Marlenne and her family live well outside the town of Turmequé, Colombia. Before she came to EARTH University, Marlenne worked for Corporation PBA (Corporación PBA in Spanish) a non-profit organization that works with small producers to help them improve production, increase their income, and learn how to coexist with the environment.
Marlenne wants to “teach people back home how to see the land and environment not as something to be exploited, but to learn sustainable methods that don’t harm the environment. There are too many harmful chemicals that get used around my community and I want to introduce natural alternatives.” She also hopes to create an organization to help those without homes and from low-income families. Marlenne wants her organization to use agriculture as a tool to help these people learn how to be self-sufficient and be able to reach out to others.