Voices

"We denounce the conflict because it deeply affects the lives of many Colombian women."

My name is Isabel Ortiz, and I am the Director of Fundación Mujer y Futuro in Bucaramanga, Colombia. Our non-governmental organization was created sixteen years ago by members of civil society. In recent years, we have had to direct our work towards women who have been displaced. There are a lot of displaced families in our area because of the current conflict in Colombia.

"No justice has been done."

My daughter was assassinated nine years ago and no justice has been done. She was carrying her daughter at the time and both disappeared mysteriously. Later, my daughter’s body was found with two bullets on her back. She was raped and her body was found brutally beaten. However, the body of my granddaughter was never found.

"We need our land to be clean so our children can survive."

I organized my community fourteen years ago to save our family from contamination but it has been very difficult. We have territory of 670,00 acres and overlapping this area is Yasuní National Park. We want to say no to petroleum and protect our park because it is all we have for survival. We hope to have more time to organize and build upon the energy we have built in women’s communities.

"Straight from my heart."

I found that there was not just a handful of men and women in the United States who had a real commitment to human rights and peace in the world, but that the people who are aware of sorrow and injustice are growing, and that they contribute their efforts, as we say in Latin America, their grain of sand, to make our dreams come true.