Support Shipibo-Konibo Change Makers

My name is Thomas Younger; I am originally from the Northeast of England and have divided much of my adult life between South America and Scotland. Since arriving in Yarinacocha in February to begin coordinating the Ecosocial Justice Program, I have set about the slow but vital work of establishing and nurturing relationships of solidarity and trust with both our Shipibo and non-indigenous allies. In keeping with Alianza Arkana’s commitment to supporting community-led initiatives, I’ve sought out every opportunity to converse with Shipibo community members, leaders and local activists about what shape ‘ecosocial justice’ might take here in Ucayali - departing especially from the Shipibo notion of jakon jati, or the actions needed to lead a good life - what steps we might take collectively to create and sustain the jakon nete (‘the good world/environment’)  and which barriers currently impede us.

I have co-hosted several events to facilitate this ongoing work. In early March, we welcomed Juan Arellano, a digital activist and editor of Global Voices en Español, to hold a workshop on using social networks to generate greater awareness of the injustices facing Amazonian indigenous peoples. Indigenous communicators, including representatives from several local organisations including AIDI, REDCIP, IDEARA and OJIRO, came together to analyse and discuss how they can leverage digital media in defence of their territorial and cultural rights.

Later that month, we hosted a video screening and discussion as part of our developing work on the urgent problem of palm oil expansion, which in recent years has become a key driver of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon and a source of serious rights violations for indigenous peoples. This public screening of a community video produced by LifeMosaic created a space where Shipibo participants on the frontline of palm oil expansion could hear a range of community voices from Indonesia, currently one of the main global producers of palm oil, and discuss their own situation in light of this. Washington Bolívar, an indigenous leader deeply involved in the Shipibo community of Santa Clara de Uchunya’s fight to protect their ancestral territory from a land grab and deforestation led by a palm oil company, observed that “it is the same pair of scissors that is severing the umbilical cords of our communities.” 

We have since held a workshop in Santa Clara de Uchunya, in which over 30 participants reflected on the defence of their territory and discussed how they might develop a community-led communications strategy. Following this workshop, we equipped the community with a camera which they will use to document the ongoing destruction of their forests and rivers, to help make visibie these violations and their struggle to overcome them.

Weaving these relationships is crucial to the efficacy of our ecosocial justice work. Likewise, our relationship with you, as a supporter of this work, is also critical to enabling us to carry out this work and so it is that I end on a note of deep gratitude for your continuing support.

In solidarity, 

Thomas