“10 Seconds to Survive” by United Nations Agencies in Colombia
The Guardian Girls Aikido women's self-defense seminar, titled “10 Seconds to Survive,” was successfully hosted by KIF Colombia and UNFPA Colombia (United Nations Population Fund) on Friday, August 30, 2024. The event took place from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm at the United Nations headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia, as part of the "Guardian Girls Aikido Colombia" program.
The "Guardian Girls Aikido" (GGA) project in Colombia is an integral part of the Guardian Girls Colombia (GGC) program, established following the signing of a bilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Guardian Girls International (GGI) and the Latin American Aikido Union (ULA-IAF) on May 31, 2024. This collaboration is a key component of the KIF’s International Initiative to combat Gender-Based Violence (GBV) across Latin American countries.
The seminar was locally implemented in Bogotá by KIF Colombia and Guardian Girls Colombia Team, coordinating with the Colombian Aikido Federation (Federación Colombiana de Aikido, FCA) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Colombia.
Guardian Girls International (GGI), led by its Chairman Shin Koyamada and President Nia Lyte oversees all Guardian Girls programs and its projects globally. In Colombia, Ms. Camila Peroni (Director of KIF Colombia) and Ms. María Adaime (Director of KIF Colombia and GGI Latin America), served as the primary points of contact for coordinating with key local collaboration organizations, including UNFPA Colombia and FCA.
In two weeks, over 12 women working in different UN agencies were registered internally by the UNFPA Colombia team. This number of participants exceeded expectations mainly because the maximum women allowed to take the seminar were 20. Due to the private nature of the seminar “Ten seconds to survive”, we were able to succeed in the overall mission of getting enough women from the UN agencies interested in participating in the event especially designed to teach essential Aikido tools of self defense to preserve their life in dangerous situations and environments. Aikido is considered the “Martial Art for peace”, this is why a seminar of this type has a particular relevance in countries such as Colombia and the Latin American region in general.
INSTRUCTORS: The seminar “10 seconds to survive” was taught by the Aikido Chief instructor Sandra Lugo. Sandra was assisted by three additional female instructors:
- Ms. Adriana Jimenez
- Ms. Bibiana López
- Ms. Catalina García
All four women are part of the Colombian Aikido Federation (FCA).
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE: During the seminar, a special performance was given by the Aikidokas Ms. Sandra Lugo and Ms. Andrea Jimenez. The main objective of this performance was to demonstrate the tactics of self defense and protection that were taught in the seminar and more advanced movements required by women in situations of danger and attack to emphasize that 10 seconds accurately used make the difference in keeping them alive.
SPECIAL FEATURING: An important guest was Ms. Megumi Matsueda from the Japan Embassy in Bogotá Colombia, granting the support of the Japan Ambassador to the Guardian Girls Foundation and its projects to prevent Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Colombia.