV trainees were trained to not only fly UAVs but also to lead in their communities. The training covered the basics—learning to fly a drone simulator, understanding aerodynamics, and planning flight paths to their villages. Impressively, by midweek, the trainees were already teaching each other.
By the end of the week, each trainee had successfully flown and landed the UAV (named the Believer), which is a huge success. However, the team encountered an unexpected challenge: Colombian law prohibits dropping anything from an aircraft, even small UAVs. This legal hurdle was discovered during the training, and by the grace of God, the drop mechanism on the Believer malfunctioned, preventing any unintentional law violations. Instead of taking this legal news as a setback, the ITEC UAV team and Dylan saw it as a challenge to overcome. Over the next year, Dylan used his connections within the government and aviation groups in Colombia to keep the project moving forward. Our team was eventually granted special permission to operate UAVs under an experimental certification.
In June, the ITEC UAV team returned to Colombia to conduct test flights. Despite a midweek setback, they successfully completed the trials, becoming the first group in Colombia to do so.This exciting achievement opens the door for ITEC's UAV training to move forward, and also sets a precedent for future UAV operations in the country.
Our vision is to see the Wayuu people eventually take full ownership of the UAV operations and utilize the UAV to drop critical medical and mechanical supplies into their villages when the roads are impassable. The goal is to establish a sustainable, indigenous-led UAV program that addresses both the physical and spiritual needs of Wayuu communities and opens doors for the Gospel to go forth in Colombia. If you would like to learn more about the ITEC UAV program, we would love to connect with you. Visit itecusa.org today!