Latin Dance Party/ Art Show Fundraiser

Join us for a "Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice in Peru"!

A fundraiser to support Village Earth's projects with indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon.

Latin Dance Party - Learn to dance salsa and other traditional Peruvian dances!
There will also be speakers, an art show, craft sale, and silent auction with arts and crafts by Shipibo artisans of the Peruvian Amazon. There will be lots of cool art and crafts for sale including hand-made jewelry!

Food and drinks will be provided by the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant! Their famous margaritas will be available!

Wednesday, April 23
7:00 - 8:30 pm (Dancing & drinks 'til 10:30pm)

Location: Agave Room (Above the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Old Town)
149 W. Mountain Ave.
Fort Collins, CO

Ticket Prices: $15 students; $25 non-students (All proceeds go to support indigenous community initiatives in the Peruvian Amazon!)
(TICKETS IN ADVANCE ONLY)
Available at www.villageearth.org or 970-491-5754

For more information, please contact Kristina Pearson at kristina@villageearth.org


Visit our sponsor - the Rocky Mountain Chronicle



PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Kristina Pearson
kristina@villageearth.org
491-5754

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOCAL NON-PROFIT ALLIES IN THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE THE AMAZON

April 15, 2008. Fort Collins, CO: The Amazon basin in Peru is quickly being sold off to oil companies, industrial-scale agricultural production, and loggers. “We indigenous peoples only want tranquility and happiness this is our development as said by our elders,” said Shipibo leader Limber Gomez who visited Fort Collins last August 2007. One Fort Collins non-profit has allied with indigenous communities in Peru to stop the sale of the Amazon and offer alternatives to the unsustainable path of development pursued by the corporations and the government. Village Earth, founded by long-time CSU professor and Peace Corps developer Dr. Maury Albertson, is making a difference.

Village Earth has been working internationally with indigenous communities to help them determine their own sustainable development initiatives. In Peru, Village Earth is working with native communities on many projects from clean water to opening an indigenous bank where entrepreneurs can take small loans to start businesses. With current concerns about global warming, awareness is increasing that sustainable development initiatives are extremely important in the Amazon since it is an area of global environmental importance for its roles in mitigating climate change.

Village Earth is offering the Northern Colorado community an opportunity to be a part of these important efforts. Wednesday, April 23 7:00-8:30pm Village Earth will have a Latin Dance and art show event “Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice in Peru” to raise funds for their various projects in the Peruvian Amazon. The event will be held in the Agave Room above the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant (149 W. Mountain Ave.). Tickets are $15 students; $25 non-students (Tickets are available in advance only.) For more information, contact Village Earth (491-5754) or www.villageearth.org.

_________________________________________________________________________

April 12, 2008

Dear Friend of Village Earth,

As a supporter of Village Earth YOU have the opportunity to make a difference. Join us for a fun evening of dancing and art in solidarity with Shipibo communities of the Peruvian Amazon. The Peruvian government is increasingly privatizing the land and resources of the Amazon rainforest. Traditionally held communal lands, non-titled indigenous lands, and forest areas of immense biodiversity will be sold to private landowners and foreign corporations under the new Ley de la Selva (Law of the Jungle). Many indigenous peoples and environmentalists are claiming that this law is just a facade to open up the Amazon to logging companies.

Help us stop the sale of the Amazon!

A note from Shipibo leader and Village Earth friend, Limber Gomez (pictured above, a member of the Organization for the Defense and Development of the Indigenous Peoples of the Peruvian Amazon, ODDPIAP):

“Facing the threatening law Nº 840, called the “Law of the Jungle”, the indigenous peoples of the Ucayali region of Peru are in the process of uniting to discuss this turn of events, as well as the new alliance between the regional government and Peru Petro (the state-run oil licensing agency), so that we, the indigenous peoples, can form a regional front in the Ucayali.

Today more than ever before, we the indigenous peoples of the Ucayali are defending our lands and territories. We are not going to permit the contamination of our ecosystem and the environment by transnational corporations. The transnational corporations come with the story that they will give work to indigenous peoples when they enter our territories. Already we have been through this experience of lies and genocide many times before.

First comes our health and second our development. An old Shipibo elder has predicted that if we allow the exploitation of our resources, in time, Peru will convert to a desert as told by our concerned elders.

We indigenous peoples only want tranquility and happiness, this, this is our development as said by our elders.”

How does this concern you?

The destruction of the Amazon and the indigenous communities who call it home affects us all. With current concerns about global warming, awareness is increasing that the Amazon is an area of global environmental importance for its roles in cleaning the air and mitigating climate change. As well, the preservation of the wealth of species and cultures is invaluable to humanity.

“Thank you, Village Earth. You are helping us to make history”

- Cecilio Soria, (pictured above with his grandmothers) Shipibo
leader and host of the renowned radio program Indigenous Voice

Therefore, we invite you to be a part of helping the indigenous peoples of the Amazon determine their own futures and “make history” by attending this fundraising event:

Journey to the Amazon: Indigenous Rights and Environmental Justice

This event will take place Wednesday, April 23 7-8:30 PM (drinks and dancing ‘til 10:30). The funds we raise at this event will be to support the many projects we are working on with indigenous communities in Peru.

For just $10,000, we can accomplish the following project activities this year:

• For $1000 - We can facilitate the second annual indigenous tribunal bringing community chiefs and indigenous leaders together to discuss their integrated development plan for the region and the defense of their forests in partnership with the new Shipibo organization ODDPIAP;
• For $4000 – We will set up and maintain an indigenous-run service center in Pucallpa, Peru where indigenous community members can get access to resources for their various projects. This service center will also be home to an indigenous bank from which ODDPIAP will begin a micro-loan program to promote small enterprise development;
• For $1000 - We can implement a clean water project using a new ceramic sand filter prototype that will be produced locally and will provide clean drinking water to remote indigenous communities in our continued partnership with the Engineers Without Borders Professional Chapter (Fort Collins);
• For $2000 – We can set-up and train local leaders in the operation of a community-based radio station in one remote indigenous community in collaboration with local community-based radio station KRFC. They can then broadcast throughout the region news and information in their own language and under their control;
• And finally for $2000 - We will bring two Shipibo leaders to attend the PPSD training here in Fort Collins this May 2008.

So please call (491-5754) or go online today (www.villageearth.org) to get your tickets (TICKETS AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE ONLY – Please RSVP by Friday, April 18)! Please invite your friends!

• Tickets for students are $15
• Tickets for non-students are $25

We hope to see you there! It’s going to be a fun event where you can learn different Latin and traditional Peruvian dances and enjoy food from the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant. If you have any questions, send me an e-mail at kristina@villageearth.org, or call us here at the office 491-5754. Thanks for your continued support of Village Earth!

Fish Farm Project in San Francisco

Former Vice President Al Gore, in his writings on global warming, notes that the Chinese character used to write “Crisis” is comprised of components meaning both “Challenge” and “Opportunity.” There is general consensus in the scientific community that reduction of acreage in the South American rainforest represents a major loss to the planet’s ability to process carbon, a leading greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. This represents both a challenge and an opportunity.

The Challenge

Although many organizations are committed to preserving remaining tracts of virgin rainforest, little is being done to address the financial incentive for the “slash-and-burn” agriculture that ranks alongside the lumber, agribusiness and petrochemical industries as a main culprit of deforestation.

Ever since the first humans struck into the rainforest thousands of years ago, the indigenous communities throughout the Amazon basin have mastered the skills of hunting, gathering, gardening and horticulture, as well as aquaculture in this richly biodiverse region. However, as the industrialized world has encroached upon the rainforest, spoiling it by both habitat loss/damage and pollution, the indigenous peoples have had their lifestyle permanently disrupted. Deforestation has drastically reduced the amount of game available for hunting, and over-fishing has severely depleted the more densely populated stretches of rivers such as the Amazon and the Ucayali.

Industrial centers such as Iquitos and Pucallpa (Peru) and Menaus (Brazil) now teem with industry: mining, petrochemical exploration, logging, construction, manufacturing, retail and wholesale distribution, entertainment, hospitality, etc. Populations of mostly “Mestizo” but also indigenous people inhabit these noisy, polluted cities, and most regional economic life is based upon what goes on in these urban centers.

The Opportunity

Fish-farming (aquaculture) has been shown to be an ideal way for indigenous rainforest communities to determine their own futures. Native species, such as Gamitana and Boquichico, are fast-growing, commonly eaten fish that are largely vegetarian in diet and command good prices in local and, in some cases, international markets.

Fish-farming is an ideal economic activity for the following reasons:

· No deforestation (rainforest land has many ponds and lagoons ideal for fish-farming; therefore eliminating the need to cut down large amounts of trees)

· No environmental threat (any fish that escape due to flooding or pond breaches are native to the area and “belong there” anyway)

· Familiarity with fish species (Indigenous people have fished these species for years)

· Minimal materials needed for daily operation (traditional dugout canoes and nets)

· Low-cost fish food (much of the fish food used can be grown or gathered locally)

The Proposition

Create a successful fish-farm operation in an influential Peruvian indigenous community - San Francisco de Yarinacocha. Allow the technology and economic model to spread throughout the region, thus empowering these communities to participate in the economy without the need to disrupt the forest in which they live just to “make a buck.”

The Fish Farm: Progress to Date

In early 2007, Al Polito (Activist/Musician/Writer of Portland, OR), Paola Pomposini (a translation specialist based in Lima, Peru) and Maria Esther Palacios Burbano (Aquaculture Specialist with University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru) met in Lima and San Francisco Yarinacocha with renowned community leader Mateo Arevalo to begin the groundwork for the project.



More than 40 villagers expressed interest in participating in the project.

For two days following the town meeting, Burbano and Polito accompanied a group of Shipibo men in exploring the forests surrounding the village to find a suitable site to begin the first phase of the project. On the second day, the group settled on a small spring-fed lake within a mile of the village (pictured below).


Soon thereafter, Polito accompanied Mateo Arevalo, former village chief, shaman and university-trained botanist to tour the Aquaculture Research Center of University of San Marcos’ IVITA (Instituto Veterinario de Investigaciones Tropicales y de Altura), located one hour outside of Pucallpa. IVITA’s Dr. Guadalupe Contreras explained to Arevalo the steps necessary to complete an effective fish farm.

Burbano has succeeded in assembling a coalition involving IVITA (providing support and facilities), San Marcos University (providing leadership and guidance), with researchers from other organizations who have also expressed interest: including Amazonia Aquaculture Service and Piscicultura Panama of Brazil (two private enterprises) UNAM: Mexico, and National Cheju University of Korea. The additional researchers will help ensure the quality of the research.

What they need:

Currently, this group needs around $10,000 in order to undertake this collaborative fish farm venture.

If you would like to support this effort toward sustainable livelihoods in the Amazon, you can donate through Village Earth by

1- Through Pay Pal to the right side of this blog. Please indicate you would like your contribution to go towards the San Francisco Fish Farm Project

2- By calling 970-491-5754 and donate with your credit card

3- Our by sending a check or money order to:
Village Earth
P.O. Box 797
Fort Collins, CO 80522

All donations for this project are 100% tax-deductible as Village Earth is a 501 c 3 non-profit organization.

Intercultural Vision Radio Program

(English Translation by Morgan King; original text by Limber Gomez)
The radio program "Intercultural Vision" is an informative program and is a political, social, cultural and economic analysis, that Limber Gomez started in 2006, but because of the lack of economic resources and sponsors it cannot continue. In the seventh month running we began with a new sponsorship from the National Intercultural University of the Amazon (UNIA), but the sponsorship was only for one month and now it is gone. It is sad that we had such a short time, the indigenous population identifies with Intercultural Vision because they say that it is the voice of the indigenous people.
Intercultural Vision is concerned with political, social, economic and cultural issues, and they have denounced to the regional authorities that they have listened but that the population asks for a real voice and that Intercultural Vision continue.

If any Village Earth supporters are interested in helping keep this Intercultural Vision program alive and running, please contact kristina@villageearth.org

Por Limber Gomez:
EL PROGRMA RADIAL "VISION INTERCULTURAL" ES UN PROGRAMA INFORMATIVO Y DE ANALISIS POLITICO, SOCIAL, CULTURAL Y ECONOMICO, QUE INICIO EN EL AÑO 2006, PERO POR CUESTIONES DE FALTA DE RECURSOS ECONOMICOS Y LA FALTA DE AUSIPICIADORES NO PUEDE TENER CONTINUIDAD. DESDEPUS DE SIETE MESES INICIO NUVAMENTE PERO CON EL AUSPICIO DE LA UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL INTERCULTURAL DE LA AMAZONIA - UNIA, PERO EL AUSPICIO HA SIDO DE TAN SOLO UN MES Y AHORA NO ESTA SALIENDO AL AIRE. PERO APESAR SUS CORTOS TIEMPOS DE SALIDA, OCUPA EN EL PRIMER LUGAR DEL REITIN Y LA POBLACION INDIGENA SE IDENTIFICA CON VISION INTERCULTURAL PORQUE DICEN QUE ES LA VOZ DEL PUEBLO INDIGENA.

VISION INTERCULTURAL VIENE CON TEMAS POLITICOS Y SOCIALES, ASI MISMO ECONOMICOS Y CULTURALES, Y SUS DENUNCIAS A LAS AUTORIDADES REGIONALES HAN SIDO ESCUCHADAS, POR ESO LA POBLACION PIDE A VIVA VOZ QUE VISION INTERCULTURAL CONTINUE.

86% of all Deforestation in Shipibo Heartland

Although the below reposted article suggests there is a decline in overall logging in the Peruvian Amazon it highlights a major threat to the Shipibo people - the fact that

"86 percent of all forest damage was concentrated in only two regions: the area around the Ucayali logging centre of Pucallpa, and along the associated road network."

That means that 86% of the 127,700 hectares lost per year of the Peruvian Amazon forest cover is in the Shipibo's and their indigenous neighbors' territories. Although maybe not technically within the legally allotted territories of the indigenous people according to the government - these remote forest lands serve as indigenous hunting grounds or other areas of important resource or spiritual significance. With global warming on much of the world's minds right now, protecting these forests is going to play a more critical role in the future of the planet. Right now these forests act as huge carbon sinks, and when cut down, are one of the number one emitters of greenhouse gases because of all the carbon and such that is released from these old forests as they are destroyed.

Below: This aerial photo from Google Earth shows the immense deforestation surrounding Pucallpa and its road network, some legally-titled Shipibo communities are seen in yellow.

Article Reposted from: InterPress Service News

ENVIRONMENT: Satellites Show Logging Decline in Peru's Amazon Region
By Stephen Leahy

TORONTO, Aug 18 (Tierramérica) - Rainforest conservation policies are reducing the rate of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon, but roads are unquestionably the drivers of change, new satellite data reveal.

Although Brazil's Amazon forests draw the most international attention, Peru's 661,000 square kilometres of rainforests are recognised as a unique and important ecosystem.

However, the impacts of human activities throughout the region were poorly understood, until a study published Aug. 10 in the journal Science.

"Peru's forest reserves and conservation areas appear to be working well," said Greg Asner, director of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, at Stanford University in California.

Deforestation and other disturbances of forested areas -- selective logging, oil exploration and mining -- increased about 127,700 hectares per year on average from 1999 to 2005, with just two percent occurring in protected areas, according to the study by Asner and colleagues.

By contrast, Brazil's four million-square-kilometre Amazon forest region loses 2.0 million to 2.4 million hectares annually, with about 10 percent occurring in protected areas.

Better land use policies and the remoteness of the forest in Peru are likely reasons why there has been much less forest loss there, Asner told Tierramérica. Peru has also long had a national forest policy that granted logging concessions, whereas Brazil has only recently implemented a similar system, he said.

Using a satellite-based forest disturbance detection system originally designed and used to measure forest loss in Brazil, along with on-the-ground fieldwork, the study found that 86 percent of all forest damage was concentrated in only two regions: the area around the Ucayali logging centre of Pucallpa, and along the associated road network.

The satellite data reveals a great deal of logging "leakage" outside the concession areas into nearby forests, he said. Although it is difficult to know precisely what is occurring, Asner suspects that once an area has been opened up to logging, concession-holders or others simply move into nearby areas.

The study clearly shows that deforestation follows the construction of the Inter-Oceanic Highway, which ultimately is directly connected with 23 percent of the total damage. "Roads are absolutely connected to deforestation," Asner said.

Loggers are chasing "red gold", the valuable wood of mahogany trees, which are still found in commercial quantities in the Peruvian Amazon, says David Hill, a campaigner for Survival International, a Britain-based non-governmental organisation supporting tribal peoples worldwide.

"'Tree laundering' is going on, with mahogany supposedly coming from legal concessions being brought in from outside," Hill told Tierramérica. It is very difficult to monitor or trace the origin of logs in such remote regions, he said.

"Legal logging concessions are facilitating illegal extraction," he explained.

The activist is dubious of Asner's findings that indigenous territories contained only 11 percent of the "forest disturbances".

"There is illegal logging in four of the five indigenous reserves set aside for uncontacted peoples" in Peru, he said.

These indigenous tribes by choice have not been in regular contact with the outside world. The common cold or flu is often fatal to them because they have not had previous exposure to the diseases and have not developed the appropriate immune defences.

Illegal loggers brought such diseases to the Nahua tribe in the 1980s and more than half of them died, Hill said.

While logging is the most urgent threat to these isolated indigenous communities, oil and gas exploration has also become a significant problem. Last month the Inter-Ethnic Association for Peruvian Jungle Development, AIDESEP, applied to the courts for a ban on oil exploration and drilling in parts of the Peruvian Amazon inhabited by uncontacted tribes.

Enforceable land rights would go a long way to helping indigenous people in Peru, Hill says.

But keeping extractive industries like loggers out is an enormous challenge for any country. Brazil has struggled with this, largely unsuccessfully, for decades.

"Logging is a multi-billion dollar industry in Brazil -- 80 percent of which is illegal, according to the government," says Bill Laurance, a tropical forest ecologist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institution, in Balboa, Panama.

Deforestation rates have slowed in the past couple of years due to lower prices for soy and beef, and because of a crackdown on illegal logging, Laurance told Tierramérica.

That crackdown came after the 2005 murder of U.S.-born nun Dorothy Stang, who had been helping local people oppose illegal logging in the northern Brazilian state of Pará.

More than 100 people were arrested in a multi-million-dollar illegal logging network, including 40 people working for IBAMA, Brazil's federal environmental law enforcement agency, he said.

"Even Canada and the U.S. have trouble enforcing their logging rules in remote areas," he pointed out.

Slowing deforestation in the Amazon is an enormous challenge. The rise of so-called "carbon markets" offers some real hopes, if a country like Brazil can obtain credits for "avoided deforestation" and the corresponding reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Laurance.

Brazil is the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases resulting from deforestation. The World Bank recently announced a 250-million-dollar pilot fund to pay tropical countries like Brazil for preserving their forests.

Avoided deforestation is an inexpensive and simple way to slow climate change and brings additional benefits, including preservation of ecosystem services and biodiversity.

Accurate and ongoing measurements of standing forests and deforestation are absolutely crucial to making such as compensation system work, and Asner's group has the technology, says Laurance.

Previous satellite data and analysis by the group revealed higher rates of deforestation in Brazil than previous estimates. And although Peru's forest regions are frequently obscured by clouds, the new technology involving use of supercomputers can work around that problem.

By this time next year, thanks to a training plan and a compressed version of the study team's program, government officials, academics and non-governmental groups in Peru will able to update the forest change analysis on personal computers, he said.

Asner believes the program can be adapted to any tropical country and he plans to present it at the next stage of the negotiations of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, to take place in December in Bali, Indonesia.

"What the Peru study shows is that we have a definitive tool for detecting deforestation and change," says Asner.

(*Originally published by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.) (END/2007)

Community-based Geographic Tech Workshops

Land rights is a constantly recurring theme in our work with indigenous peoples throughout the world. And the Shipibo people have asked for our assistance in their struggles over territory. In June, the Village Earth Peru Project Coordinator held a community-based geographic technology workshop in the lower Ucayali. Leaders from two communities in the Calleria district joined forces to protect their land. Both communities were given legal titles to their land years ago, however, in the dynamic Amazonian environment their lands have changed dramatically since the initial titling. Half of what was once part of the community is now overtaken by the mighty Ucayali River with more and more of the community being washed away daily into the river as it changes course. Originally, indigenous communities changed location as the river moved, but now communities are forced to remain within government-imposed boundaries.

Forcing indigenous peoples to be subjugated within externally-imposed borders does not work in the dynamic environment of the Amazon. However, protecting indigenous land through titling and demarcation is a necessary evil right now in order to protect communities' rights to land and resources. Much of the strategy of the Peruvian government has been to conquer and divide indigenous territories. However, many indigenous leaders and activists are calling for a new way to think about indigenous territory - and to remind the world they have sustainably managed their forests for thousands of years. "The demand for territorial clarity and non-overlapping negotiations on land issues is predicated on an acceptance of the EuroAmerican way of viewing land, demarking and dividing the land and environment and relationships between people on the basis of European-derived notions of property, ownership, and jurisdiction."*

Therefore, these communities are looking to expand their legally allotted territories, in order to maintain a sufficient land base that can provide for their self-sustainability. Workshop participants learned how to mark and find way points, use the compass, and many other useful features of Geographic Positioning System (GPS) in order to accurately locate boundaries. Each community was given a GPS unit and they are currently marking the points to which they wish to expand their territories and then will send them to Village Earth, where using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, we can help them to create maps that they can use in their negotiations with the government.

Both communities expressed worry about the current land grab in the Amazon by non-indigenous colonists. Roads are slowly creeping into their remote district bringing more and more settlers taking forest resources from the indigenous inhabitants.

These communities still have an expensive and arduous process ahead of them in order to expand their allotted territories. And their are many more communities interested in Village Earth mapping and geographic technology workshops. If you would like to make a contribution to these important efforts, please contact: kristina@villageearth.org

Thank you to the community that provided lunch to the workshop participants!

*Alfred, Taiaiake. 2005. Wasase: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom. Broadview Press, Canada.

Shipibo Regional Organizational Workshop

Above: Enjoying a relaxing evening after the workshop.

Village Earth was asked by some prominent Shipibo leaders a few months back to facilitate another regional workshop this time with more of an emphasis on intercommunity cooperation. So the Village Earth team returned for a 7-day workshop in early January. Twenty-four Shipibo leaders participated representing six communities in four different districts throughout the Ucayali. The workshop began with a review of past Village Earth-Shipibo collaborations and a viewing of the Village Earth/Shipibo documentary film, "The Children of the Anaconda". Then we began a district-wide mapping session so community members would be begin to think beyond their own borders. This brought up an array of environmental issues as participants discussed sharing forest and river resources with neighboring communities, but also the destruction being wrought by logging and oil companies in the region.

Below: Shipibo children participated by drawing their own map of their community and then presented it to the group. For community initiatives to be truly sustainable, children, too, must always be involved in the process.

Village Earth would like to facilitate collaboration between our project partners, and both the Lakota and Shipibo have expressed much interest in working together in the future as they face many of the same issues being the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas. We decided to do a viewing of the Village Earth-produced documentary film "Rezonomics" which highlights the economic situation on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Although they inhabit vastly different environments, the Shipibo found many similarities in their struggles and learned from the Lakota new ways to think about many of their issues.

This was followed by a discussion on the roles and activities of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in Shipibo country. This led to a very interesting discussion about NGOs and top-down funding models which many times inhibits NGOs from being responsive to community needs and truly participatory community-based development. The Shipibo have dealt with NGO after NGO letting them down with failed promises. However, this is not purely the fault of the NGO. The Shipibo, too, recognize that they need to be proactive and organized when soliciting the assistance of NGOs. Only when both parties are in consensus and work through the Shipibo model of community organization is there the potential to have successful collaborations.

This led us to the discussion of 'So, what has been successful?' What has worked before and how did they organize to make it happen? This is an important part of the Village Earth process because we want to encourage communities to build off of past successes instead of reinventing the wheel each time. Many community projects had been successful before - from communal construction projects to fish farms. Then we questioned, "How did the communities organize themselves in order to make these projects happen?"

Above: One influential Shipibo leader, Limber Gomez, draws out the model of intra and inter-community governance that the Shipibo people use to organize themselves. This highlighted the disconnect between the way NGOs were entering the communities and beginning their work and the way in which Shipibo communities build consensus and participation for projects.

Shipibo communities already have their own consensus-building processes in which the community authorities hold assemblies where everybody is welcomed and encouraged to attend. From this point, committees are democratically-elected to take on different project aspects which then report back to the authorities and the community during the assemblies. They have their own treasurers and methods for financial accountability. Although this seems like such common sense, it is surprising how many outsiders come in thinking they have the answers or that the Shipibo don't know how to manage their own finances or run their own projects. Yet, the Shipibo are actually running their community affairs with incredible organizational capacity which is only disrupted when outsiders try to impose top-down funding and project management.

We then began the strategic planning session with a five-year vision emphasizing regional unity. This was really a question from the heart - what do they really feel for their community and their people, as opposed to just thinking about what material goods they would like to have. This really forced them to look deep inside themselves to come up with their comprehensive vision collectively. Their vision consisted of four main emphasis areas: Community Development, Formation of Shipibo Professionals (business leaders, doctors, engineers, lawyers), Cultural Revival, and the creation of Micro-enterprises.

This led to the question, "What obstacles are holding you back from achieving your vision?" The participants really focused on obstacles they could change themselves instead of focusing on larger global systemic issues that might seem more daunting to overcome. We then moved onto Strategic Directions where participants looked at what they can do in the next year to overcome their obstacles and begin to move toward their vision. The Strategic Directions really got the participants involved and thinking about what they can actually do to achieve their own vision for the future.

Below: All participants were involved in putting their ideas onto the board throughout the visioning process. These young men were rearranging the group's ideas into coherent groupings for the Strategic Directions phase of the workshop.

Finally, the workshop reached its pinnacle in the Action Planning phase. Participants mapped out their plans for the next three months - practical actions that they can actually take to move toward their vision and be active agents in their own "development" process. Eight aspects were deemed the most important areas for action. They are:

• First and foremost -- protect and defend Shipibo territory
  


• Broader regional unity
  


• Cultural revival
  


• University scholarships for their children
  


• Small business development
  


• An Indigenous Bank to facilitate economic development
  


• Promoting indigenous foods for better nutrition
  


• Shipibo-run radio stations broadcasting throughout the region
  

A committee was formed for each of these eight areas, tasks were assigned, timelines and budgets were drawn up, and finally they were presented back to the group.

Above: Leaders of the group planning actions to protect indigenous territory present their plan back to the group for approval.

These eight areas will be further discussed in forthcoming Blog postings. A Transitory Committee was democratically-elected amongst the participants (with at least one representative of each community present in the workshop) to hold an Indigenous Tribunal in June. This June event will be the follow-up to this workshop and it is Village Earth's great honor that the Shipibo have asked Village Earth to return and co-facilitate this historic event. The Tribunal will be a gathering of Indigenous leaders from all 120 Shipibo communities, as well as other regional indigenous groups, to discuss their own alternative plan for "A Better Ucayali".

All in all, this Regional Organizational Workshop was an incredibly empowering event and a great learning experience for all involved. The Shipibo have expressed to the Village Earth team how happy and grateful they are for our support for their self-determination. Yet, when we asked "Who came up with this plan?", the participants realized that it was completely decided and directed by them with Village Earth only providing the framework from which to begin to question and think about some of these important issues.

Village Earth is honored to work with these amazing individuals that participated in this workshop and the Shipibo people as a whole. And we feel privileged to be invited to co-facilitate their landmark Indigenous Tribunal in June 2007.

Above: Village Earth facilitators Kristina Pearson and David Bartecchi dance with the group as the Shipibo band plays in the background. The community organized a farewell party on the last evening of the workshop to celebrate the achievements of the group.

Below: A special thank you to Mayer Kirkpatrick, Mateo Arevalo, and Freddy Arevalo for their hardwork and dedication to this project.




Above: Thank you to Ralf (Village Earth's media specialist), and Chloe (Village Earth's Poet Laureate) for their hardwork and help throughout the workshop.

Below: A very special thank you to Flora - an amazing volunteer who gave so much of her time to help with translations and facilitating the workshop.

And most of all - THANK YOU to all of our donors - without you none of this would have been possible!

Shipibo Youth Fine Arts Center

Above: Nixon Yuimachi painting the Shipibo legend of the chuyachaqui in his Youth Fine Arts Center.

A group of Shipibo youth, led by Nixon Yuimachi, in the indigenous community of San Francisco de Yarinacocha have begun forming a youth group for those interested in learning and teaching about the traditional Shipibo fine arts. The art center has commenced operations in Nixon's home in San Francisco, yet they have a dream of expanding into a new location. They would like to construct an art center with lodging also available for Shipibo youth who have to travel from far away communities to attend week-long art workshops. They could construct this new center and also purchase art supplies in bulk to get the center functioning at their desired capacity for only about $300 USD. The art center will be free to anyone wishing to attend classes (Shipibo, Peruvians, and foreigners alike) and all who staff the center are volunteers. The only expenses are art supplies, although many paints, dyes, and other supplies are available naturally on the art center grounds. They would also like to be able to provide travel scholarships for youth from far away communities who cannot afford to travel to San Francisco de Yarinacocha. They plan to maintain their programs through the sale of their art both locally, nationally, and internationally. They are looking for international connections to people interested in helping to sell their art in international markets.

Above: An intricate painting of a shamanic vision where the shaman connects with Mother Earth in a dream world full of medicinal plants and important Shipibo symbols.

Below: An interpretation of Shipibo life in the past as painted by the art center youth.

Above: A beautifully intricate painting of a Shipibo women elder.

Shipibo art is unique in that most supplies are made from naturally-available resources the Shipibo cultivate or that are gathered wild from the surrounding forests. It is also unique for its cultural designs, an important symbol of Shipibo identity. Many paintings are inspired by Shipibo legends, history, nature, and also from shamanic visions of other worlds. Also, many paintings are done collaboratively with many youth contributing to each painting.

Above: A shamanic vision painted by Nixon Yuimachi and donated to Village Earth in order to raise money for future collaborative projects between the Shipibo people and Village Earth.

If you are interested in purchasing a piece of art or supporting the Youth Fine Arts Center, please contact Village Earth's Peru project coordinator, Kristina Pearson: kristina@villageearth.org or call Village Earth's main office: 1-970-491-5754

Santa Teresita, Ucayali, Peru

The indigenous community of Santa Teresita lies on the shores of Cashibococha, a pristine lake near to Pucallpa. Jaime Flores Diaz invited Village Earth to their community for an afternoon of cultural performances. Jaime began this performance group a few years ago after taking in several orphaned children. He began to teach them traditional Shipibo song and dance. Jaime learned many Shipibo songs from his father who was a traditional healer of his community. Jaime was worried that this knowledge would be lost, so he decided to impart his wisdom onto his adopted children.

Below: Jaime Flores Diaz, a cultural visionary for his people

Jaime is interested to teach more Shipibo youth traditional Shipibo song, dance, and even theater. He is currently looking for funding to construct a cultural center in Santa Teresita that will be open to all Shipibo interested in regaining their knowledge of the traditional performing arts. They will also be available for performances for tourists. Not only will youth be regaining an important cultural aspect in the performing arts, but they are also learning so much more about other aspects of Shipibo culture such as traditional clothing and jewelry design. They are also gaining more confindence in themselves - young people are once again proud to be Shipibo.

This project fits into the larger regional plan for the alternative development of the Shipibo nation. One of the eight key aspects of the Shipibo regional plan is to rescue their culture and bring it back from the brink of extinction to once again be a vibrant, flourishing way of life that distinguishes them from the Western world. Cultural exchange was an important component of each communities' plans - cultural exchange from the elders to the youth and also between Shipibo communities and the tourists who come to visit them.

If you are interested in helping to support Jaime's dream of a Shipibo cultural center in Santa Teresita, please contact Village Earth's Peru project coordinator, Kristina Pearson: kristina@villageearth.org
or call the Village Earth main office: 1-970-491-5754