My Journey into the Amazon Jungle

How did I spend my summer vacation? Journeying deep into heart and lungs of the world - - the untouched, pristine Amazon rain forest in central/south Ecuador, the home of the Achuar Nation. The Achuar are a “dreaming” culture who put great emphasis on their dreams. Up until about 25 years ago, they were “uncontacted” and for centuries had been recognized for their fierce warrior culture.

However, having witnessed the disastrous effects of oil exploration in the northern part of the country and its impacts on their indigenous neighbors, the Achuar leaders came to realize that they needed to “awaken the dreamers” of the North and change the dream so that the Rain Forest, and the world could be saved for generations to come.

Seventeen years ago, the Achuar leaders decided to voluntarily make contact with the outside world on THEIR terms and they reached out to some leaders of moral courage who shared their view of creating an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fullfilling and socially just human presence on the Earth - - and the Pachamama (meaning Mother Earth in Quechua language) Alliance was formed. The founders - - John Perkins and Bill and Lynne Twist - - along with 9 others - - ventured into Achuar territory to meet with the shamans and leaders and were told that if they had come to help the Achuar, never mind. But if they had come because their respective liberations were tied up with one another, then a partnership could be formed. (I encourage you to go to www.pachamama.org to view fascinating videos)

My husband Rob and I are long time supporters of the Pachamama Alliance and it was under their leadership that we took our journey. I went first, with a fierce and wonderful group of women to help support one of Pachamama’s programs “Jungle Mamas”. With the help of the One Heart World-Wide, Jungle Mama’s is training the Achuar women on midwifery and maternal health.

After a week with Jungle Mamas I was joined by my husband Rob and another Pachamama group led by all three of the founders so that we could all learn more about the rain forest and its critical role in the health of the world, the culture of the Achuar and other indigenous neighbors and the work of the Pachamama Alliance to work with indigenous leaders to develop alternatives to oil exploration to present to the governments of the Amazon Basin.

I could write for weeks on my experiences, but here are a few major take aways that I would like to share:

1) Ecuador is one of the world’s “hot spots” in that it has more bio-diversity (given its position on the Equator and its treasures of the Galapagos, the Andes and the Rain Forest) and cultural diversity than any other country of its size.

2) Oil exploration in the Amazon and the infrastructure that supports it has devastating effects on the rainforest which will not grow back. Given the effects of overconsumption of fossil fuels in the world, the melting of the ice caps and the deforestation of the rainforest will combine in tragic ways in the future.

3) I had thought of indigenous people living in the jungle the way they have done for thousands of years as primitive. They are highly sophisticated in ways that we are primitive - - in their knowledge of the earth, nature, spirit world, community, and vice versa. We have so much to learn from each other to take the best of the world of technology and the world of nature.

4) I have known for awhile that future progress of the women’s movement and women’s empowerment in the world would require enlisting men as allies. I was blown away by the dedication of the young men leaders of the Achuar to learn as much as they could about our Jungle Mama’s program so that they could support the health of their wives, their children, the community and mankind.