A half-century of armed conflict left many Colombians without basic services. This CNN Hero is delivering water, power and sanitation to those who need it most

She wished to do more to assist convey these necessities to communities most in need. "We didn't know anything at first, but we had all the determination," Colpas mentioned.Colpas, now 31, and her group of different younger like-minded counterparts presently serve 35 communities and their companies have helped enhance the standard of life for greater than 10,000 folks. CNN's Laura Klairmont spoke with Colpas about her efforts. Below is an edited model of their dialogCNN: Who does your group assist?Jenifer Colpas: The communities the place we're working, they're very numerous. You can discover indigenous folks, farmers, and most of the locations the place we're working now, they're a displaced inhabitants.Over 50 years of warfare have made Colombia the nation with the very best internal-displaced inhabitants on the planet. These rural communities had been taken over by the FARC and different paramilitary teams. Because of all of the years that those communities had been in a conflict zone, they had been completely forgotten. They have been invisible to the federal government and for lots of Colombians. They are the toughest to attain and much less doubtless to have entry to any basic service. These areas are so distant that there aren't any roads to get there. Nobody goes there. But we're going there to present entry to basic companies. CNN: Why was it particularly necessary for you and your group to put native ladies in management positions to help with the tasks? Colpas: We are working with ladies as a result of, for us, it's essential to empower them and to re-signify their function contained in the neighborhood. So they are going to be not simply social leaders, but additionally problem-solvers.The leaders have completely different roles. One is that they're our most important companions throughout the neighborhood. They are the primary contact in case there is one thing we need to repair. If one thing occurs with any of the households, they're our most important contact. They are those which are engaged on the options in the long run. They assist us to arrange logistics earlier than any set up. They assist us perceive how to attain the neighborhood, which is the easiest way we are able to arrange the group to go there and to do the set up course of. So, we practice them and share our data.CNN: What are you offering these communities on a deeper degree?Colpas: We're masking their basic wants to allow them to begin dreaming. My largest dream for them is that they will get up not simply to survive, however they will make a step additional and begin fulfilling their desires. Their tales, their interior power to go forward even in a very dangerous scenario, by means of all they're struggling, is what evokes me. They are very resilient. Every time I discuss with them, they actually inspire me, encourage me to go additional. Because regardless of all the issues they face, they by no means hand over.