María Cira, A displaced Wayúu Venezuelan Woman

Investigative Journalist | Director | Producer

María Cira, is a Venezuelan Wayúu woman who fled the humanitarian emergency in her country, where food and medicine were scarce.

María Cira at the Americares Colombia clinic in Maicao, La Guajira.

Big Projects Made Reality

Senior Audiovisual Journalist | Investigative Journalist

Kamëntsas and Ingas: Strengthening Indigenous Self-Sufficiency Through the IRACA® Program

The Kamëntsas and Ingas peoples deeply revere Mother Earth as the source of life and sustenance. Their strong connection to the land enables them to preserve cultural heritage, maintain environmental balance, and sustain their communities. Through collective work, they support one another, ensuring the continuation of their traditions and ways of life. Land ownership is central to their agricultural practices and essential to their long-term survival.

Through the IRACA® program, these communities receive targeted support for food security and productive practices, empowering Indigenous and Afro-Colombian households to strengthen their own development and achieve greater self-sufficiency.

The Colombian Government, in collaboration with Social Prosperity and the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF), has implemented projects across critical sectors including health, education, housing, sanitation, income generation, environmental sustainability, industrial safety, and institutional support. These initiatives have complemented and enhanced grassroots efforts led by Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

The success of these interventions is rooted in rigorous implementation, sustainable support, and respectful collaboration—reinforced by strategic alliances with local and international actors.

These efforts, part of a larger development communication and storytelling strategy, have reached over five million viewers across North and Latin America through institutional platforms, including broadcast on Discovery Channel’s Hecho en Colombia. This visibility has played a key role in amplifying Indigenous voices and showcasing sustainable, community-led development on a global scale.