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July 21, 2005
...and speaking of hope...
Sometimes the testimonies of everyone in the world sufering from the abuses of industrial capitalism overwhelms and exhausts. Last night a few of us organized a meeting -- an encuentro -- because several of our indigenous delegates from the US and Mexico and several local indigenous and non-indigenous folks wanted to show videos and share experiences. Humberto Chica, a Canari (the local indigenous group) man who runs an organic farm and guides tourists to the nearby ruins and national parks, has taken a liking to our delegation, and he set up a session at the Alliance Francaise. He and a friend began be showing a video about their watershed protection projects, in which we learned about the importance of the place to the ecology of Ecuador. Cuenca means watershed in Spanish, and 4 rivers have their headwaters in the mountains surrounding this valley: Rio Tomebamba, Rio Yanuncay, Rio Machangara, and Rio Tarqui. All four flow into the Rio Paute, which flows down into the Amazon basin, to eventulay join the Rio Pastaza, the Rio Bobonazo, and eventually the mighty Amazon itself. So, in a way, this Cuenca, this watershed, is among the most important in Latin America (as if there is anything like an unimportant watershed...).
After that video, Sherri showed Gold, Greed and Genocide, a great and horrific short documentary made by Pratap Chatterjee about the California Gold Rush and its impact on the California natives. I did simultaneous translation for the crowd, and I can tell you that its exhausting translating phrases like¨: "the government of Calfornia paid $5 each for the heads of the Indians," and "boys were sold into slavery for $60 dollars, girls for up to $400." The film generated a lot of interest, especially because, as I´ve seen before, most people outside the US (and inside) don´t realize that any native peoples are left in the US. In any case, the hope here is in the mercury education project being carried out by the Indian Treaty Council for which I co-wrote a manual through Hesperian Foundation. Sherri and others travel to reservations and rancherias around California educating about the toxic legac of the gold rush. After that film, Angel Valencia, our Yaqui friend, showed "Huicholes y Plaguicidas" a short doc about the horrors of pesticide poisoning. After the film, he spoke, and got extremely emotional, because this is so clearly the extermination of his people. "Why is the life of a white child more valuable than the life of a Yaqui child, or an Ecuadora child, or a Peruvian child? This canot go on!," Angel said, in tears. He insisted then on showing another film about native peoples and toxics, and the night grew heavier, with the room sinking into near despair.
Still, in a session earlier that day about deep ecology, the presenters offered a new paradigm for global health, which does offer hope if we can carry it forward. Doctor Julio Monsalvo of Argentina and Sandra Isable Payan of Colombia spoke beautifully about what they call "Primary Health Care for Ecosystems". What they are promoting is a model of human health which includes the greater ecosphere, and takes into account a model of "power with, not power over", feminine being, recognition of natural cycles and energy flows, a rejection of dualities like good/evil, sick/healthy, masculine/feminine, and so forth, and a recognition of the sacred nature of, well, nature. Julio specifically describes the six A´s that make up health: "agua, aire, alimento, abrigo, amor, y arte." That is, water, air, food, clothing and shelter, love, and art.
The session on primary health care for ecosystems continues today, and I will present a discussion on ecological sanitation, that most humble aspect of the paradigm of integrated environmental health. Hesperian´s booklet on sanitation will be presented, and I´m excietd to present it in the context of health and deep ecology. And its exciting to see how much real interest there is in the subject -- I can´t pull the books out of my bag without being surrounded by community health workers clamoring for their copy....
And finally, back to the horrors that surround us, a few photos of a performance revealing the perceptions of American imperialism:
Posted by jeff at July 21, 2005 07:39 AM