The newspapers today are all about the Peace Accords and about whether they have been complied with or not...
I cannot believe that there are people who say nothing has changed...because my personal experience tells me things have changed...while I myself have been the victim of high crime rates (having my car burglarized 5 times!!), I have been lucky enough to escape violence...
And, while -as you have seen- I'm not in the best financial shape, and while I know that the generality of the people are struggling just to get by, I cannot understand how someone can fail to see that:

1. No longer do we have burnt busses in the middle of the streets
2. 12 year olds do NOT know how to tell the sound (or shape!) of an M16 from an AK-47
3. Military forces no longer patrol the city
4. Orders for Military Forces or the Police no longer include: shoot first, ask questions later
5. There is no curfew
6. Meetings of more than 6 people NOT belonging to the same family are no longer considered a crime
7. When faced with someone wearing army fatigues, you no longer have to look at their feet to know whether they ARE army or guerrillas
8. Children are NOT being taught how to make "molotov cocktails"
9. You can "confess" to any party affiliation you want, and not have to fear retaliation...
10. I haven't heard any bombings in the last 14 years!!
11. I see people under 22 just run over bags or boxes on the highway...people in my generation SWERVE to avoid them, meaning one part of us is still afraid it might be a landmine!
12. My niece -at 16- and my daughter -at 5- are not aware that if you hear shots you should "hit the floor, look for cover and, whatever you do, DON'T lift your head"
13- when I leave home every day, my daughter doesn't wonder whether she'll ever see me again (while this is a fantasy, because any of us might just die at any minute, unless you've lived it, you have no idea of the level of anxiety that it creates in a child to be aware that your parents might NOT make it back from work!)
14- When taking my daughter to school, I do not have to say: "don't look out" while passing dead bodies on the street (the way my dad had to when driving me and my sister to school!!)
Oh, and we lived in the part of the city that was the LEAST affected by the conflict!!!

No, I cannot believe people that say nothing has changed...and, while I do admit that much remains to be done, I don't think closing your eyes to whatever good has been done is the way to go!!...You know what I find funny? These people don't realize that the mere fact that they can criticize freely IS a change!!