Mercy Corps

In the luscious and fertile green hills of Cauca in southwestern Colombia a coffee farmer and indigenous women’s rights activist works tirelessly to improve the lives of her community and tend to the land where her family is from. Libia Armida Paz lives in La Sierra on the El Oso reserve, a village home to the indigenous Yanakona people. Libia began farming coffee at seventeen years old, against her father’s gendered expectations. She took on a job on her neighbor’s farm in secret, sneaking out every morning before her father woke. She was paid 300 pesos less than the adult workers to pick coffee, but she didn’t mind because the experience was worth it. She studied tirelessly, saving money she earned from working on farms to attend college and earn a nursing degree. She saved enough money over a 15-year nursing career to buy her own land—something most women are...