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 wanted to bash much to assistance bring these essentials to communities astir successful need.

In 2015, with the assistance of friends, Colpas co-founded Tierra Grata. Today, the non-profit provides entree to cleanable water, solar-powered lights and energy on with eco-toilets and showers for distant agrarian communities passim Colombia.

"We didn't cognize thing astatine first, but we had each the determination," Colpas said.

Colpas, present 31, and her squad of different young like-minded counterparts presently service 35 communities and their services person helped amended the prime of beingness for much than 10,000 people.

CNN's Laura Klairmont spoke with Colpas astir her efforts. Below is an edited mentation of their conversation

CNN: Who does your enactment help?

Jenifer Colpas: The communities wherever we are working, they are precise diverse. You tin find indigenous people, farmers, and astir of the places wherever we are moving now, they are a displaced population.

Over 50 years of warfare person made Colombia the state with the highest internal-displaced colonisation successful the world. These agrarian communities were taken implicit by the FARC and different paramilitary groups. Because of each the years that those communities were successful a struggle zone, they were wholly forgotten. They person been invisible to the authorities and for a batch of Colombians.

They are the hardest to scope and little apt to person entree to immoderate basal service. These areas are truthful distant that determination are nary roads to get there. Nobody goes there. But we are going determination to supply entree to basal services.

CNN: Why was it particularly important for you and your squad to enactment section women successful enactment positions to assistance with the projects?

Colpas: We are moving with women because, for us, it's precise important to empower them and to re-signify their relation wrong the community. So they volition beryllium not conscionable societal leaders, but besides problem-solvers.

The leaders person antithetic roles. One is that they are our main partners wrong the community. They are the archetypal interaction successful lawsuit determination is thing we request to fix. If thing happens with immoderate of the families, they are our main contact. They are the ones that are moving connected the solutions successful the agelong term.

They assistance america to signifier logistics earlier immoderate installation. They assistance america recognize however to scope the community, which is the champion mode we tin signifier the squad to spell determination and to bash the installation process. So, we bid them and stock our knowledge.

CNN: What are you providing these communities connected a deeper level?

Colpas: We're covering their basal needs truthful they tin commencement dreaming. My biggest imagination for them is that they tin aftermath up not conscionable to survive, but they tin marque a measurement further and commencement fulfilling their dreams.

Their stories, their interior powerfulness to spell up adjacent successful a truly atrocious situation, done each they are suffering, is what inspires me. They are precise resilient. Every clip I speech with them, they truly motivate me, animate maine to spell further. Because contempt each the problems they face, they ne'er springiness up.

To donate to Tierra Grate via GoFundMe, click here