How Growing Up in Colombia Led Me to Fight for Northwest Indiana
Me when I was 7 years old, learning how to plant a tree. Fun fact: the tree is now 18’ tall!
Villa de Leyva, Colombia
Just before the holidays, I was offered the life-changing opportunity to join the Just Transition Northwest Indiana (JTNWI) team full-time as our first digital organizer. Following this big transition, I had the chance to reunite with and visit my family back home in Colombia. This trip led me to reflect on how my childhood in Colombia started me on my path toward where I am now, fighting to help protect Lake Michigan and our natural wonders.
I wanted to take a moment in this new year to share a bit of my “why,” the reason that I’m so excited to continue working toward a Just Transition in Northwest Indiana, and my hope that the work we do here might resonate in places as far away as my home country, Colombia.
Growing up in Bogotá, it’s hard not to develop a love for the natural world and an awareness of the harms wrought by reckless industry. Colombia is blessed with one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the whole world, something similar to what I have found in my new home, with the wonder of the Great Lakes that account for 20% of the whole world’s freshwater and the Indiana Dunes, one of North America’s most diverse ecosystems.
A World of Wonders
Before delving into exploring the greatest threats facing my home, it is important to highlight that Colombia is a haven of thriving ecosystems. There are more amphibian, bird, butterfly, frog, and plant species here than anywhere else on the planet, living within a dizzying constellation of deserts, glaciers, volcanic formations, wetlands, marine coasts, the Amazon rainforest, and more.
Some of these sites on my bucket list include watching the pink dolphins swim in the Amazon River and visiting Caño Cristales, known as the rainbow river, for its kaleidoscope of colors. I also dream of stargazing in the Tatacoa Desert, where, far from the light pollution of the cities, the cosmos light up the night sky.
I feel fortunate to be now so close to another natural wonder, the Indiana Dunes National Park, which has been shaped by the winds and waves of Lake Michigan over millennia. Like some of Colombia’s treasures, the Dunes are known for their striking plant and bird diversity, in addition to a shifting landscape, quiet woodlands, sunny prairies, and lush wetlands.
Not surprisingly, Colombia and Northwest Indiana face environmental challenges threatening these unique ecosystems.
“Think Globally, Act Locally” is an idea that helps me connect my love for the wonders of the natural world everywhere without feeling overwhelmed by how great the challenges are facing each one of them. Instead of trying to fix all the world’s problems, I believe that we can each contribute our grain of sand, and together, we can shift the tides of history. When I think of this phrase, it inspires me to continue working toward protecting Northwest Indiana communities and our natural resources in the hope that by making an impact here, I’m helping make change possible everywhere.
A Country Under Threat
Growing up in Bogotá, I treasured Colombia’s diversity. However, I came to understand it is under threat from numerous social and environmental problems, including water pollution, deforestation, and human rights abuses.
1. Water pollution (Sound familiar?)
A recent hike in Villa de Leyva, Colombia
Colombia is one of the nine water-rich territories of the world, but water pollution is a growing danger, as confirmed in a recent report by the World Bank. In my youth, I vividly remember when we drove past the Bogotá River. We would have to immediately roll up the windows because the river’s smell was so bad it made me, my family, and anyone around nauseous from the potent stench of toxic fumes burning our nostrils.
The Bogotá River is considered one of the most contaminated rivers in the world. The river receives waste from various tanneries and quarries, agricultural and floricultural activities that use pesticides and fertilizers, and load releases from the sewers of municipalities and industries. It is estimated that the Bogotá River pours countless toxins into the Magdalena River, the drinking water supply of my family and more than 38 million people, including chromium, iron, detergent, and tons of suspended solids daily. The health burdens imposed by this water pollution create vicious cycles of poverty, inequality, and forced mobility, affecting the stability of agricultural incomes, which are fundamental for thriving rural and remote areas of the country.
Another source of water pollution you may be familiar with, as it is also present in Michigan City, is coal ash. When power plants burn coal, they produce coal ash filled with toxic levels of multiple pollutants that harm the environment and human health. In Michigan City, NIPSCO’s coal ash pollution is leaking into Lake Michigan. The story is not much different in Colombia, the largest coal producer in Latin America.
Coal ash pollution is present across the country, but it is especially evidenced in the municipality of Samacá, Boyacá. Research led by Fullbright demonstrates that bodies of water from this municipality have extremely high levels of coal ash pollution hazardous to Colombia's biodiversity and nearby communities' health. Samacá, Boyacá, is very dear to me because many of my family members live nearby.
2. Deforestation
Colombia’s natural resources are vast, but its biodiversity is threatened by several largely man-made causes, including deforestation. My family owns a company that rents and operates yellow machinery. We prioritize environmentally safe projects and avoid using our machinery to exploit and extract resources. Still, we regularly receive offers from the government and industrial businesses to use our machines to obliterate mountains and move raw materials to produce cement and other construction materials.
Growing up in the industry of yellow machinery, I have seen mountains being completely destroyed, precious green skyscrapers turning into nothing for the sake of greed. As a kid, I did not understand why my community would allow such a thing. Now, I recognize this as the effect of living in an extractive economy that depends on the exhaustion of natural resources for financial gain. This is a completely unsustainable and unethical economy, which is why JTNWI’s mission resonates so much with me. The goal is to ensure a Just Transition, moving from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy emphasizing ecological restoration and community protection - an economy where my younger self could have played in the mountain instead of witnessing its destruction.
At 6 years old, in front of my family’s new machine
Bogotá, Colombia
Between 2001 and 2021, more than 11,969.167 square miles of forest were decimated in Colombia, of which some 7,181.5001 square miles were deforested in the country's Amazon Rainforest, known as the lungs of the world. Colombia's four regions most affected by deforestation are Caquetá, Meta, Guaviare, and Putumayo, home to 66 percent of the Amazon’s forests.
As explained by the Igarapé Institute, much of the deforestation from 2016 onward can be at least partially attributed to the peace agreement that led to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)'s withdrawal from the region’s jungles. The guerrilla army actively discouraged the destruction of forests as they used these for protection and strategic advantage. Other factors that have led to the increase in deforestation are illegal logging, gold mining, fires, land grabbing for agriculture, illicit crop cultivation, and the forced displacement of indigenous communities.
Preservation of the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, is vital to curbing catastrophic climate change because of the vast amount of greenhouse gas it absorbs. Fast forward to today, there is hope for climate action, as newly-elected president Gustavo Petro continues to assure the people of Colombia that combating deforestation is a priority for his government. We will hold him accountable to fulfill his promise of change for the betterment of our communities and planet.
3. Environmentalists’ Safety
When I shared the news with friends and family about my new position at JTNWI and how excited I was to help educate and organize Northwest Indiana communities to fight for environmental justice, I remember my aunt told me that I am lucky to be able to defend the environment for a living without fearing for my life. She is right. I am very privileged to work without constantly worrying about my safety day in and day out.
Although social justice advocates face innumerable challenges in the United States, radical cases of violence are significantly less than in comparison with countries like Colombia. Between 2016 and 2022, according to Indepaz, the country saw 1,341 aggressions against social leaders and 329 murders.
Among other groups, environmentalists are targeted by the government, large agribusiness and extraction industries, armed groups, and other non-state actors that seek control over land and benefit from the exploitation of resources. Many victims of this violence are Indigenous leaders, the strongest defenders of the environment and forests in Colombia. Gender-based violence is also continually on the rise, targeting women. The latest report by the NGO Global Witness explains this as a systemic issue: ‘Gender-based violence rooted in misogyny and discriminatory gender norms is disproportionately used against women environmental and human rights defenders to control and silence them and suppress their power and authority as leaders.’
The government failed to implement policies to protect environmental leaders for decades until recently. In late 2022, the Senate approved the Escazú Agreement, a regional pact to protect environmental defenders. Moreover, on August 27, 2022, the newly elected president’s government announced the first Unified Command Post for Life in Cauca, a joint initiative to reduce violence against social leaders organized by the government, law enforcement, and the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca. Bringing a renewed sense of hope for the safety of environmental leaders, the government has also been working with civil society organizations, like Somos Defensores, to develop new protections. I dream that through this progress, future generations will never have to know the cost of what our ancestors and land defenders have faced fighting for our environment and a habitable planet.
Keeping up the fight
My graduation on Dec 10, 2022
Chicago, Illinois
While I am eternally proud to call Colombia my home, I fear for its future due to these mounting environmental challenges that threaten the health and well-being of my loved ones and all Colombians every day. That is why I decided to study at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) to take advantage of my education and learn as much as possible to focus on environmental protection and policies.
At JTNWI’s Urgent Health Community Forum in Michigan City, my first event with JTNWI! I was so happy and proud to wear this shirt.
June 25th, 2022
At UIC, I became involved with the Freshwater Lab, a course open to advanced undergraduates and graduate students focused on Great Lakes water issues and environmental justice.
Led and founded by professor Dr. Rachel Havelock, the Lab’s director and a great mentor of mine, the course connects students with groups and agencies dedicated to protecting water resources and facilitates internship opportunities with these organizations. This is one of UIC’s best resources and allowed me to join the JTNWI team last April.
I am thrilled to say that I recently graduated with a BA In Public Policy with specializations in Environmental Policy and Foreign & Global Policy, a BA in Political Science with a concentration in Laws & Courts, a BA in Sociology, and minors in International Studies, Gender & Women Studies, and Sustainable Cities.
With all the knowledge and skills I gathered at UIC, I am ready and eager to apply these learnings through my position at JTNWI to raise awareness about the injustices we are experiencing in communities around the globe and how we can come together to win a just transition away from the extractive and destructive economy of the past and toward a regenerative, healthy planet for the future.
