The 8 Most Powerful Women in Colombia
By: Catalina Martínez Rodríguez 10B
Some people have the impression that men are more capable than women to transform the world, be excellent leaders and excel among the crowd. However, these are some of the most powerful women in Colombia who have shown the opposite and have proved that we are more than just pretty faces by changing the world through contributions to science, politics, and entertainment.
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll is not only a pop icon, super star, singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer, and model born in Barranquilla; but also a humanitarian, who starded at the age of 18 a foundation called “Pies Descalzos” which funds schools for poor children in Colombia. She was honored at the University of Oxford and awarded by the Oxford Union.
Maria Clemencia Rodriguez
Maria Clemencia Rodríguez besides being the wife of the current President of Colombia: Juan Manuel Santos; she has been involved in social projects, such as: “De Cero De Siempre”, a governmental strategy that cares about nutrition, childhood care and education of Colombian children.
Piedad Córdoba
Piedad Cordoba is known as the Colombian lawyer and liberal Party member, involved in the fight for the ethnic minorities rights, gender equality, and resolution of Colombia’s armed conflict through dialogue. She has received Nobel Peace Prize nominations for promoting peace and human rights in areas of conflict.
María Jimena Duzan
Maria Jimena Duzan is a clear example of exercising the free expression right for women. She is a fearless journalist, editor, chief investigator and columnist for Bogota’s newspaper “El Espectador”. In 2005, she received the Simon Bolivar Journalism Award as journalist of the year.
Adriana Ocampo
Adriana Ocampo is a planetary geologist and the Science Program Manager at NASA Headquarters. She did not only discovered the Aorounga Crater Chain in Chad in 1996, but also led the research to the discovery of the Chicxulub impact crater: A prehistoric crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
Isabella Santodomingo
Isabella Santodomingo is a Colombian Journalist, writer and columnist for major magazines such as SoHo, Don Juan, Diners and Ocean Drive in the United States; Chromos Magazine, El Espectador and Listin Diario in the Dominican Republic. Moreover, she has worked as an actress and presenter, and has been nominated for awards such as: Premios TVyNovelas, India Catalina and Midia de España in the category of Best Actress
Clara Lopez
Clara Lopez is a Colombian economist and politician, who was the Alternative Democratic Pole's nominee for President of Colombia in the 2014 elections. She graduated from Harvard University in 1972 with a degree in Economics and traveled to Spain for a PhD.
Ángela Posada
Ángela Posada was born in Bogotá and has turned into a marvelous journalist, author and editor. She has been writing for 30 years about astronomy, astronautics, paleontology, geology, oceanography, genetics, environment, biodiversity, evolution, archeology and astrophysics. In addition, she was a member of the Colombian First Scientific Expedition to Antarctica and has a degree in languages at the University Los Andes, a Masters of Journalism at the University of Kansas, and had a scholarship awarded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT.
Now it is time for you to make a change in the world and be another great role model, reflecting Colombia’s women empowerment! Go girl power!
Struggle Turned into Hope
By: María Paz Salazar Ocampo 10B
It was March 27 th , 2014, an ex-neighbor showed up at her apartment claiming to be her ex-boyfriend; she believed it, however, when she walked down stairs and faced Johantan Vega, a man who was obsessed with her, and her life drastically changed in every sense.
Her name is Natalia Ponce de Leon. You might have probably already heard of her and her campaign supporting and fighting acid attacks. However, she is more than just that, she is the face of courage and overcoming life changing situations. When she arrived to the hospital, and the doctors took out all the bandage and passed her a mirror, she could finally see her new reality: a face without face, without identity, a body destroyed by acid. Moreover, her nose and eyes were twisted, her mouth was almost gone with her eyebrows and hair. She thought without doubt: “I am a monster.” The physical pain was nothing compare to the ache of not recognizing herself in a mirror. How would you feel? Would you choose to get out of that living hell and continue your life? Sometimes Natalia did not want to go on with her life, she just wanted someone to get over with it.
Yet, she did not give up, instead she decided to fight for others who had suffer from the same awful situation she was living at the moment. Therefore, she made her foundation specialized for victims of acid attacks. This was a new motivation for living to help others in their new reality, but to do so she had to dismiss her pains and afflictions. She did not only conquer fear and despair, but also she earned the respect
and love of every single Colombian while battling against this crime.
Natalia Ponce de Leon fought with everything she had, and now she has almost finish her plastic surgeries. Colombia’s government has even decided to legislate a law against acid attacks in honor of this admirable woman.
She is an example for every woman in the world. She has become a role model who fought and overcame situations which, at first, seemed impossible to get over with. She did not only help herself, but others who had nobody to turn to. Thank you, Natalia! Thank you for being an example and for having the audacity to fight for what you believe in.