We discovered that Christmas is an emotional time of the year for guerrillas because they are away from their homes and loved ones, so we created a four-day operation that brought Christmas to the jungle.

After 60 years of struggling against Las FARC, the longest running guerilla warfare group in the world, 6000 guerrillas still remain in the jungles of Colombia. The Ministry of Defence asked us for an idea to demobilize the remaining guerrillas, but delivering demobilization messages to them is very difficult because they hide deeper in the jungle everyday.

331 guerrillas who have demobilized acknowledged that they were motivated to finally give up their weapons thanks to this idea, that was replicated with 9 more trees. The Operation got so many people involved, that it was shown all over the world through videos, websites, social networks and blogs. Main local and international media networks like CNN and BBC broadcasted it. This Operation showed a more humane and positive side of Colombia’s internal conflict.

Along a strategic guerilla route through the jungle, we chose a 25 meter tall tree to decorate with lights. When guerrillas approached the tree, movement sensors made it light up and a banner announced the following message:“IF CHRISTMAS CAN COME TO THE JUNGLE, YOU CAN COME HOME. DEMOBILIZE. EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE AT CHRISTMAS.”