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SIT Study Abroad Ecuador alum works for indigenous self-determination
Monday, July 18, 2005
By: Lee Gilman, SIT Study Abroad Fall 2004
Brown student Lee Gilman is interning at Fundación Pachamama, Quito
I'm interning at Fundación Pachamama, an NGO that is the Ecuadorian counterpart to The Pachamama Alliance, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, CA. It’s located in the center of the modern part of Quito, right next to the Olympic Futbol Stadium. Pachamama means "mother earth" in Quechua. Appropriate for our work, but a bit strange since the main indigenous groups we work with are the Shuar and Achuar, who speak Shuar.
The mission of Pachamama is as follows:
Fundación Pachamama is committed to the indigenous Amazonian peoples in their processes of self-determination, with an emphasis on the defense of their territories and their ways of life. (“The Institutional Policies of Fundación Pachamama, January 2005).
Pachamama primarily works with FINAE, formed in 1993 as the indigenous political and cultural organization of the Achuar nation, but also works with Shuar nation groups called FIPSE and FICSH. These three groups came together in 1996 to form the Comité Interferderacional (Inter-federation Commmittee) through an understanding of shared goals of fighting to protect their territories. They also realized that a broader base would give them greater political support and leverage in regional and national politics (however, they are certainly not a political party). Pachamama also works with the Sarayaku, who are Kichwas of the Pastaza province and with ONZAE, the organization representing the Zapara nation.
Pachamama primarily operates under three programs, and coordinates with a variety of other NGOs like HIVOS (Netherlands), IBIS (Denmark), CDES (Center for Economic and Social Rights in Ecuador), Centro Lianas (Ecuador), Rainforest Foundation (DC), Amazon Watch (San Francisco), SNV (Netherlands), and many others. They are also part of the Amazon Alliance, based in DC, with many of these organizations. The first program is institutional strengthening of the indigenous organizations, by which Pachamama helps provide money for regional offices of these organizations in Puyo, the closest city to these indigenous communities. They also provide technical assistance for organizational needs. Furthermore, they provide funds for travel for various indigenous leaders of these organizations to and from Quito and abroad. Aiding the advancement of indigenous education is an additional component to this program.
Pachamama's second program involves land titling and the collective rights of these indigenous communities, especially over the self-management of their lands. Pachamama bases its struggle in the Ecuadorian constitution, which upholds the collective rights of indigenous nations over the management of their territories. Pachamama aids indigenous organizations in gaining official land titling so that these rights will be protected. We are currently training Achuar in GPS and map demarcation techniques, so that they can accurately map their land, a government requirement in the land titling process. They can't afford to pay an outside surveyor to perform these tasks, nor do they want to end up with less land than they believe is theirs because of vague maps.
Pachamama's third program involves promoting sustainable alternatives in these indigenous communities. Most of these communities are only approachable by foot or by plane, and each community has a small dirt landing strip nearby. Pachamama has helped FINAE set up Aerotsentak, an Achuar-run aerial service that allows them to control the flow of people and goods to their lands. It gives them funds for their survival and to aid them in their struggles to protect their lands and obtain services like good educational resources and medical supplies that they have often been lacking (although these goods and services have been promised by the government). Pachamama also runs an ecotourism lodge called Kapawi, which is a fairly sustainable project and brings in a small amount of tourists every year. Currently, the Achuar make up 80% or more of the staff, and Pachamama is working towards a full transference of ownership to FINAE by 2011. With this grand change, these communities will thus have full control over the project and receive 100% of the profits.
Finally, Pachamama is working on a theoretical level to promote dialogue about sustainable alternatives to petroleum. Calling it the Green Plan, Pachamama hopes to support the indigenous communities in discovering economically sustainable alternatives to petroleum. Though not yet affected by petroleum extraction, these indigenous nations are continuously pressured by the Ecuadorian government and by multinational corporations to open up their lands to drilling. FINAE and the Sarayaku are especially opposed to exploration and extraction, and Pachamama supports them financially and through the dialogue of the Green Plan to protect their lands. Basically, the Green Plan seeks to do many things at once: through a debt swap (because of the economic crisis generated by Ecuador’s massive external debt, i.e. 45% of the government budget goes to paying this debt), the plan seeks to utilize money saved by the swap towards government programs for the provision of basic services like improved education and universal health care, and the development of sustainable economic alternatives, including environmental services such as ecotourism, oxygen production, and sustainable productive agricultural practices.
So what do I do at Pachamama?
Basically, I came here not really knowing what to expect. For whatever reason, there was sporadic communication between the Quito office and me before I came down here. They also have never really had a summer intern before, and are continuously trying to figure out what exactly my role should be in the organization. I’m only here for 9 weeks, and the first three weeks was a complete learning process about how Pachamama works, how an NGO that fights for development and cultural autonomy runs. This was incredibly fascinating, but definitely took a substantial chunk of time to really understand how this organization worked.
I am continuously involved in translating important Pachamama documents from Spanish to English, and have been asked by our partner organizations and our counterpart indigenous organizations to translate documents for them. For Pachamama, translation is necessary because the founder of Pachamama, Bill Twist, who oversees the San Francisco office, speaks little Spanish. For other organizations, having one's organizational policies, as well as project proposals, in English expands the world in which these organizations can seek funding.
Furthermore, I have been doing an intensive study, on and off for the last month, on the Green Plan, reviewing all previous documents, meeting minutes, and proposals generated in the three years since the theoretical inception of this project. With this, and after a few meetings with my project director, Cristina Santacruz, I have created an up-to-date executive summary of the Green Plan, including a chronology of the development of the Plan, a list of the most important documents and studies generated since discussion began, a coherent summary of the background needs for the implementation plan and actions (still quite theoretical) that the plan would seek to undertake. Finally, I propose new ideas so that the Green Plan can really move into a stage of concrete proposals, government lobbying, and hopefully, implementation.
My most interesting work has been a series of meetings with various groups and organizations. This has been an incredible learning process for me. First, I traveled with Pachamama to Puyo, a city bordering the central Ecuadorian Amazon, a month ago to be an observer at an important meeting of the Comite Interferacional. At this meeting, the indigenous politics were fascinating, both in cultural terms, such as how they addressed each other in a very circular manner of speaking, and in political terms, in observing the unity and division between them depending on the topic. The big topic of discussion was an agreement recently signed between two Shuar organizations, the Minister of Energy and Mines in Ecuador, and the oil company Burlington Resources, which stated a devotion to future talks between these groups. This agreement was confronted by the Achuar, and all agreed to annul the agreement, but I doubt it will impede future negotiations between the Shuar leader (a scary, defiant bear of a man) and oil companies. This is incredibly sad, especially considering the former unity within the Comite and the progress they’ve made in the 9 years since they decided to collectively say no to oil development in their territories. You can read more about this meeting in my blog.
Another meeting I attended was at the Center for Economic and Social Development of Ecuador (CDES), in which there were two panelists who spoke about different paradigms for alternative development in the central southern Amazon region. An amazingly intelligent professor first presented a framework for cooperative development that reconciles and forges a singular identity out of Western and indigenous cultures...i.e. he believes you must incorporate aspects of Western culture and at least understand it in order improve the lives of people in this region. Then a Shuar who is also a teacher spoke about a resistance paradigm, where nonviolent but substantial resistance should originate from the Shuar and other indigenous groups. After gaining autonomy, they should be allowed to implement their vision of development in their own way. Taking a bit from both, as usual, makes most sense to me. Hopefully, any development plans that get put into action will draw from both (and additional) perspectives. The thing that frustrates me is that, on this topic, there's so much theoretical talk and not enough action (this can be seen with our Green Plan). However, critically thinking and then coming up with NEW realistic solutions is always easier then reading and analyzing previous material and then asserting a position which isn't all that practical. But hearing the debate was incredibly interesting.
Finally, this past week was spent again in Puyo, learning about and supporting various processes for UNIDAE, the only indigenous-run university in the Ecuadorian Amazon. It offers degrees in Environmental Management and Tourism, Community Health, and Business Administration, and offers classes in many topics including English, Math, Stats, Indigenous Technology (along with modern technology, science, business, and law), Natural Science, Biology, Anthropology, Sociology, Bilingual Languages, or Indigenous Philosophy. I took a tour of the campus, helped out in a class about ecologically-sound agricultural management, did some office work, and even taught an English class on Friday when the professor didn’t show up (not a problem for me, I volunteer teaching English once a week at Brown).
The university was started in 1997 by CONFENIAE, the largest indigenous political organization of the Ecuadorian Amazon, but was closed recently for a year and a half by the Ecuadorian government, saying that it needed to get legal recognition for its degrees before it could reopen. Recently, UNIDAE gained this needed approval and recognition for its bachelor’s program from the University of Cuenca. UNIDAE's curriculum further gained official recognition from the Council of Universities of Ecuador. These developments represent a huge victory for the university in its struggle to gain legitimacy and provide an indigenous-run and led alternative form of higher education.
UNIDAE, sadly, has a lot of problems. It is severely under-funded, and Pachamama, a small NGO, currently provides nearly half the funding. The director (only in place the last 3 months) is suspected of stealing money, and there are few materials and basically no library. Indeed, the ecology class had to use plastic soda bottles and cups instead of beakers with proper measures. In addition, the students have to pay nearly $100 per term (it meets for one week straight every month), a ridiculously high amount for the mostly indigenous student body who, on average, have very low incomes. I talked with many people, both students and directors and teachers, about these problems, and Cristina and I have begun a Pachamama discussion about these issues.
Finally, I took on the task of writing this month's New Moon Update, an email newsletter sent from the SF Pachamama office to all of Pachamama's donors, telling them about developments of our work in Ecuador. It was quite fun to write, and also a learning process, since I’ve never really had any journalism experience. It was quite fun to imagine what I would want to read as a donor from the Bay Area (and the rest of the US, but most are concentrated near SF), and then find ways to present our work in such an appealing flavor.
Pachamama, my interests, my studies
My internship with The Pachamama Alliance in Quito, Ecuador, during the summer of 2005 is and has been an incredible opportunity for work and personal development, constantly expanding my knowledge and understanding of resource management, indigenous politics, and social movements in this country.
During my semester in Ecuador in the autumn of 2004, the cultural diversity and the opportunities for social change that I encountered motivated me to return this summer. I witnessed the testimonies of indigenous communities whose cultures and knowledge are being threatened and who need support in their quest for autonomous, and sustainable economic development and by which their culture can flourish. I was an observer at the biennial congress of CONAIE, the largest indigenous cultural and political organization in Ecuador, and saw the progress they've made in promoting indigenous issues nationally. I feel lucky to be given the opportunity to not only observe but to participate in the strengthening of indigenous communities and social movements with this internship. It allows me to more fully interact and understand the present situation and the real struggles of these people. As a Development Studies concentrator at Brown University who is especially interested in social movements in Latin America, an internship with Pachamama is an incredible opportunity for me. Development Studies demands an interdisciplinary approach to studying the Third World, loosely based around an ever-changing definition of Development. I am currently utilizing my understandings from my work at Brown concerning economics, political science, environmental studies, and sociology, all concerning Latin America, and during my semester in Ecuador in analyzing various situations that arise in my work with Pachamama. This knowledge from my studies includes the history and impact of various development efforts in Ecuador, my understanding of CONAIE and the MST (Movemiento Sin Terra, or Landless Workers' Movement, Brazil) as successful social movements which often deal with environmental resource dilemmas, and my independent ethnographic research (conducted during my ISP with SIT last year) on alternative sustainable development efforts in a small coastal Ecuadorian village.
Through my education at Brown and through personal reflection I have decided that I probably will go to graduate school in some sphere that will focus on international development (whether it is political geography, sociology, an MBA, or even MPH, I’m still not sure). This internship is daily expanding my interest in Latin American development work, and will certainly provide me with an abundance of contacts with which I could build research projects in the future.
Professionally, because of my interests I am driven towards a career in international public service and see myself working for an organization that strives toward local community empowerment. I hope to work with communities to successfully enable them to navigate the murky and dangerous waters of economic development and forces of cultural change. This internship with Pachamama has so far been an incredible learning experience, especially in learning how a small development NGO operates on a daily basis: what is required for work, the pace at which we operate, as well as the specific vocabulary and timeline and strategies used to effectively implement our programs. At the same time, I’ve learned about the drawbacks and limitations of our work (as a small development NGO that doesn’t have a large amount of money to work with) in financial terms, in personnel terms, and in terms of our political influence in broader struggles. All of this understanding is incredibly important training for a future that will probably necessitate knowledge of such issues.
Personally, I have become quite attached to the issues I’ve learned about. Having grown up in a household (and Jewish summer camp) which nourished strong beliefs in social justice and service, I have carried these values through my life in my various volunteer activities while I'm at Brown, my studies, which in large part deal with understanding ways to repair the damages and injustices that have and are currently taking place in the Third World. Last summer, I worked at ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) in Portland, Oregon, registering voters by day and organizing low-income communities in the evening to fight against basic and easily changeable injustices. In addition, since my Spanish classes in high school and at Brown, I've been fascinated by Latin American culture as well as economic, political, and social issues in the region, and my internship at Pachamama unifies my interests. I'm so lucky that I get to do this work and get to explore Quito in the evenings and the rest of Ecuador on weekends. While I like Quito, I must get out every couple of weeks for a few days just to leave the hectic city life behind and enjoy the true natural jewels of this country, which are infinite. Indeed, it is the people and the natural surroundings that have made me fall in love with this country, and I'm so happy to be back this summer. The opportunity at Pachmama has been unique and formative. Although translations are often tedious, what I’m learning just by talking to my coworkers, various Achuar and Shuar, and counterpart NGO organizations in Ecuador has been truly eye-opening.
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