I’m so excited to learn that incredible Costa Ricans have been included on Forbes’ list of 100 Powerful Central American women. It caught my eye on the Facebook page of one of the women honored, “La Tica Polar,” otherwise known as scientist Melania Guerra. She summed it up thus:
Some are well known and such a list would be incomplete without them, like Mrs. Christiana Figueres, Mrs. Laura Chinchilla, Mrs. Rebeca Grynspan and Mrs. Elizabeth Odio.
Others are allies of my own battles, such as Marianella Feoli who leads climate mitigation and adaptation programs through FundeCooperación. Or Dr. Silvia Chacón Barrantes, an oceanographer at UNA who founded the tsunami warning system for our country.
But above all I want to highlight stories that reflect us as a truly diverse region, although not always sufficiently inclusive. We need to know more examples such as that of Dr. Mirna Román, the first doctor of the Ngobe ethnic group in Costa Rica, who is currently working on the front lines protecting us from COVID-19!
Thank you, Melania, for this summary, and congratulations to you and all these incredible women! Read the issue here: https://issuu.com/forbeslatam/docs/forbes_ca_agosto2020_dig.
And you can read my piece about Mirna Román here. A special congratulations to this Ngöbe leader! https://katherinestanleyobando.com/2020/03/03/fearless-ticas-mirna-the-trailblazing-doctor/
I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; learn how to join my Overwhelmed Writers’ League, every Saturday at 1 pm EST; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! To learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.
katherine stanley obando 