Last week I invited some good friends to learn more about an issue I care deeply about: the preservation of the Amazon, which is of natural concern for any Venezuelan, as a good portion of its beauty and richness extends into our country. We attended the Pachamama Alliance’s annual luncheon at Fort Mason in San Francisco. The event was phenomenal — inspiring, informative, and delicious (kudos to Back to Earth for that). What impresses me the most about the people of Pachamama is how they successfully partner with the indigenous people of the Amazon, who have stewarded the land for thousand of years on our behalf. You can see evidence of this exchange even in how the issues are discussed. For example, a new threat is on the horizon for the Amazon, as oil companies prepare to increase oil extraction from the pristine territory. A familiar response would be to demonize the oil companies in order to try to fight them. However, the Pachamama Alliance has taken the occasion to remind us that two world views govern our relationship with the planet. One perceives nature as there for our taking; the other perceives nature as there for us to take care of. If we are bold and humble enough to recognize that we all hold both world views at once (while we all want to protect the nature which we love, we also want things that require we take from nature), we may find more solutions with which to move forward collectively. The approach is refreshing and, I find, very reflective of the fruits of the deeply respectful partnership that the Alliance has engaged with the indigenous communities of the Amazon.
Micro-Documentaries happened to be filming. Our Production Manager, Savana Vagueiro, reports from the field.
I was born in Acre, Brazil, in 1987, one year before Chico Mendes was brutally assassinated for leading the “Alliance of the Peoples of the Rainforest.” The mission of the movement was to stop deforestation and defend the human rights of Amazonian rubber tappers and indigenous peoples. Due to the fact that my mother worked in healthcare among the indigenous communities in Acre, I was raised with many fascinating stories and images of that region and its peoples.
One essential and powerful lesson that I took away from my mother’s stories was that humanity must urgently re-establish harmony, balance, and respect with the earth. Living and working among the indigenous people of Acre for five years, my mother witnessed firsthand the harmonious balance between indigenous peoples and the earth when they would remind her that “the rainforest is our mother; here we have everything we need to live.” These indigenous communities were also acutely aware of the fact that by protecting the rainforest, they were also defending life for the entire planet. This was also true of Chico Mendes’s life and work. Living in the rainforest all his life, he understood the need to re-establish this harmonious balance with the rainforest and risked everything, including his life, to defend it. As he once wrote, “At first I thought I was fighting to save the rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting to save humanity.”
You can imagine my excitement when I recognized this famous quote from Chico Mendes on the cover of the program at The Pachamama Alliance fundraiser on Thursday, November 15, 2012. Chico Mendes’s global vision for defending the rainforest was essential and inseparable from defending the entire planet. This was not only a cause of those immediately affected by its destruction, but also the cause of every human being who values their lives and that of future generations. The Pachamama Alliance works to defend indigenous rights and the rainforest, but they also are dedicated to actively awakening the “modern dreamer” who lives a disconnected life from the earth and who sees nature as an object to be exploited. Media plays a major role in this awakening process as a medium for sharing knowledge and re-shaping consciousness.
During the symposium, there were many examples of how video and audio can help inform, evoke emotion, and inspire one to take action. We were all asked to close our eyes. Gradually, after a moment of silence, sounds of the rainforest began to flow in. Sounds of birds flying and singing; the blowing of the breeze; a soft rumble of an approaching thunderstorm; and finally the sound of rain soaking the trees and the lush earth. As I peeked out among the audience at one point, I was deeply moved to see a room of more than 1,000 people, many of whom had never visited the Amazon, extending their disbelief and connecting virtually with this sacred place.
Later on at the luncheon, a short film introduced viewers to the history of The Pachamama Alliance and guided us through the many accomplishments and progress made over the years toward defending indigenous rights and the preservation of the Ecuadorian rainforest. This film invited viewers to take action. It showed us that there are still forces that threaten our rainforests and the indigenous people whose rights are in constant jeopardy. It was evident in the way the audience cheered that they were ready to take action!
Micro-Documentaries was on the ground documenting this amazing event. It is our hope that the micro-documentary we produce will continue to awaken and inspire people to join the global community in the understanding that any action to protect the earth is also an action to protect humanity.