Hola!
My name is Lorena Cervera and I am the
director of this documentary.
Recently I spent three months in
Colombia, filming the daily life of 74 girls who attend a school funded by the
Santa Maria Foundation near Bogota. These young girls come from very underprivileged
backgrounds but they have dreams and ambitions. They are the reason why we
believe so strongly in this film, and want to share their strengths and courage
with you.
Colombian Girls is a short documentary
about the personal experiences and ambitions of some of these girls whose life has changed thanks to the school.
HOW
CAN YOU HELP?
We need to raise £2,800 for:
- Editing, postproduction, and
distribution of the short documentary.
- Returning to Colombia in 2016 in
order to follow up on the story of these girls.
As with any creative project, we need
financial resources to complete the process. Our goal is to raise £2,800. That
money will go directly to covering costs such as writing, editing &
post-production, music, copies and distribution for the short documentary; and
transportation, camera equipment, and shooting expenses for the feature-length
documentary.
If you are able to give, please accept my
deepest thanks in advance for your contribution & support. If you are
unable to give financially, do not worry, SHARING this with your FRIENDS makes
all the difference!
SOME
FIGURES
In
Colombia
Colombia has a population of 45.5
million inhabitants
45% of the population lives in poverty
16% of the population lives in extreme
poverty
685,700 (17.2%) children do not attend school
Almost 20% of girls do not attend school
61% of orphan children have no access to
any form of healthcare
The unemployment rate among women (13%)
is higher than men (8.3%)
32% of children in Colombia live with only
their mother
1 out of 5 women aged between 15 and 19
years have had an unplanned pregnancy
Discrimination, poverty and inequality
puts girls and women at a disadvantage both socially and economically. In doing
so it makes them vulnerable to physical abuse and violence and results in poor
education, poor health, high unemployment and a bleak future.
ABOUT
THE GIRLS
The girls who attend Santa Maria
Foundation’s school come from very underprivileged backgrounds. In some
cases, they have lost their parents during the war that has taken place in
Colombia over the last 60 years; in others, their families are unable to take
care of them; many of them come from single parent families from stratum one
– the social class with the lowest income level.
One of them, Kelly was abandoned by her
mother who left to join the guerrillas. Today Kelly has found happiness and
hope at the Foundation, where she enjoys playing cello and holds the chance of
achieving her aspirations. She lives in a “hogar” or orphanage with most of the
schoolmates and enjoys sharing time with them as an extended surrogate family.
ABOUT
THE SCHOOL & FOUNDATION
The Santa Maria Foundation (SMF) is a
registered UK-based charity. It was founded in 2008 and has continuously
supported orphaned, abandoned, and vulnerable girls in Colombia. The girls are all between 3 and 16
years old, and the aim of the school is to help these children develop into
young women, with the confidence to go forward in life, and with the capacity
to achieve their potential. SMF is funded through donations, all of which are
directly invested in paying for teachers, therapists, administrative staff,
education supplies, transportation, and food for the girls.
SMF was founded by Lady Yomara Rodriguez, a Colombian national based in the UK with long experience in
charitable work, and Peter R. Mowland, a British businessman. At a young
age, Peter lost both his parents, and spent his childhood in an orphanage.
Today, he provides not only a substantial part of his income to the foundation,
but also offers his life experience to encourage children.
Educating girls can break cycles of
poverty in just one generation, yet millions of girls from similar backgrounds
are unable to attend school.
ABOUT
THE TEAM
Filmmaker – Lorena Cervera
I am a passionate documentary
filmmaker & researcher interested in politics, arts, environment, and
women & human rights.
Cinema has always been an important part
of my life. I was born in Valencia (Spain) in 1985, into a family that managed
a former cinema, where I spent the major part of my childhood. Owing to the
fact that I was more interested in reality than in fiction, I therefore studied
Journalism at the University of Valencia.
Since finishing my Masters in Television
and Documentary Film at Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona), I have been
working on feature films and documentaries for different production companies,
and as a video journalist for different media organizations. In 2013, I moved
to London, where I presently work as an independent documentary filmmaker and
as a video producer for the University of Essex, teaching filmmaking, filming
& editing theatre plays, short films, and documentaries.
Producer – Lady Yomara Rodriguez
Having studied in England (Cambridge –
London), Colombia (Bogota) and Spain (Barcelona ), I obtained my honours degree
in International Business Studies.
Ever mindful of my first love, to follow
in my parents’ footsteps in supporting the underprivileged, in 2008 I teamed up
with Peter R. Mowland, Beatriz Franco, and Dina as a trustee and director of the
Santa Maria Foundation. This work has allowed me to focus on improving the lives
of abandoned and orphaned young girls my native Colombia.
Project Developer – Julie Wong
I am a freelance finance and business
consultant. I have chosen to give my time to supporting this project and the
Santa Maria Foundation because I love not only what they do, but also how they
do it. I have spent two months travelling around Colombia and have seen for
myself the need for the work that Santa Maria Foundation does. Not only does
the end result have a hugely advantageous impact on these girls’ lives, but the
whole journey throughout is a fundamentally positive experience for them too. I
hope this documentary will share with a wider audience the passion that
everyone who is involved with SMF has, and the significance of what they do.
Impact Strategist – Kimpal Patel
My work as a Brand Manager has given me
the opportunity to travel, study and work abroad. My passion for positively
effecting change took me to The Santa Maria Foundation.
We want to produce this documentary film
in order to show how giving can create a vision for the future. This
documentary will show the strength and support we can create for the girls of
Colombia and hopefully present a model for similar projects worldwide.
Educating children creates healthy,
productive, and prosperous societies. If this is the kind of future we want
tomorrow, we must invest in it today to make sure it comes about.