By Roberta Ward Smiley | CEO/Founder
This is “Rancho Bienvenido” translated to English, but it is also the name of the President and elder member of the Maleku Tribal Council, Bienvenido Cruz Castro. We met Bienvenido over four years ago when he told us of the Maleku tribe’s situation concerning the loss of their ancestral lands and their heartfelt desire to restore the forests that have been destroyed at the hands of non-indigenous landowners.
The Maleku people depend on the forest for resources to live their traditional life style. Everything from housing to clothing and medicine is found in the forest. Their food and even bait used for fishing come from the fruit of a native rainforest tree.
The Maleku Tribal Council still needs that new “rancho” for their frequent meetings, receptions for important visitors and ceremonial rituals. We only need a little more than $500 to finish the funding and watch the tribal council build it. It takes less than a week to build with all natural materials.
The council was instrumental in the implementation of the Rio Sol Biological Corridor where 35,000 trees were planted in a continuous native tree corridor along the river. Will you please help us in this final push to see this exciting project funded, something we can all be proud of?
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