ICIP and the internodal gender group, in support of the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition, have produced, together with Alharaca Radio Feminista, “Semillantes,” a series of five podcasts about Colombian women in exile and the diaspora.
The podcasts will be released weekly, every Friday in July, to preserve the memory of the women who were forced to leave the South American country due to the armed conflict.
According to Sílvia Plana, head of the project at ICIP, these podcasts “seek to highlight the main impacts suffered by the women who were forced to leave Colombia, as well as to recognize the resilient and transformative processes that have been carried out from abroad. The underlying idea is that without women’s voices, the truth is not complete,” she says.
The podcasts have been produced by Alharaca Radio Feminista, a project launched in April 2019 and developed entirely by women.
Their website is a platform of open microphones where any woman can participate. They currently have collaborators in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Kazakhstan, Uruguay, the United States, Chile and Indonesia.
Five complimentary episodes
The first episode of “Semillantes” will be released on Friday 2 July on ICIP and Alharaca Radio Feminista websites. The remaining episodes will be available on the 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th of the same month.
“In these five podcasts, the women participants intertwine, through their voices and spirit, taking us on different journeys. They tell us what their lives have been like, through stories, experiences, rhythms, wisdom and emotions,” explain the producers.
“With the podcasts, we can continue building support and sisterhood networks among ourselves and contribute to the dissemination and awareness of the mandate of the Truth Commission of Colombia in Europe and the cross-cutting gender approach,” they add.
Participants in the episodes include Colombian women who now live in Germany, Argentina, Belgium, Ecuador, Spain, Italy and Sweden.
The podcasts can also be found on a special webpage of Alharaca Radio Feminista.
“Comadres,” collages and music
The five episodes have been arranged as follows: two specials called “Comadres,” two audio collages and a music special.
The “Comadres” episodes recount the encounter between two women who have things in common but do not know each other. In this case, two exiled women living in different countries talk about their experiences.
The audio collages compile the views of various women who talk about their experiences by responding to a series of open-ended questions.
Finally, the music special features the experiences of various exiled Colombian women who have chosen to use their voices and compose songs to tell their stories.
“Semillantes” has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of the internodal gender group in support of the Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition and the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation (ACCD).
