Family and friends,
Last summer, I received the immense privilege and opportunity to study abroad in Ecuador for five weeks. I stayed with the indigenous community, Sarayaku, who live along the Bobonaza River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The Sarayaku Community has taught me countless lessons on resistance, solidarity, and community, through their fight against oil extraction and the neoliberal government of Ecuador. This morning, I was saddened to hear about the extreme flooding that occurred in their territory, destroying their homes, crops, animals, and even the school that is crucial to their traditional ecological knowledge. Sarayaku is seeing the impacts of ALREADY occurring climate change during the middle of a pandemic. This is a clear example of how communities that contribute the least to climate change are being disproportionately affected by the adverse consequences of years of exploitation and extraction in the “Global South”.
Today, amongst this climate crisis and pandemic, I believe it is time to turn those powerful lessons I learned into actions. If you have the capacity to donate please follow the link to a gofundme page organized by Nina Gualinga, an indigenous climate activist from Sarayaku. If you are facing financial strains, there are other ways to show solidarity. You can help by spreading the word amongst friends, loved ones, and strangers. Please share this link widely!
We cannot let the Sarayaku community go unheard, especially when their entire being is about protecting Mother Earth for you, for me, for all of us. They are stewards of the Earth, their unwavering love for their environment is what guarantees this world a future. Now, it is time we return their kindness and guarantee a future for them and their loved ones during these unprecedented times.
– March 18, 2020
– Written by Diana Garcia, Co-Chair of EJA 2019/20