Love Wins in Bogotá: What I Witnessed in the Field

By Sam Rivera, Executive Director, OnPoint NYC

A few months have passed since I stood on the plenary stage at the 2025 Harm Reduction International Conference in Bogotá. I spoke then about love, the kind that shows up for people who use drugs, for people who engage in sex work, and for people the world too often turns away from. That love isn’t abstract. It’s real. It’s felt in the streets, in safe spaces, in the quiet dignity of a nurse checking in on a community member, or a peer worker making sure someone gets home alive.

I want to share what I saw, not from the podium, but from the ground. The site visits across Bogotá were powerful, grounding, and deeply familiar. In the faces of our harm reduction kin in Colombia, I saw the same radical love that powers OnPoint NYC.

Proyecto Cambie: A Safe Haven

At Proyecto Cambie, I met Daniel Rojas, Coordinator of the center; Betty, the nurse; and David, a peer worker. Together, they lead one of the few overdose prevention centers in Latin America. When Daniel said, “This space saves lives,” I believed him with my whole heart. I’ve seen it at home. And I saw it here.

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No one who walks into Proyecto Cambie is judged. They’re welcomed. They’re offered clean supplies, health services, and, above all, dignity. It reminded me of something I said during the plenary: “We love our people until they are ready to love themselves.”

What struck me most was how deeply integrated the center is into the community. Staff clean up hazardous waste from the streets. They do outreach. They show up. It’s not just a space, it’s a promise. Since opening in June 2023, they’ve had zero overdose deaths. That’s not luck. That’s intentional care.

Échele Cabeza: Where Science Meets Love

I also visited Échele Cabeza, a beautifully designed space that offers drug checking services. The second you walk in, you feel it. This is not a sterile lab. It’s a place of connection.

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Mauro Díaz, Director of Substance Analysis, and his team showed us how drug checking becomes a gateway to deeper conversations. In addition to building relationships with community members, drug checking services also help the organization understand the drug supply to better support their participants in making health decisions. Writing on educational swag said it best: “Los análisis de sustancias salvan vidas.” Drug checking saves lives.

In the U.S., and in Bogotá, advocates fight everyday to make sure community members know these services are available to help them make informed health decisions. Every test strip, every conversation, is a moment of intervention. A moment of hope.

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Fundación Procrear: Creativity and Healing in Action

At Fundación Procrear, in the heart of Bogotá’s Santa Fe neighborhood, I saw the full spectrum of harm reduction at work. HIV testing, workforce development, mental health services, women’s health education, and support for LGBTQ+ and undocumented communities, all under one roof.

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Jenny Florez, Social Projects Coordinator, walked us through their beautiful space and the intentional work they do to help local entrepreneurs grow, educate on women’s health, and support the community’s economic stability.

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Jenny and her team don’t just talk about intersectionality. They live it. Through art, games, and trust-building, they reach people where they are and help them move forward. It reminded me of our work at OnPoint NYC, of the healing that happens when people are seen, fully.

Harm Reduction International Conference 2025: A Global Gathering for Love and Justice

The conference itself was a profound space of learning, resistance, and joy. I had the honor of chairing the opening plenary, lifting up the history of our movement and the rising generation of activists who are leading with compassion and clarity. I reminded us all that “harm reduction is love, and as we all know, love wins.”

Throughout the week, I joined sessions that dug into the hard truths of our work, from the failures of U.S. drug policy to the strength of overdose prevention centers. In one panel, I said what many of us know but rarely say aloud: “There is no drug war in America. There is a war on drug users.” And in another, I shared how our wraparound care at OnPoint NYC helps community members begin to heal, to love themselves, to see a future. “That doesn’t happen in an alley,” I told them.

I also got to highlight our drug checking work and how it offers people life-saving information. Latin America, including our colleagues at Échele Cabeza, is showing us the way forward. “No one ever has to die from an overdose again,” I said. “Drug checking is a great opportunity to intervene.”

These moments weren’t just about information sharing. They were about solidarity. About global harm reductionists reminding each other that this work is sacred and that we are not alone.

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A Shared Language of Love

In my remarks at the conference, I said, “Harm reduction is love, and as we all know, love wins.” I saw that truth play out again and again in Bogotá. Not in conference rooms, but in living, breathing communities.

There is no drug war in America. There is a war on drug users. And yet, love keeps showing up. In New York. In Bogotá. Across the world.

Thank you to everyone who welcomed me, shared your stories, and reminded me what this work is all about. 

I carry you with me.

-Sam Rivera

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