The Largest Salt Flat in the World in Bolivia

Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni is one of the country’s wonders. Despite the amount of tourists it still preserves its beauty.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. Giacomo Buzzao. CC BY 2.0.

Located in the Andean Plateau in South America, the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat in the world. It is in southwestern Bolivia, close to the border between Bolivia, Chile and north of the Argentinian border. It is over 4,050 square miles and the salt crust stretches to the horizon. It is also 10,000 feet above sea level, as it is located in the Andes. Since the salt is white, the Salar de Uyuni appears to be a large white desert, but during the rainy season, nearby lakes overflow, rivers empty into the salt flat and it becomes filled with water.

Though the seeing the dry, white salt stretch for miles is beautiful, when the salt flat is filled with water, it creates a clear mirror-like lake. Generally, there are only a few centimeters of water so it is still possible to walk on it, but as the weather is unpredictable, some areas become restricted for safety. The salt flat is mostly waterproof, but too much rain will melt some of the salt and make it dangerous to walk on. However, during this time, Salar de Uyuni turns into the world’s largest natural mirror, reflecting the light from the sky. The winter months also have clear skies that offer beautiful stargazing opportunities, the reflected stars only adding to the salt flat’s wonder.

The Salar de Uyuni is large enough to be seen from space, and it contains 10 billion tonnes of salt. 70% of the lithium in the world is also mined from this salt flat. The Salar de Uyuni was created 40,000 years ago, after Lake Michin evaporated. Over the course of its slow evaporation, the salt hardened and created a crust that formed the area into what it is today. In addition, there is still water underneath the salt that continues to evaporate as temperatures rise, which adds more salt to the surface. 

Beyond the scientific explanation for the Salar de Uyuni’s creation, the locals have passed on their own legends. In one of them, one of the nearby mountain goddesses, Yana Pollera, gave birth to a baby that two other mountain gods fought over. They both believed themselves to be the father, and Yana Pollera sent her child away to where the salt flat is located today and flooded the area with her milk that eventually evaporated into salt so it would survive. Another legend claims the flat was formed because after two mountain gods were married, the husband left and the wife cried until her tears created the Salar de Uyuni. 

Dawn at Salar de Uyuni. Trevor McKinnon CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Because of its location, there are many tours leaving from Bolivia and Chile, and many of them stretch over the course of multiple days in order to get the most out of the natural beauty. Planes, buses and trains are all able to get to Uyuni, the town closest to the salt flat, but there are also tours from Tupiza, a town south of Uyuni, and San Pedro de Atacama, a town in Chile.

Katherine Lim

Katherine Lim is an undergraduate student at Vassar College studying English literature and Italian. She loves both reading and writing, and she hopes to pursue both in the future. With a passion for travel and nature, she wants to experience more of the world and everything it has to offer.

Restoring the Amazon Rainforest

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has hurt it immensely but reforestation efforts are working to restore its former glory.

Amazon Rainforest. Neil Palmer. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Deforestation is the process of destroying the tree cover in a forest, so technically it started when humans first started cutting down trees for fires and to build homes. However, the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s caused a massive jump in deforestation, with 177 million square miles of trees having been destroyed just by 1850. Though the issue has persisted, it is only in the last 70 years that people have realized it is a major environmental problem. Even today, around 25 million hectares of forest are being destroyed every year. The agricultural industry is the leading cause of deforestation as people destroy forest land for commercial farming, especially for livestock feeding, soy and palm oil. Other industries such as the textile industry, food industry, chemical and construction industries also benefit from the deforestation. Also, one method of deforestation is slashing and burning the trees, which harms the soil and makes it harder for plants to grow in the future. This affects not just the forest, but the farmers who take over the land because they are unable to grow crops for many years and need to keep cutting down more trees. 

One forest in particular that has continuously suffered from deforestation is the Amazon rainforest, the largest rainforest in the world. It spans across Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, which covers around 40% of South America. The ecosystem of Amazon forest is incredibly diverse, with more species of plants and animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem in the entire world. With industrialization and the continuous deforestation, large sections of the rainforest have vanished.

However, many forest restoration efforts have happened in an attempt to save it. Forest restoration is a process to improve the health of a forest, though nothing will fully restore it to its original glory because of destroyed soil and invasive species of both plants and animals. The process aims to heal the destruction caused by deforestation as much as it can, but it isn’t as simple as people replanting the trees. The soil has to be improved, the wildlife must be protected and anyone who uses the land needs to use it sustainably. 

Vine in the Amazon Rainforest. Ben Sutherland. CC BY 2.0

In terms of the Amazon specifically, many efforts are starting to be made as people recognize the increasingly negative impact they have been causing on the rainforest. For example, in Colombia, a business in bioeconomy is gaining popularity. Forest schools such as the Amazonía Emprende - Escuela Bosque teach local communities to have sustainable business practices, and restore thousands of hectares of land within the next few years. Nature tourism is another method that people are using. It is a way for Indiginous communities to show and teach others about the rainforest, and raising awareness like this also helps improve the living conditions of the people. Another way Colombia is making efforts to preserve the rainforest is simply just growing food more sustainably. There are companies that grow plants in an eco-friendly way, and help families who make a living doing this. 

There are also programs such as the Amazon Sustainable Landscape Program (ASL), which aims to improve the overall management of landscape and ecosystem of the rainforest. The ASL combines efforts from many organizations, such as the World Bank, World Wildlife Fund, International Fund for Agricultural Development and more. With the ASL, these groups have a way to collaborate in a massive effort to restore the rainforest. Big organizations and communities working together is needed for large scale efforts like this to be truly effective in restorating the Amazon.

To Get Involved

There are many organizations trying to help rainforests. The Rainforest Action Network RAN) has a Protect an Acre program, similar to buy-an-acre programs that allow for people to buy an acre of forest land so it won’t be destroyed. The Amazonía Emprende school mentioned earlier educates people about sustainable business practices. The ASL wants to better the management of the Amazon.

To discover more about the Amazonía Emprende school, click here.

To discover more about the ASL and its goals, click here.

To discover more about the RAN and how to donate to them, click here.

Katherine Lim

Katherine is an undergraduate student at Vassar College studying English literature and Italian. She loves both reading and writing, and she hopes to pursue both in the future. With a passion for travel and nature, she wants to experience more of the world and everything it has to offer.

The Smallest Country in South America: Suriname

The nation of Suriname is home to a multicultural society and the Amazon rainforest. Yet, little is known of the country as it attempts to stand out behind the shadows of its former Dutch colony. 

Suriname River Waterfront. D-Stanley. CC BY 2.0

When one thinks of South America, one thinks of all the Spanish-speaking countries. However, rarely do you think of The Guianas, the three countries in the northern part of the continent: Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The smallest nation of the three is Suriname, and it covers a surface area of 63,252 square miles. Known as a former colony of The Netherlands, Suriname gained its independence in 1975. This Dutch-speaking nation is surrounded by 94% of pristine forest and has a multicultural society. 

Suriname is named after its first occupants, the Surinen Indians. However, in 1602 the Dutch settled in the region, and by 1667 it became a colony of the Netherlands. Throughout the Dutch’s settlement in the nation, many important events made Suriname the country it is today. After the termination of slavery, the Dutch brought in East Indian laborers. The Netherlands granted Suriname its independence on November 25th, 1975, when the Surinamese people rioted over inflation and unemployment. Fast forward to today, the country is a constitutional democracy. 

In addition, Suriname is struggling with seven in ten people falling below the poverty line. The Surinamese rely heavily on the exportation of gold and other minerals, accounting for 85% of exports and 27% of government revenues. Agriculture is also a big part of their exportation, which includes bananas, rice and shrimp. With poverty taking a toll on its people, there has been an upside to their current financial situation. The country will begin producing oil in 2025, appealing to prospective investors. The government holds 13 billion barrels of oil and gas that have been discovered in the past six years. With this finding, financial stability can emerge for the Surinamese. At the moment, Suriname produces oil for domestic use and its own oil company Staatsolie. 

Surinam youth. KITLV Collections. CC BY-NC 2.0

With the history Suriname has lived through, it is no surprise that it is a multicultural nation. It is made up of South Asians (Indians), Maroons, Suriname Creole(Afro-Surinamese), Javanese, biracial and others. 

Even ith this diverse and integrated culture that makes up Suriname, citizens of this nation  live peacefully among one another. So much so that a Jewish temple and a Muslim mosque sit side by side in the capital city of Paramaribo. This cohabitation can be seen as the entire country officially marks other nations’ religious and nonreligious holidays as their own. . These holidays include Chinese New Year, Easter, Indigenious Peoples Day, Maroons day, Idul Adha and Deepavali. Through this act, the nation exemplifies unity through its melting pot of diversity. 

With any diverse culture comes an eccentric music genre. Through the music, one can hear the different backgrounds of each region represented. Suriname’s music style is no different. It is a mixture of International European, North American indigenous and South American rhythms. One of the Surinamese most well-known music forms is Kaseko. It is a fast-paced beat with Indo-Caribbean influence, which emphasizes wind instruments and percussion. 

The nation’s cuisine is quite diverse as well and is a big part of the Surinamese culture. However, there is a dish that they call their own, which is Pom, the National dish. The name Pom is short for pomtajer, the root vegetable used to top the dish. Pom is a casserole made up of root vegetables and your choice of meat. This dish is a luxury, usually served on special occasions due to the high cost of meat.  

Muslim Temple and Jewish Mosque sitting side by side. Dan Lundberg. CC BY-SA 2.0

There are many influences in the country’s buildings and architecture today. With all of the ethnicities and cultures that inhabit Suriname, it is no surprise it would spill over onto the design of the city. Made up of mostly wooden buildings, the style and design seem to have stayed rooted in a specific time period. There are no contemporary buildings, and that is what makes the city so enchanting. Throughout Suriname you can see the fusion of Dutch, North American and Creole culture and others in the architectural style. 

On the outskirts of the city sits more than 90% of lush green forest, the Amazon. With such vast greenery, this forest is home to 150 species of mammals, 650 bird species and 350 fish species. With such a large part of the forest being untouched and preserved, Suriname species don’t face extinction like other species around the world. This is due to the capacity of the land makes it easy to house the numerous species. Nature enthusiasts visit the various nature reserves Suriname has to offer. The largest and most popular is the Central Suriname Nature Reserve at 1.6 million hectares; it protects the upper watershed of the mighty Coppename River and other important rivers. The reserve’s animals include sloths, jaguar, tapir, eight species of primates and others. 

Sunset in the Suriname rainforest. Delphinidaesy. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

This small nation is home to slightly fewer than 600,000 people. Although mostly unknown to many, Suriname is slowly bringing in many travelers worldwide. Its unique landscape and culture are admired and it is sure to attract many more travelers in the years to come. Suriname is making a name for itself on the world map with so many species to see and nature reserves to explore. 

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Jennifer Sung

www.jennwanders.com

Jennifer is a Communications Studies graduate based in Los Angeles. She grew up traveling with her dad and that is where her love for travel stems from. You can find her serving the community at her church, Fearless LA or planning her next trip overseas. She hopes to be involved in international humanitarian work one day.

Locals Tackle Malnutrition by Bartering Books in Guatemala

There is a strong relationship between educational advances and communities being lifted out of poverty. In the case of Guatemala during the COVID-19 pandemic, this link has manifested itself much more directly. 

Clothes washing in Quetzaltenango. Lon&Queta. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. 

Guatemala, boasting a distinctly Mayan heritage and a landscape peppered with volcanoes, offers an inspiring experience to the open-minded traveler. However, despite the bright and bustling aspects of the nation, a substantial portion of Guatemala’s residents live in poverty. Standing as the fifth-poorest country in Latin America, Guatemala has taken a particular hit with COVID-19 regulations restricting economic functions. In addition, Guatemala has the sixth-highest rate of chronic malnutrition in the world; nearly half of the population of children suffers from stunting due to malnourishment. The statistic increases notably in rural areas with a malnourishment rate reaching 70%. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has only aggravated the poverty predicament, with Indigenous populations facing the bulk of the damage. The government has fallen dramatically short on providing health care and financial support, causing the creatively resilient Guatemalan people to snap into action. In Quetzaltenango, resident Bonifaz Díaz has created an innovative method to provide support to his neighbors in need: he set up a book-barter system. Every day, Díaz bikes with hefty sacks of books donated to his organization, 32 Volcanoes, and trades them for food donations from food secure families. Although a simple concept, this has been no easy task. The arduous job surely keeps Díaz in shape; he has cycled over 1,200 miles feeding families, and has traveled as far as 37 miles for a single delivery. 

Stay-at-home orders have diminished the town’s morale, but Díaz is determined to hold up hope. The number of children supported by his project has tripled during the pandemic, but luckily two more bikers have offered their help. Most families offer a bag of Incaparina, an inexpensive but protein-packed cereal mix made from corn and soy. A bag provides about a week’s worth of servings, but the low price point is still out of reach for many. About 97% of residents live on a dollar a day or less, so even cheap food made to fight malnourishment cannot completely solve the problem. The bright-red Incaparina bags are commonly the only source of nutrients on families’ shelves, but it has proven to keep malnourishment at bay for some. 

By creating a system that allows families to benefit themselves while helping others, many hope that this program will continue to bear far-reaching results. The poverty problem cannot be solved by a single person or fixed in one day, but with every resident lending a hand, considerable headway can be made. 

Ella Nguyen

Ella is an undergraduate student at Vassar College pursuing a degree in Hispanic Studies. She wants to assist in the field of immigration law and hopes to utilize Spanish in her future projects. In her free time she enjoys cooking, writing poetry, and learning about cosmetics.

Honoring San Basilio de Palenque: The First Town Liberated from Slavery in the Americas

The story of San Basilio de Palenque is one of unparalleled strength, resistance and bravery. 

River near San Basilio de Palenque. Fundacion Gabo. CC2.0 

Roughly 30 miles away from the port city of Cartagena, Colombia, lies the small town of San Basilio de Palenque. Palenque has rich historical significance, as it was the first free African town in the Americas. The town was declared a “Place of National Character and Cultural Interest” by the Colombian government and a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO in 2005. 

History of San Basilio de Palenque

Town square in San Basilio de Palenque. Restrepo. CC2.0

San Basilio de Palenque was one of many walled forts, known as palenques, that were founded by those escaping slavery in colonial times. Founded in 1603 by Benkos Bioho and 36 other people, San Basilio is the only palenque remaining to this day and was successful due to its isolated location amid swamps and hills. Escaped slaves from Cartagena and surrounding regions would travel to San Basilio de Palenque in the hopes of seeking freedom. Against all odds, “palenqueros” formed their own army, language and support system to stay safe. The town was declared the first free town in the Americas in 1713, nearly 100 years before Colombia became independent from Spain. 

Palenqueros in Colombia Today

Palenquera women in Colombia. Vest. CC2.0

The isolated nature of San Basilio de Palenque provides limited employment opportunities, which in turn causes the migration of many palenqueros to larger cities in search of work. On the streets of Cartagena, palenquero men are engaged in construction projects while palenquera women wearing brightly colored dresses sell fresh fruit and traditional sweets made of nuts, tropical fruits and panela (unrefined sugar). In a video from Great Big Story, the palenquera Everlinda Salgado Herrera discusses the historical and cultural significance of a sweet called alegria (meaning happiness in Spanish), which represents the joy palenqueros felt when they found freedom.

Although palenqueros are becoming integrated into Colombian society, they were initially met with discrimination, sometimes leading to feelings of resentment and denial over their cultural and racial identity. In the 1980s and ‘90s, a young generation of palenqueros advocated for a resurgence of palenquero culture, hoping to promote an appreciation of their rich heritage. Strong cultural pride among palenqueros continues to this day.  Edwin Valdez Hernandez, a dance instructor at the Batata Dance and Music school in Palenque, states, "We defend our values with a shout. We are Black, and we are defending our culture."

Cultural Treasures of San Basilio de Palenque

Drummers in Palenque. Vest. CC2.0

Palenque is known worldwide for its unique language, music and culinary scene. One of Colombia’s 69 Indigenous languages, the palenquero language is only spoken in San Basilio de Palenque. Captives on European slave ships came from all parts of Africa speaking a variety of languages. As a colonizing strategy, people were purposely mixed together so they would not be able to communicate to plan an escape. Despite this, palenqueros created their own language, influenced by Castilian Spanish, Bantu, Portuguese and English. 

The cuisine of San Basilio de Palenque is a delight for the taste buds. Some dishes include seafood rice, mote (a traditional Caribbean cheese), and fish cooked in a creamy coconut sauce with pigeon peas, cassava and panela sugar. Palenquero cooking continues to reach international heights, most notably when the book “Cocina Palenquera Para el Mundo” won first prize at the 2014 Gourmand Cookbook Awards in Beijing. 

Music is an incredibly important part of palenque culture and throughout Colombia. Palenque music is joyful with sweeping rhythms and fast drum beats and is coupled with bright costumes and a seemingly endless stamina for dancing. Some of the many dance styles include chalusonga, paseo, champeta, entrompao and palenquero son. Travelers can learn about Palenque’s rich musical culture by attending the Drums and Cultural Expressions Festival held annually in October. 

The town of Palenque is also known for its interesting methods of running society. Instead of a police presence, Palenque is organized into systems called ma-kuagro, where people have designated roles and watch over each other. The crime rate in the town is nearly nonexistent due to this sense of community among Palenqueros. Interestingly, palenque women’s hairstyles also have historical significance. In colonial times, women would braid intricate patterns in their hair that were used to create maps, store gold and transmit messages to help people reach freedom. A statue of Palenque founder Benkos Bioho breaking out of chains stands in the town center. 

A place of redemption and perseverance, San Basilio de Palenque is a cornerstone of Black resistance in Latin America and a perfect destination for a socially conscious traveler. Confronting past historical truths and being willing to listen to others’ experiences helps shed light on modern social issues to hopefully make the world a brighter and better place. 

Megan Gürer

is a Turkish-American student at Wellesley College in Massachusetts studying Biological Sciences. Passionate about environmental issues and learning about other cultures, she dreams of exploring the globe. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, singing, and composing music.

Evo Morales Returns in Triumph to Bolivia, Ending a Year in Exile

One year after he stepped down amid a contested election, the popular left-wing leader is back. Will he be content with his supporters’ love, or will he seek power as well?

Evo Morales waving the Wiphala, a symbol for South America’s Indigenous people. Brasil de Fato. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Exiled leaders rarely return so triumphantly. Evo Morales, president of Bolivia for 14 years before fleeing the country in November 2019, greeted a jubilant crowd when he crossed the border from Argentina and trekked to his home province of Chapare. Many expected a more forceful return, perhaps a march to the seat of government in La Paz. Rather, Morales traveled to where he started his political career at the precise moment when that career seems set to either end or begin again. 

If Morales plans to kick-start a new phase in his political career, he reenters in a much better position than when he started. Born to a poor family in the Orinoca region in 1959, his family moved with countless other families from the highland altiplanos to work on lowland coca farms, which provided poor Bolivians the best shot at a livable wage. The young Evo became a union leader, fiercely advocating for the rights of farmers when the United States’ war on drugs demanded the Bolivian government slash its supply of coca, its most profitable crop. In Bolivia, people chew on it or brew tea, but one ton of leaves can be refined into two pounds of cocaine base paste. 

A farmer pruning coca. Erik Cleves Kristensen. CC BY 2.0.

Morales’ experiences there fostered a brand of politics staunchly devoted to the poor and Indigenous communities through the institution of socialism. He joined and soon transformed the Movement for Socialism party (MAS) and became a one-term congressman. After leading violent street altercations that forced two presidents to resign, his ambitions expanded to the national realm. In 2006, the Bolivian people voted him in as president, beginning a 14-year-long tenure which would prove revolutionary.

For one, he was the first Indigenous president since the country’s independence in 1825. In a nation that is 42% Indigenous, this seems strange, but centuries of colonization and racism led to a society of haves and have-nots. An ethnic Aymara, Morales expanded MAS’s appeal to all Indigenous people, chafing many Whites and Mestizos who supported MAS in far fewer numbers. Some Indigenous communities found Morales’ embrace of Indigenous peoples hollow; he allowed drilling in forest reserves and expanded the amount of land settlers could clear. 

Man without a plan. Alain Bachellier. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

Most of all, however, he presided over what many view as an economic miracle. Morales’ government reduced by two-thirds the amount of people living on less than $1.90 a day, the World Bank’s definition of extreme poverty. The high price of petroleum, another of Bolivia’s largest exports, allowed his administration to invest heavily in innovation and modernization. The widespread prosperity led many to ignore Morales’ authoritarian streak. He would often jail critics and journalists while piling lawsuits on his political rivals.

But when Morales ran for a fourth term against constitutional term limits, opponents found it unforgivable. A pause in vote-counting led many to believe he planned to rig the election, so thousands stormed the streets to protest the election results. Clashes broke out between pro- and anti-Morales protesters; 36 people died amid the violence. Once the military “recommended” Morales step down, he boarded a plane to Mexico and left Bolivia in the hands of little-known senator Jeanine Anez. 

She was a right-wing politician with exactly the opposite views of Morales. Where he proudly represented Indigenous peoples, Anez called them “savages.” (In his triumphant return, Morales sarcastically quipped, “The Bolivian right and the global right should know: the savages are back in government.”) Anez presided over an economic slump due to political unrest and COVID-19. She governed for 11 months before the electorate put in office Morales’ own protege Luis Arce.

Morales’ protege Luis Arce. Casa de América. CC By-NC-ND 2.0.

A bland, uncharismatic technocrat, Arce won broad appeal precisely because he was Morales’ choice. He engineered the economy during Morales’ presidency, so he can take credit for much of Bolivia’s prosperity. His support from the former president may prove both a blessing and a curse, however. He will struggle to distance himself from a controversial figure who still holds strong sway over MAS. His primary responsibility will be to maintain distance from Morales to the greatest extent possible.

For the time being, however, Morales will enjoy his warm welcome home. Crowds gleefully waved the Wiphala, a colorful checkered flag representing Indigenous peoples. Supporters dressed in their finest, most colorful Indigenous attire to celebrate his homecoming. Luis Arce neither met him in Chapare nor sent him a word of greeting. So far they hold no communication. For the sake of Bolivia’s democracy, many hope it will stay that way. 

Michael McCarthy

Michael is an undergraduate student at Haverford College, dodging the pandemic by taking a gap year. He writes in a variety of genres, and his time in high school debate renders political writing an inevitable fascination. Writing at Catalyst and the Bi-Co News, a student-run newspaper, provides an outlet for this passion. In the future, he intends to keep writing in mediums both informative and creative.

As Acai Demand Rises, Amazonian Communities Seek Out their Role

The acai palm is one of the many native plants that has been commodified for Western consumption. This has shifted acai consumption and production practices within Indigenous Amazonian communities. 

Acai bowls are the most common form of Western acai consumption. Ella O, CC BY 2.0

Prior to 2000, Indigenous Amazonian communities utilized the acai palm plant on a local scale. The purple berry then found its way to the U.S., appealing to surfers in Hawaii and Southern California. It has since been in the spotlight, spurring new industries and finding its way into the global marketplace. The acai palm plant is one of many Indigenous plant foods that has been commodified for foreign consumption, shifting acai usage and production practices among Brazil’s Amazonian tribes. Indigenous Amazonian communities, who have utilized acai as a diet staple for centuries, are now exporting it  for profit, hoping not to forfeit their land to multinational corporations. 

Companies that sell acai heavily market its health benefits, calling it a superfood that allows individuals to reach maximum health. Acai specifically offers anti-aging benefits, improved digestive health, increased energy levels and a strengthened immune system. The berry contains high amounts of antioxidants, omega-6 and omega-9 fatty acids, fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. When globally transported, the acai berry is processed and packaged into various forms. When reduced to powders, capsules and liquids, the acai berry becomes a watered-down entity detached from Amazonian food culture. While many understand acai’s countless health benefits, few consumers know the context from which it comes. 

Grown on tall acai palm trees, the acai berry sprouts in large, clustered bunches. The trees grow to between 50 and 100 feet tall, bearing the fruit from their extended branches. In the village of Acaizal on the Uaca Indigenous reserve, villagers loop a palm leaf tied around their feet and scale the tree, knife gripped firmly between their teeth. Children, some as young as seven, learn this harvesting method. Once collected, acai pulp is served chilled and often mixed with sugar and tapioca. 

Increased demand for acai pushes Indigenous groups to formalize and industrialize this cultivation process. Amazonian tribes subsequently alter their traditional production to accommodate increased consumption. In the state of Amapa, Indigenous communities want to explore potential business arrangements and have identified acai production as a top priority for natural resource management. In a workshop hosted by local government agency Secretary Extraordinary of Indigenous People, Acaizal village chief Jose Damasceno Karipuna learned how to capitalize on acai harvesting processes. The increase in acai demand creates a flourishing job market for large-scale Amazonian farmers; however, it harms farmers who rely on small-scale production. With an ever-increasing demand for acai, protection of natural areas is crucial to preservation. For the villagers in Acaizal, proper environmental management will increase productivity while ensuring sustainability. Acai companies emphasize this business exchange as mutually beneficial, bettering individuals’ health and the Brazilian economy alike. However, the mass consumption and commodification of acai is ultimately a gray area, creating an uncertain future for Indigenous communities.

Anna Wood

Anna is an Anthropology major and Global Health/Spanish double minor at Middlebury College. As an anthropology major with a focus in public health, she studies the intersection of health and sociocultural elements. She is also passionate about food systems and endurance sports.

Pope Affirms Catholic Church’s Duty to Indigenous Amazonians Hurt by Climate Change

The Catholic Church “hears the cry” of the Amazon and its peoples. That’s the message Pope Francis hopes to send at the Synod of the Amazon, a three-week meeting at the Vatican that ends Oct. 27.

Images from Rome show tribal leaders in traditional feather headdresses alongside Vatican officials in their regalia. They are gathered with hundreds of bishops, priests, religious sisters and missionaries to discuss the pastoral, cultural and ecological struggles of the Amazon.

The densely forested region spans nine South American countries, including Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Its more than 23 million inhabitants include 3 million indigenous people.

The Amazon meeting is part of Pope Francis’s efforts to build a “Church which listens.” Since taking office in 2013, Francis has revitalized the Catholic Church’s practice of “synods” – a Greek word meaning “council” – expanding decision-making in the church beyond the Vatican bureaucracy to gather input from the entire church, including from laypeople.

Voting on synod decisions, however, remains restricted to bishops and some male clergy.

The Amazon synod is the first such meeting to be organized for a specific ecological region. Media coverage of this event has emphasized its more controversial debates – such as the possibility of easing celibacy requirements in the rural Amazon, where priests are in extremely short supply.

But its focus is much broader: listening to the suffering of the Amazon – particularly the environmental challenges facing the region – and discerning how to respond as a global church.

Amazon in crisis

After more than a decade of environmental policies that successfully slowed deforestation in the Amazon, logging and agricultural clearing have begun to increase rapidly again. The fires in the Brazilian rainforest that captured headlines in early September are symptoms of much broader destruction.

Up to 17% of the Amazon rainforest has already been eliminated – dangerously close to the 20% to 40% tipping point that experts say would lead the entire ecosystem to collapse.

Deforestation of the Amazon is rapidly approaching the tipping point that, experts say, could lead to total collapse of the rainforest ecosystem. AP Photo/Leo Correa

Stories of deforestation can seem insignificant against the vastness of the Amazon, a region two-thirds the size of the lower 48 United States.

But for the 390 indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the region, each burned forest grove, polluted stream or flooded dam site may mark the end of a way of life that’s survived for thousands of years.

Deprived of their land, many indigenous Amazonians are forced into an exposed life on the edge of frontier towns, where they are prey to sex trafficking, slave labor and violence. In Brazil alone, at least 1,119 indigenous people have been killed defending their land since 2003.

The Catholic Church recognizes that it still has to address the “open wound” of its own role in the colonial-era violence that first terrorized the indigenous peoples of the Americas, according to the synod’s working document. The church legitimated the colonial confiscation of lands occupied by indigenous peoples and its missionaries often suppressed indigenous cultures and religions.

For this reason, according to the Vatican, organizers of the synod have sought input through 260 listening events held in the region that reached nearly 87,000 people over the past two years. Indigenous leaders have been invited as observer participants in the meeting itself.

Learning from indigenous peoples

As a theologian who studies religious responses to the environmental crisis, I find the pope’s effort to learn from the indigenous people of the Amazon noteworthy.

The Vatican sees that the Amazon’s traditional residents know something much of humanity has long forgotten: how to live in ecological harmony with the environment.

“To the aboriginal communities we owe their thousands of years of care and cultivation of the Amazon,” the 58-page synod working document reads. “In their ancestral wisdom they have nurtured the conviction that all of creation is connected, and this deserves our respect and responsibility.”

Pope Francis has expressed his respect for indigenous peoples before.

At a meeting of indigenous leaders in Peru in January 2018 he said, “Your lives cry out against a style of life that is oblivious to its own real cost. You are a living memory of the mission that God has entrusted to us all: the protection of our common home.”

Global problems, local solutions

Environmental destruction isn’t the synod’s only concern.

Catholicism – long the dominant religion in Latin America – is rapidly losing members to evangelical Protestantism. Evangelicals are projected to eclipse Catholics in Brazil by 2032.

One advantage evangelical churches have in Amazonian countries is that they can appoint local indigenous pastors to minister to their communities. Meanwhile, with less than one priest per 8,000 Catholics in the Amazon, some isolated communities might see a priest only once a year.

Catholic churches are in short supply in rural Brazil, where many people will go a year without seeing a priest. AP Photo/Fernando Vergara

The scarcity of priests in rural Latin America is behind a proposal to the synod to ordain older married men as priests in isolated Amazonian communities.

In the the U.S., the celibacy question is easily mapped onto a familiar divide. Progressive Catholics argue that clerical celibacy should be optional, while conservative Catholics insist this discipline is fundamental to the faith.

The issue is far less politicized in the Amazon, where, in the words of one bishop, the Catholic Church remains a “visiting church” with limited day-to-day presence in indigenous communities.

Some might dismiss this synod as just a meeting. But, in my judgment, it is an attempt to apply Francis’ vision of a “listening Church” to the environmental crisis. The Synod of the Amazon marks a significant shift from high-minded papal exhortations about taking climate action to a global religious community that gives voice to those living on the front lines of ecological destruction.

Vincent J. Miller is a Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE CONVERSATION

Following the Removal of Evo Morales, Anti-Indigenous Sentiment Explicit in Bolivia

In the aftermath of the ouster of former President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, many suspected a right-wing coup had taken place. Now, a month later, the status of Indigenous peoples in Bolivia hangs in the balance.

“Evo Morales speaking to a man wearing the Lluch’u, the knit cap typical to Andean indigenous peoples.” Sebastian Baryli. CC BY 2.0

In 2005, Evo Morales, of Aymara indigenous descent, was elected to become the first indigeneous President of Bolivia. Bolivia identified itself as a plurinational state following the ratification of a new Constitution in 2009, and is home to more than 36 indigenous peoples. In 2017, an estimated 48% of the population of Bolivia above the age of 15 was of indigeneous origin. Morales’s party, Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS--Movement Towards Socialism), represented a growing progressive force against the backdrop of the historically-conservative nation. Morales saw significant success over his three terms, stabilizing the Bolivian economy, spurring economic growth, reducing poverty significantly and bringing those living in extreme poverty down to half its previous rate, while heightening literacy rates across Bolivia. Under Morales, Bolivia became a more inclusive place: he instituted the Wiphala, which represents the plurinational status of Bolivia, as the nation’s second flag, and promoted a previously unparalleled number of women to his cabinet.

In 2016, Morales held a referendum in order to extend the term limits established within the 2009 Constitution, which was ultimately rejected in a 51% to 49% vote. However, in 2018 Morales appealed to the Bolivian Constitutional Tribunal, which allowed Morales to run for re-election for a fourth term as President of Bolivia. Although Morales was elected for a fourth term in October of 2019, an audit by the Organization of American States determined the election illegitimate, and many had questioned the legality of the Tribunal’s decision in 2018 even before the election came to pass. In the midst of protests that left over 30 dead and 700 injured, and under extreme pressure from the military, Morales stepped down and fled to Mexico.

In the immediate aftermath of the ouster of Morales’s administration, many questioned whether there had been a coup. Calls for Morales’s resignation began in the right, and gained traction; ultimately, Morales resigned following military coercion against him and his party. Although there has been a precedent for right-wing coups in Latin American history, especially aided and abetted by the United States, the case of Morales’s administration is complicated. While the military intervention does constitute an illegal seizure of power, the discontentment for Morales did not arise in a vacuum. Opposition leaders and former supporters alike felt that a fourth term meant a clear violation of the Constitution Morales himself had worked to implement, and many more agreed that Morales had begun to lose touch with the population after 14 years in office. Many of his former indigenous supporters were angered by Morales’s approval of a hydroelectric dam in indigenous territory.

Morales’s resignation triggered many of his top officials and closest political associates to resign as well, leaving the presidential seat to Jeanine Añez, formerly vice president of the Senate of Bolivia. The Constitution stipulates that a new election must be called for within ninety days, and upon taking power Añez openly assured the country that her taking power was purely transitional. Many have doubted Añez’s words, and have called for her resignation given her connection to the right-wing opposition in Bolivia.

Anti-indigenous graffiti has appeared throughout Bolivia, as well as videos depicting police cutting the Whiphala emblem from their uniforms. These actions have been empowered by Añez herself, in the past implicated in anti-indigenous tweets, who has called for police repression of pro-Morales protestors. Notably, Añez’s cabinet, even if temporary, contains no indigenous representatives, and it seems that she has already begun the process of rolling back strides made under Morales towards socialism and inclusion. In this way, growing worries that the rise of a new right-wing government will revive festering anti-indigenous sentiment are well-founded. Ultimately, the political uprising in Bolivia leaves the future of indigenous rights in danger, as outrage towards Morales has opened the floodgates for discrimination against the indigenous population as a whole.

Hallie Griffiths

Hallie Griffiths is an undergraduate at the University of Virginia studying Foreign Affairs and Spanish. After graduation, she hopes to apply her passion for travel and social action toward a career in intelligence and policy analysis. Outside of the classroom, she can be found, quite literally, outside: backpacking, rock climbing, or skiing with her friends.

Earth's Most Threatened Tribe

The Awá Indians are the last nomadic hunter gatherer tribe to be discovered in the Brazilian Amazon.

Today, despite having survived many brutal massacres at the hands of settlers and illegal loggers over the course of centuries, the Awá now face pressing man-made threats and even the natural landscape itself is no longer able to sustain to their way of life. For this critically endangered tribe, extinction remains a very real possibility.

A year or so ago I travelled deep into the forests of Maranhão to meet some of the last remaining members of the Awá tribe.

This is their story.

Originally from Pará, a state to the west of Maranhão, the Awá were living in villages and farming crops when the Portuguese settlers arrived 500 years ago. Enslaved by the Portuguese, and with their numbers greatly reduced by the introduction of smallpox, the remaining Awá eventually fled east to Maranhão, perhaps prompted by the bloody revolt on the Portuguese plantations, the Rebelião da Cabanagem, which took place between 1835 and 1840, and claimed as many as 30,000 lives.

Fearful of their vulnerability as sedentary agriculturists, the Awá now became nomadic hunter-gathers, able to build a shelter within hours and abandon it only days later, melting back into the forest. In Maranhão, the Awá had moved into the territory of the Guajajara, the largest tribe in Brazil with more than 20,000 members, and they remained unable to secure or defend any land for growing crops.

By 1973, when the Awá were contacted by outsiders for the first time, they had fully adapted to living a nomadic lifestyle, and had lost all of their farming skills and even the knowledge of how to make fire.

A group of Awá taking a break in the forest during hunting.

Following the unwelcome invasion of the Portuguese, the Awá, and many other indigenous Indians, continued to suffer great atrocities at the hands of loggers, colonists, and ranchers. For instance, when Brazil’s military dictatorship took over in 1964, it implemented a policy of “assimilating” indigenous people to reach its goal of national unification, which included wiping out those peoples who refused to cooperate, by dropping bombs or feeding them sugar laced with arsenic.

In 1967, the 7,000-page Figueiredo report exposed the true extent of the criminal actions and genocide carried out against the indigenous population of Brazil, and the National Indian Foundation, or FUNAI, was established in response. This is the Brazilian government body that establishes and carries out policies relating to indigenous peoples. The report also triggered the founding of Survival International, a human rights organization that campaigns on behalf of indigenous tribal peoples, and who consider the Awá to be “Earth’s most threatened tribe”.

The Awá use ambush techniques to hunt the Guariba monkey. Once they have spotted the animal, the hunters will surround it so that the animal finds itself trapped in the center.

Recently Survival International helped the Awá people secure a landmark victory when unprecedented international pressure finally forced the Brazilian government to send in ground troops in January 2014 to expel illegal ranchers and loggers from what remains of Awá territory. Experts warn that it is now critical that a permanent land protection program be put into place to keep the invaders out of the Awá territory.

[1] Piramahã is the oldest man in the tribe. He is preparing his arrows for the next hunt, and later will prepare this fresh meat for the tribe’s evening meal. [2] Awá often hunt the Guariba monkey and smoking the meat makes it last longer. [3] Young Awá during the hunt.

Though the government intervention in 2014 signals positive progress, for many of the Awá it came far too late. Thousands were brutally massacred during territorial conflicts in the 70s and 80s with the fazendeiros, or ranchers, and with illegal loggers. Most recently, in late 2011, illegal loggers tied an eight-year-old Awá girl to a tree after she wandered out of her village, and brutally burned her alive, reportedly as a warning to other native peoples living in the protected area.

The threat of deadly infection after contact with outsiders also continues to pose a significant threat to the Awá. For example, over the last five years, one in seven Awá has died of malaria. The disease was brought to Alto Turiaçu by the thousands garimpeiros, or gold seekers, who invaded the Awá lands and later made a fortune on the international market.

A little squirrel is breastfeeding. In Awá culture, any kind of young, abandoned animal can become a pet, even if it is a species that they usually hunt. When the animal grows to adulthood, they take the animal back in to the forest and set it free.

The centuries-long bloody conflict with their traditional enemies, the Ka’apor tribe, has also continued to claim many Awá lives, and elsewhere in Maranhão, trains come from Carajas, the world’s biggest iron mine, and cut through the Awá land multiple times per day.

Today FUNAI estimates that there are only 300 Awá left, with around 60 still living uncontacted in small groups of five or six in the forests.

[1] A young Awá hunter. [2] An Awá mother helps to remove a thorn from the foot . [3] Playing with another unusual pet.

In recent years, as they have suffered at the hands of violent invaders and from infectious diseases, the Awá have been forced to seek assistance from FUNAI. As a result, some of the Awá have now chosen to live in purpose-built shelters on protected reserves such as the Alto Turiaçu, but they struggle to embrace this new lifestyle.

Young Awá children check the freshly caught animals. For the future hunter, this is part of the learning process.

The Alto Turiaçu is only a small part of the Awá’s traditional land and the diminishing natural fauna in this area is pushing the nomadic hunters to live more sedentary lifestyles — learning how to plant and grow crops like manioc to ensure a food supply, as their ancestors once did.

Amerixaá is the oldest woman in the Awá tribe. She lives deep in the jungle, far from the rest of the community. In Awá culture, older members traditionally remove themselves from the tribe, living alone until they pass away.

Yet some Awá still persist in living in their traditional nomadic groups of five or six people. Today in the Alto Turiaçu there is one small community of about 45 people who choose to live this way. FUNAI offers them real, but fragile, protection to continue their way of life.

The Awá spend a long time preparing the arrows for the hunt, and many skills are passed on from father to son.

“The Awá have been continuously threatened by attacks, invasion, and extermination, and even inside the reserve their survival is uncertain,” the people from FUNAI told me.

“We don’t have extra resources to protect them from the ranchers who continue to encroach on their land. Since the forest has been cut back and transformed into farming lands, small towns have sprouted up over the Awá lands. In the face of these changes, Awá numbers have been drastically decreased. We estimate that fewer than 360 Awá have survived the occupation of their land, and around 60 still live uncontacted in small nomadic groups.”

[1] An aerial view of the Awá village I visited. [2] A family of Awá in the village. [3] A young Awá hunter.

Today, in a world where they can no longer live as nomads, the Awá are struggling for survival and for their unique cultural identity. For the Awá, hunting is a way of life, and as the illegal loggers distort the forest habitat, the animals are disappearing. Despite their efforts to keep moving, they face the encroachment of the modern world at every turn, and remain threatened with extinction.

The Awá people need time to recover from the extreme brutality and humiliation they have suffered for centuries at the hands of the invaders. Yet we do not give them time. In our world, time is money. We cannot let the last of the Awá, or any other indigenous tribal people, disappear.

One of the last remaining groups of Awá people today.

“The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.”

— WADE DAVIS

Aparana’i with her newborn baby.

TAKE ACTION

Learn more about uncontacted tribes in Brazil through Survival International as they work to protect the last Awá.

 

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAPTIA.

 

DOMENICO PUGLIESE

Domenico is an Italian photographer currently based in London. His long term project is working with the "Awa-Guaja" tribe in the Brazilian Amazon.

Fight Volunteer’s Guilt

There is a feeling that all volunteers can relate to: post-volunteering guilt. It’s that feeling of returning home after an amazing experience working abroad, only to wonder “did I do enough?”. Did you spend enough time with the kids you were teaching? Build enough homes? Vaccinate enough dogs? Play enough games of soccer? The list can go on and on.

My husband, John, and I are experts at realizing this guilt. We have worked abroad in three different countries.; Teaching English, providing childcare, building houses…you name it. We met while both teaching in Lima, Peru for an organization called Tarpuy Sonqo. (tarpuysonqo.org – check it out if you’re heading to South America). He worked for six months building three houses, and developing a full curriculum for the 4th grade students. I spent the following two months continuing his teaching work. Our hearts were completely invested in our efforts, and of course we fell in love with every baby, kid and adult that we met along the way. (Another feeling that every volunteer can understand.)

When we returned stateside and started dating, our conversations were consumed with when we could return back to our classrooms in Pachecutec, the largest slum outside of Lima. We worried how our students were doing, if the projects we’d started were continuing, and if the volunteers we’d trained were maintaining our high standards. But with full-time jobs, eventually buying a house and adopting dogs, it was becoming unrealistic to return to Lima for more than a week or two. That wasn’t long enough to make the impact we had in mind.

Instead – we decided to take the business we were already running, and use it as a tool to provide continued support to the causes close to our heart. My travel photography company – Kristen Emma Photography – quickly developed into a forever-fundraiser for international charities. Our new motto became “Capture the world to help the world”.  We decided to give 25% of our sales back to charities local to where each of my photos were taken. Anything from South America was given back to Tarpuy Sonqo – and other photos donated to a select charity based on their continental location. Within a few months of art shows we were supporting teachers in Peru, dog adoptions in the UK (dogstrust.org.uk), prenatal medicine for women in India (villageclinic.org), AIDS research and meds in South Africa (aids.org.za), even penguin conservation through the Pew Charitable Trusts and my recent trip to Antarctica.

Not only were we thrilled to be helping our Peruvian students – but our clients were amazed! With the rise of charity companies, and the one-for-one model, people are always looking for products that give back to various causes. Adding the charitable aspect to our business model was good for the charities – but also good for our bottom line. That certainly wasn’t our goal, but it helped put food in our dogs’ mouths. :)

The lesson learned is that volunteers can use their guilt as motivation to keep helping. It’s not always possible to physically get back to their area of choice – but they can instead work to find methods of help in their everyday lives. Of course, not everyone has a business that they can use like we did – but there are other approaches to helping:

·      Getting married? Set up a gofundme page for a charity, rather than asking for gifts. (John and I raised over $5000 for Tarpuy Sonqo. It built an entire park in the slums where we taught, and a jungle gym in a 2nd location. Exchange rates are always your friend. :)

·      Birthday? Have your friends bring a non-perishable good instead of a present for you, and then donate it to the local food shelf. (You don’t really need another pair of earrings anyway.)

·      Clean out your basement, sell what you don’t need on craigslist, and commit some of the proceeds to your volunteer location. (Those college books you’ve been holding onto could fund new books for your students in Kenya).

·      Have friends who are looking to travel? Put them in touch with your volunteer coordinator. A lot of organizations will trade housing and food in exchange for a few hours of work per day. My company of choice is New Zealand-based International Volunteer HQ. They’ve got volunteer placements all around the world, and their credibility makes sure volunteers stay safe while having an incredible experience.  Check them out at ivhq.org. They charge some fees, but its always cheaper than a hotel!

·      Volunteer locally! There are an abundance of opportunities to help in your own neighborhood. If you speak another language, you can teach ELL classes at your community center. Any work you found abroad can definitely translate to your own community – teaching, childcare, food shelves, and homeless shelters.

In the short seven months since we developed our charitable mission, we’ve raised over $1500 for our partner charities. Although it may not sound like much, it’s $1500 more than they had before. We could have easily NOT raised any money, but what good would that do? Its important to remember that even just $10 raised is helpful to any of the thousands of organizations around the world.

 

 

KRISTEN MACAULEY

Kristen is a Minnesota-based photographer, specializing in fine art travel photography. She has lived in three different countries, and traveled to all seven continents through her photography endeavors. Her goal is to use photography to show similarities between cultures, regardless of their location. In order to give back to the communities that she photographs, 25% of all sales are donated back to local charities around the world. See her work on Etsy or on her website.