Community Voice: ‘Believe in change’
In the third in our series, meet Danna Michelle Quinones Rodriguez, a member of our Community Researcher team who talks about her upbringing and experiences first in Colombia, her journey to joining the Community Research team in London and her desires to truly drive social change.
My name is Danna Michelle. I was born in Santiago de Cali, Colombia. I am 30 years old and my background comes from growing up in a country with a deep history of colonisation, barriers, injustices, and political chaos. I grew up in an environment of constant violence. All these events made me feel, from a very young age that something was not right, that there was a significant lack of justice for others in my country. Many people throughout history have fought to reclaim the rights of citizens – for me, they have been and will be an example. I feel that as human beings, we have a responsibility to ensure the progress of our society.
My aim at the moment is to be able to learn and share: to put into practice everything that I have learned for others. I feel that life is allowing me to be part of groups that have ideas of social change, equality, and entrepreneurship that support the community to generate authentic leaders who can create awareness. I want to cultivate seeds of kindness, empathy, tolerance, and respect every day. Through Citizens UK, Parents and Communities Together (PACT) is the first organisation where I participated in projects led by mothers and fantastic staff, where we are supported and integrated to participate within the community. I am currently a Community Researcher on a trip. I am involved in a project that is giving me a new perspective of group work, collaboration, and cooperation, seeing new routes to reach and the needs of the community, and going through it by taking action from the results of research.
I decided to join the Community Research team because I wanted to discover the roots of issues that we find in our community. In the beginning, I was scared because I did not know how my English would be; but after some sessions, I found that I was participating and engaging well in the virtual environment. I experienced a massive change, first in my confidence and secondly being part of meaningful projects, where I could learn more from others, and share different points of view. I feel grateful that TSIP helped me learn and supported me on a new pathway that I never thought that would be possible in my situation.
In the period since I have joined the team, I have seen how information can be unreachable when others have the power to decide what is best, what is correct. I see now how, as a Community Researcher, when the information is in the hands of people who belong to and are part of the community, we can connect truly, empathise and listen with attention about the real problems that arise in the daily lives of others. Why? Because we have experienced similar situations. Over the past few months since the lockdown, I have met amazing people who inspire me to see different perspectives, and above all, to believe in change.
Now I want to continue my development, contribute, and enhance the skills that I can then share with others. Sharing is caring after all - a phrase that we all know from our youth. Let's continue to make this world better. I know that injustices can close our minds and hearts, but I cannot sit still and do nothing. I yearn to encourage my children to value tolerance, respect and freedom, to share with others and to see that acts of goodness feed our hearts and minds to create social change.
