In the lyrical Colombian village of Pasifueres music is in the air. Girls and boys compose songs from a young age. The lyrics show a passion for their region, La Mojana, and for their village that they’ve seen grow over the years.
One such singer is Jennys Jiménez, a passionate climate activist and community organizer whose songs about climate change are now being sung across her beloved La Mojana.
“Since I can remember, I’ve been singing. And yes, it’s cool that people are starting to recognize one of these songs because of the lyrics and verses, but my objective is that they get to know the Mojana region, and its efforts to adapt to climate change and build community resilience,” says Jennys.
Pasifueres is a small community of less than 1000 inhabitants. In 2010, the village flooded. Part of the problem was that the wetlands – which should have acted like a giant natural sponge during floods – were decimated. Agricultural production had left them bone dry and the waters were polluted. Without this natural buffer, lives and livelihoods were put at risk.
Jennys decided to do something about it. She became one of 115 rural climate change adaptation promoters through a local association of farmers, producers, rangers, aqua-culturalists and ecologists (known locally as ASOPASFU).