Announcing Somos Poderosas

Harvard i-Labs incubated grassroots community organizations and Poderosas and Honesty Hour are partnering to create a short documentary titled Somos Poderosas highlighting stories showing the importance of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education among young women/people in Colombia.

Poderosas is a nonprofit that works with vulnerable communities across Colombia to unleash the power of young people to make educated choices in the difficult situations they will likely face throughout their lifetime. The organization, led by Mariana Sanz de Santamaria, offers education programs with an innovative and experiential methodology for young people to learn about their bodies, sexual and reproductive rights, gender-based violence, and how to exercise leadership for gender equality.

Poderosas founder Mariana Sanz de Santamaria with a group of Poderosas

Honesty Hour and Poderosas are working to tell the stories of three poderosas: Karol, Wendy, and Luisa whose lives were changed by participating in the Poderosas program. This journalistic documentary intends to showcase how these girls, led by Poderosas founder Mariana Sanz De Santamaria, are now putting their knowledge to work to educate other young people around the country.

With the knowledge they gained from the Poderosas program, Wendy, Karol, and Luisa were able to overcome a myriad of obstacles and make significant impacts in their communities through courageous acts including speaking out at community events, standing against violent and repressive groups in their communities, and even exercising their right to safe abortions. Mariana Sanz de Santamaria explains what makes these Poderosas so special:

“Wendy is a Poderosa because she has stood up for the girls and women's rights in her community despite the strong resistance.”

“Karol is a Poderosa because she’s challenged the status quo making space for her voice – and women's voices – in traditionally masculine spaces in her community.”

“Luisa is a Poderosa because she understands the power of education to rewrite her own history and impact others to rewrite theirs, too.”

Wendy, Karol, and Luisa were able to break through society’s silence on menstruation, early pregnancy, human rights and other issues and start new conversations about the future of the Colombia they would be proud to live in. 

Honesty Hour has collaborated with diverse partners from incredibly talented artists from historically marginalized backgrounds to ivy league institutions. “We believe this project perfectly aligns with our mission to open space for experiential learning and our core values of community, authenticity, and defiant joy. In the wake of the reversal of Roe v Wade and other significant changes to legislation globally, it is imperative, now more than ever, to come together and support the advancement of equal rights” say Co-founders, Markus Sherman and Sharadram Sundaresan. 

The team hopes that by telling their stories we can not only amplify the voices of people all over the world fighting similar societal battles, but also shine a light on the larger issue of the limited access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education globally.

The project’s Kickstarter ends February 8 and the documentary will be published digitally in 2024.