poopsapiens:

I had the opportunity to view ~30 minutes of the lovely documentary film Tejiendo Sabiduría (We Women Warriors) today.  You can find the trailer here on Vimeo.  Below is a brief description of the film from wewomenwarriors.com:

“In Colombia’s war-torn indigenous villages, three brave women from distinct tribes use nonviolent resistance to defend their peoples’ survival. Warfare between the guerrillas, paramilitary groups, and armed forces imperils Colombia’s 102 aboriginal groups, dozens of which face extinction because of the conflict. Trapped in a protracted predicament that is fueled by the drug trade, native women are resourcefully leading and creating transformation imbued with hope. We Women Warriors bears witness to neglected human rights catastrophes and interweaves character-driven stories about female empowerment, unshakable courage, and faith in the endurance of indigenous culture.”

Portions of the film were presented during a wonderful talk given by Dr. Diana Rodríguez Quevedo of the University of Evansville.  Dr. Quevedo spoke about the continuing conflict in her native Colombia, and the pervasive violence many indigenous peoples face.  A brief Q&A session was also held after Dr. Quevedo’s talk, and it was immensely enlightening.

I’d like to pass along Dr. Quevedo’s urgings to contact your government representatives (particularly those of you in the United States, as the United States is one of the primary sources of funding in the Colombian conflict), and urge them to back peaceful measures of support.  Health and educational resources are much needed. 

Hopefully I’m able to find the time later to write a text post about how great the talk and Q&A were!  So many amazing topics were covered during the session that my mind is still a bit of a blur, trying to take all of it in and process it.  After the Q&A when I was speaking with Dr. Quevedo, she even showed me the handmade Colombian bag her mother had purchased for her as a graduation gift and it was breathtaking.  I wish I had an image of it, but truly that wouldn’t even begin to do it justice.

For now, I wanted to make sure that I at least passed on the info about Tejiendo Sabiduría (We Women Warriors).  I think a lot of you would really dig the doc.