“The effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action, here and now. We need to reflect on our accountability before those who will have to endure the dire consequences.” – Pope Francis, Laudato Si’
Friday April 1st | 6:30 to 8:00pm (Central Time, US)
on Zoom
Climate change, immigration, poverty, oppression…these issues are all inter-connected and they all are related to our work here at the CMC. How do our actions locally have an impact worldwide? What climate change impacts are countries throughout the Americas experiencing? What solutions are being implemented? We will explore all this and more with presenters representing Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, Panama, and Florida (U.S). These dedicated leaders will share more on their perspectives and the amazing work they are doing at “Climate Change in the Americas”!
This is a bilingual event (English/Spanish).
Meet the Presenters
Elia Armacanqui, PhD
Dr. Elia Armacanqui is a Spanish and Literature Professor, recently retired from UW-Stevens Point. She also has a History bachelor degree and a coursework in Economics. Currently she teaches Quechua or Runasimi language and literature and has presented papers related to Peruvian Indigenous issues. Dr. Armacanqui is actively involved against a mining company exploitation in her Anden town in Laramarca, Huancavelica, Peru.
Zacarias Bernabe Martinez
Zacrias Bernabe Martinez is a staff member of Asociación Nuevo Amanecer de El Salvador (ANADES). For 26 years he has worked in social service organizations, developing projects that contribute to changes in the lives of families facing systemic poverty. In his current work he aims to foster citizen participation in demanding rights for health, the water, property, the land, women’s and rights, so they may cultivate and make a living, achieve food security, and much more. The mission of ANADES is to promote holistic development of poor and marginalized communities by offering them the ability to transform their reality and working together to achieve a just way of life.
Carlos Arenas
Carlos Arenas is a Colombian lawyer, with a Masters in Law from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and more than 25 years of experience working on a diverse set of human rights issues in Latin America. Over the last eight years he has been working on climate displacement and planned relocation issues, conducting research, and doing advocacy work in Panama and Colombia on behalf of the international NGO Displacement Solutions and the Inter-American Development Bank. He has been deeply involved in the process to relocate island-dwelling indigenous communities in the Gunayala region in Panama.
Solemi Hernandez
Solemi Hernandez is the Southeast Regional Coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL). She works to fulfill her organization’s mission to create the political will to address climate solutions with volunteers from Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. She is presently working towards her degree in Political Science from Florida Gulf Coast University.