Indigenous voices in Medellin - the story of the KANQ ...

Indigenous voices in Medellin - the story of the KANQ Network (I)Published on Servindi - Servicios de Comunicación Intercultural (https://www.servindi.org)

Imprimir articulo Exportar a PDF Volver

Indigenous voices in Medellin - the story of the KANQ Network(I)

of 8


What can indigenous communication bring to the world? A group of 10 indigenous andcommunity communicators from five Latin American countries traveled to Medellin toparticipate in the Gabo Festival, experience a cultural exchange and share the value thatindigenous communication can add to “city journalism”.

By Arnol Piedra*.

Medellin, a city of yellow flowers, the same ones that accompany Gabriel Garcia Marquez in manyillustrations and on the bill of 50 thousand Colombian pesos, became for three days the vanishingpoint of the newsrooms of America due to the congregation at the festival and the most prestigiousjournalism award in the region.

As part of a project by DW Akademie, 10 indigenous communicators from Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia,Colombia and Guatemala had the opportunity to participate in the coverage of the Gabo Festival, totransmit their skills, their ways of communicating, exchange their experience in community mediaand collect new learning that will be implemented in their communities of origin.

However, the opposite happened unexpectedly. From interviewers they became interviewed. Amongflashes, coffee and infusion cups, and intense walks, the indigenous communicators wereintercepted by foreign journalists and visitors. They aroused the interest of the public for theirtraditional clothes and their native languages, inseparable symbols from their cultures, which theyproudly took to the country of vallenato.

The 10 communicators chose the name KANQ Network for their group. The set of letters representsthe initial of each of its indigenous languages (K of Kaqchikel and Kichwa, A of Aymara, N of Nasa

of 8


Yuwe, and Q of Quechua and Q'eqchí). The group participated in different discussions in the spacesof DW Akademie and Radio Gabo, where they shared with the public their expertise and experiencesin community media and other topics such as environmental journalism, the role of women inindigenous communication and the urgency of representativeness of native languages in the media.

The next step is the “big tent”

This is just the beginning and there is still a long way to go, according to Matthias Kopp, projectmanager at DW Akademie in Colombia. “We think it is a good time to bring communicators fromindigenous villages to Medellín so that their voices are heard. The idea is to take advantage of thislittle window to establish a dialogue, but we would have to make the fight so that one day they willbe given the big stage (the Orquideorama) along with the great national and internationaljournalists”, he said.

After hours of bustle, long interviews and unexpected downpours, the members of the KANQNetwork witnessed the gala night of the Gabo Awards, hoping that the indigenous theme will beawarded one day for communities to be visible by large media. The dream does not seem far away.During the opening ceremony, Medellin Mayor Federico Gutierrez called on journalists to work toforge more inclusive societies. "You have the gift of the word and the power of the media. Use themresponsibly to build a better society, tell inclusive stories and give voice to those who don't have it".

In the 7th edition of the Festival, which takes place in the Botanical Garden of Medellin, theenvironmental heart of the city, three works related to environmental journalism were nominated, animportant point on the agenda of indigenous communicators, who seek to transmit to the world thedefense of Mother Earth from their communities. However, in the end only one was awarded (Bloodwas never yellow from the Cuban Mónica Baró Sanchez). Her investigation reports a case of leadpoisoning in a neighborhood in La Habana, which began in the 1950s and barely came to light in2006. The goal of focusing the dimension of environmental issues is still far away.

At the closing of the event, Jesús Abad Colorado, who received the Journalism Excellence Award,seems to agree with the journalists of the community media. The award-winning photographer gavea message about the defense of the environment from the informative work, in a year marked byclimatic strikes and fires in the Amazon. “Without nature we are nothing. The Earth is everyone'shouse, so we have to defend every tree and river in this country, because, what are we going toleave to the next generations?”, he said before receiving effusive applause from the public.

Stories of indigenous communication

of 8


Marileny Choc in a conference along with Matthias Kopp, member of DW Akademie, and Selnich Vivas, professor of Antioquia University. (Photo:Benedickt Borchers)

Many of the members of this indigenous communicators network have particular stories of how theyenrolled in the trade. Everything starts from the need of their communities.

“I dedicated myself to communication because there was no one who could represent us in theAmazonian villages. Our voices are extinguished by political persecutions and criminalizationtowards indigenous leaders, and there are no women who take risks. My grandparents taught me tobe a warrior woman and to defend our culture and identity”, said Eslendy Grefa, Amazon Kichwacommunicator of Lanceros Digitales, a community medium in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

“Initially in our community there were no communicators who communicate from our nativelanguages, that was what motivated me to be a communicator. I started doing programs inKaqchikel language and today I participate in spaces where we develop content editing in Kaqchikelon Wikipedia, not leaving analogue media behind, since there is still a very strong digital divide inGuatemala", says Uskam Camey, an activist for the defense of the Mayan languages.

On the other hand, Marileny Choc, q'eqchí communicator of Radio Sayaxche in Peten, on thenorthern border of Guatemala, found the opportunity to grow in the world of microphones. “Thanksto the support of DW Akademie and the Guatemalan Institute of Radio Education (IGER), they invitedme to participate in the radio and launch educational programs. That is how I became more involvedin the media and I have gained experiences that allowed me to learn more about the rural area. Thisallowed me to get more involved with my culture and meet the challenges of community media".

Marileny, perhaps, has one of the most shocking stories of the group for having suffereddiscrimination in her country for being a woman and indigenous, even by other women, who told herthat she would never travel by plane or go far. During one of the conversations, wearing “corte” and“güipil”, the traditional garments of her community, she spoke about true wealth: “When I say that Ihave wealth, people think that I speak of material wealth, but the best wealth that I have is mylanguage and my culture”, manifests and provokes euphoric applause and public admiration.

In the end, Marileny found her vocation to promote human rights through the radio. She achievedher dream and was the most interviewed of the group during the Festival. "Her face already hurts

of 8


due to so much flash", jokes a partner, causing laughter and joy in the group.

KANQ Network’s women participated in different dialogues for Radio Gabo, sharing their experiences in community media. (Photo: BenedicktBorchers)

“Empowering the media is a constant struggle”

Eslendy Grefa, kichwa communicator from Ecuador, was one of the most interviewed of the group. (Photo: Benedickt Borchers)

How can indigenous and community media be empowered to be more visible? It was one of the mainlessons learned by the KANQ Network during the three days of the Festival. Its protagonists tell theirconclusions.

“To empower our community media, we must seek alliances and strategies to reach our

of 8


communities, and thus achieve national and international reach. In this way, our media will be morerecognized and viable for strengthening our struggle”, says Eslendy from Ecuador.

For Uskam from Guatemala, empowerment comes from the will and commitment to indigenouslanguages to afterwards take advantage of technological tools. In addition, he proposes somethingvery innovative: “It is necessary to share this learning in community media, organize this type ofevents or festivals in our own languages and reward the best content in communication”.

The KANQ Network communicators worked in a press room to produce content about the Gabo Festival for their community media. (Photo: BenedicktBorchers)

Finally, Yenny Paucar, an Aymara radialist from the Puno region in Peru, speaks of empowerment asan intense fighting process. “I don't want to be pessimistic, but empowering our means is a constantstruggle. For example, if we, women, are in the media it is because no one has given us anything.This fight is to win spaces and that we indigenous people are visible as subjects of law and as peoplewho can give their opinions and create the development countries yearn for”.

Yenny is the daughter of Rosa Palomino, the main reference for Aymara communication in Peru andhost of the Wiñay Panqara program, which means "Always blooming", a space that has been on airfor 21 years and it still has to be rented to a commercial radio, since the great challenge remains tohave its own signal. "It is legitimate for community media in Peru to access frequencies under thesame conditions as a commercial radio, as has been done in Bolivia. This is definitely going tosupport the democratization of access to information", says Luis Salazar, a Quechua radio operatorat the Radio Production Center (CEPRA) in Cochabamba and a free software activist.

Intercultural dialogues

of 8


The group of communicators carried out different spiritual ceremonies of their communities. These spaces were the center of intercultural dialogues.(Photo: Benedickt Borchers)

Interculturality was present in the three days that the Gabo Festival lasted and in the moments ofcoexistence of the group of 10 communicators, who had time to share their worldviews, participatein ceremonies of thanks to Mother Earth and visit some of the attractions of the Ciudad de las Floressuch as Comuna 13, Plaza Botero and the Antioquia University as an icon of documentation of thehistorical memory of the armed conflict in Colombia.

However, the greatest expression of interculturality occurred between the two communicationcurrents that fight and live together in our countries: indigenous communication and “city”communication. The Gabo Festival being a meeting point for journalists and academics: what lessonsdid indigenous communicators take home? “I learned a lot from my colleagues, to be humble, to letideas flow, to be a little riskier in research so that the information stands out”, stated Eslendy fromEcuador.

Fabiana Condori, Aymara communicator of CEPRA in La Paz, also enhances what she learned fromher classmates. “I could apply the ventures we share these days, for example, my partner Marilenyfrom Guatemala encourages the culture of her people through the radio, and I would also like towork on small radio formats on the subject”.

Finally, what can indigenous communication teach city journalists? “We can teach the academy a lot,from humbleness; to look everywhere. We would tell them to open their eyes and look more at theindigenous peoples”, says Yenny from Peru.

On the other hand, Luz Dary Cuetia, a Nasa communicator of the Voces de Nuestra Tierra radiostation of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (Colombia), highlights the importance of being atthe scene and verifying the information: “We can teach the city journalists that they must arrive atthe news site. The invitation from the indigenous media is to arrive where the indigenous peoplesare and where the base is, and not to report what is not".

Matthias Kopp from the DW Akademie also agrees with these teachings of the KANQ Network to thecity media. “Indigenous communicators do not stop involving the forest, land or water in theircommunication. This is a very valuable learning for Westerners, since we are seeing how our lifestyleis damaging the planet and every time we realize that we cannot continue like this. I think thatdialogue with indigenous peoples is very important to find new ways of life”, he concludes.

of 8


The journey continues

The Gabo Festival in Medellin was only the first stop for the KANQ Network. After the end of a weekfull of learning and knowledge for these indigenous communicators, new experiences awaited themin Cusco (Peru) and Guatemala City (Guatemala). The group travelled to the historic capital of theInca empire to participate in the International Meeting of Indigenous Communication, then went tothe cradle of the Mayan civilization, where the Latin American Festival of Indigenous Languages onthe Internet was held. The path of knowledge was packed in each of their suitcases.

This article was originally published in Spanish in October 2019 and translated in August 2020.Check the original version here: https://bit.ly/2BNGMun [1]

*Arnol Piedra is a Peruvian journalist specialized in culture and one of the Red KANQ members.

Tags relacionados: Red KANQ [2]Festival Gabo [3]DW Akademie [4]Valoración: 0

Sin votos (todavía)

Source URL: https://www.servindi.org/actualidad-articles-english-cronica/18/08/2020/indigenous-voices-medellin-story-kanq-network-i

Links[1] https://bit.ly/2BNGMun [2] https://www.servindi.org/tags/red-kanq[3] https://www.servindi.org/tags/festival-gabo[4] https://www.servindi.org/tags/dw-akademie

of 8

https://bit.ly/2BNGMun

https://www.servindi.org/tags/red-kanq

https://www.servindi.org/tags/festival-gabo

https://www.servindi.org/tags/dw-akademie

Indigenous voices in Medellin - the story of the KANQ ...

Documents

Transcript of Indigenous voices in Medellin - the story of the KANQ ...