St Benedict's Church
Aberford Road, Garforth
LS25 1PXorth
The Wiwa are an indigenous group of people who live in northern Colombia on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
They have live harmoniously with the environment for over 1000 years. They are protected by the Colombian constitution, but recently their way of life has been threated both by armed conflict, which continues in the mountains, and by climate change
There is a unique opportunity to hear from two WIWA representatives and an NGO staff member from CINEP which works with the WIWA to advocate for their cause.
The CAFOD partners will be visiting the UK in November. They are speaking at 10.30 am mass at St Benedict’s Garforth on November 24th and then in more detail after mass with a shared lunch
Two of the Colombian visitors work for the Organización Wiwa Yugumaiun Bunkuanarrua Tayrona (OWBY ), a WIWA People’s Organisation. Jose Felix Martinez is the secretary general of OWYBT, he will talk about the armed conflict and how it is contributing to the climate crisis. Edilma Lopererena Plata is the OWYBT Women’s Commissioner. She will also talk about how the climate emergency is impacting the Wiwa women, in particular.
Jenny Ortiz is from CAFOD partner CINEP ( a Colombian Jesuit Programme) who leads their Mobilisation, Human Rights and Interculturality Programme -who will be providing general context and more technical background.
Use this link to the Guardian for an article about the Wiwa tribe.