Meet Lina.
Lina Marcela Correa Pitalua (Senú) is 20 years old and a Cultural Survival Indigenous Community Media Youth Fellow from Colombia. She is part of the Jimbusu (Hummingbird) Communications Collective of the Indigenous Organization of Antioquia and Coordinator of the Pis Communication Seedbed Project.
At the age of 14, Lina participated in a training in communication for Indigenous Peoples which was an impactful experience that opened the doors for her to learn more about the cosmology and knowledge of her Senú culture. Since then, she has been building her scriptwriting, audiovisual, and production skills to revitalize the stories of Senú Elders. "Doing all of this allows me to leave my grandmother's memories of our history as Senú Peoples, and to make sure that this knowledge is not lost but will continue,” she says.
After that training, Lina decided she wanted to continue in the field of community media. As an Indigenous woman, it is often challenging to access training opportunities, especially being a single mother of two young girls. However, she is inspired by her daughters to share the knowledge of her grandmothers and Elders and to transmit her Peoples’ history to future generations.
“For Indigenous women, it is very difficult to be heard but thanks to the increasing use of the media and social networks, we now can create awareness and defend our rights as women. We are the protectors and guardians of cultural values with our art, dances, stories which are also heard thanks to the traditions of transmitting knowledge orally through many generations.”
Lina is now a leader and role model for young Indigenous women to strive for their dreams. Inspired to continue growing and taking her teachings to other communities to promote Indigenous stories and traditions, she encourages the youth to form collectives that will strengthen the knowledge systems, languages, traditions, and culture of the Senú Peoples.
Lina’s fellowship project builds the capacity of Indigenous youth in her community in technical, theoretical, conceptual areas in audiovisual and radio production. She shares and passes her passion for her culture and for community media to younger generations.
Cultural Survival is supporting Lina in her goals. In 2021, our Indigenous Community Media Youth Fellowship supported 25 youth from Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Suriname, South Africa, and northern India, in building capacity in media, journalism, radio production, advocacy skills, technical abilities, and regional networking. We also trained 25+ Indigenous women in radio production and radio journalism as part of our support for Indigenous women’s leadership in media.
Awareness is growing about the remarkable contributions of Indigenous women radio journalists and human rights defenders. Please show your solidarity by making an end-of-the year gift. Thank you!
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