A quarter of Colombia’s population remain digitally unconnected, unable to access the opportunities that the internet can bring them. This lack of access affects people, especially in rural areas, observes Julian Casabuenas, director of Colombia-based APC member organisation Colnodo. That is why Colnodo, together with APC, looked to community networks to bridge this gap, he adds. As part of this effort to promote community-centred connectivity, Colnodo has produced a new documentary, Redes Comunitarias (Community Networks), highlighting the crucial role of communication in people's lives, and particularly how community networks bridge social and digital divides in territories underserved by telecoms companies.
Redes Comunitarias is a video production directed by Fanny Zammite, a photographer and audiovisual maker, and produced by Samourai Coop, that narrates two connectivity experiences in rural Colombia. The documentary premiered at the APC Community Gathering held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in May 2024, where APC members and other participants had the opportunity to watch it in advance. Colnodo has announced that it is now available online.
Redes Comunitarias beautifully captures the realities of these territories, documenting testimonies of people – mostly women – from these communities who have made the decision to deploy their own networks, and of members of the Colnodo team who have accompanied them. Director Fanny Zammite focuses the camera on different facets of people's lives: their everyday activities, their meeting spaces, their care tasks, and also the intimacy of families in their homes, in their typically rural environment.
The two community networks featured in the documentary are the Construir Dabucury – or Pose Ajponũcarõ, in the Tucano language – Network in the Indigenous reservations of El Refugio Panure and San José del Guaviare, and La Chitara Cerritana Network in Cerrito, Santander. Incidentally, these two community networks, under the aegis of Colnodo, are part of the project “Connecting Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Areas in Colombia” sponsored by Google Impact Challenge for Women and Girls.
Addressing digital autonomy, empowerment of women, the power of information and the impact of culture, the film highlights the effort of the communities to cooperate with Colnodo to develop a participatory model of rural connectivity, documenting several examples of how people have the opportunity to connect, gain access to education and entrepreneurship, and improve the quality of life in the rural territories. The documentary also captures moments of celebration during the process, particularly during key turning points in empowering these communities.
While sharing these experiences, the video also raises awareness of the limits of locally available infrastructure, due to unequal and scarce access. It also shines a light on the contrasts between rural and urban contexts not only in terms of access to connectivity but also in terms of a sense of connection to nature and the availability of key natural resources.
Consistent with the main objective of the project, which is to strengthen the economic autonomy of women and improve their quality of life through the use of the internet, the documentary primarily is narrated through women’s voices. They bring several perspectives that link their lives to connectivity: the gender-based relation to technology, the empowerment involved in training, their commitment to the connectivity project, their economical vulnerability in situations of gender-based violence, the ways in which access to information contributes to their economic initiatives, and their role in family and community care, particularly with regard to regulating children’s and young people’s use of technology and striving to preserve local culture.
A sampling of viewpoints shared by members of the communities
Fernando Cordero Quiróz
Construir Dabucury Network
“Here the internet arrives in two ways. First there is the mobile signal but it is extremely weak, almost non-existent. The other is via satellite. It is good but not with great capacity. It is not enough. Anyway, it is only local. It only works at the school.”
Sandra Ortiz
La Chitara Cerritana Community Network
“We can create our own companies and through the internet we can offer our products to customers right away. There are so many things that we have here as farmers in this area. We have many wishes to fulfil. How nice it would be if we were all connected and could achieve our dreams and our economic sustainability. I would love to see all of these hard-working women succeeding and being the pride of their families.”
Saudy Arias
La Chitara Cerritana Community Network
“I sell duck eggs. I don’t have any right now, but when I do, I announce it and people get in touch with me. Social networks are so helpful for this kind of thing.”
Rosarelly Carvajal
La Chitara Cerritana Community Network
“Colnodo encouraged us to attend the first meetings. There were six months of classes, on Saturdays and Sundays. The team in a community network is very important. The men can climb a ladder, fix a cable, they know all that. But we women also have all the capabilities to carry out these jobs and we have demonstrated it.”
Iván Silva
La Chitara Cerritana Community Network
“The páramo highlands are a very beautiful place in nature, where we find different native species. The entire city is supplied with water that comes from these highlands. Thanks to the internet we have a tool to learn more about them: about the problems regarding global warming and what we can do to protect them. This is our land and we have a duty to fight to defend it.”
Sandra Ortiz
La Chitara Cerritana Community Network
“I really like surfing the internet and learning about diseases that can affect our chickens and our cattle. I like researching because through the internet we can sometimes find solutions and cures and avoid problems we’ve faced in the past. It is very good to have the internet at home because you can prevent many of the things that, for us as farmers, can get out of hand.”
Marta Cordero Quiroz
Construir Dabucury Network
“The fear we have regarding the internet is that children and young people will get caught up by Western culture. That boys will say they don’t want to learn about local crops, or girls will not want to learn how to weave, because they would rather be playing online games or watching videos. I think what is needed is for parents to monitor their children and set schedules, and keep an eye on the websites they are visiting.”
Gloria Calderón Basto
La Chitara Cerritana Community Network
“We as rural women should demand that governments provide coverage to these territories all over Colombia where there is no internet access, for the farmers, the Indigenous people, the Afro-descendant communities. They should provide this important service that can contribute so much to strengthen communities and improve people’s well-being, but also specifically for the empowerment of women and girls.”
Redes Comunitarias documentary
More information about the movement of community networks in Colombia.