Shawi means - "The people"
We are Indigenous. We are coming to join your world.
We are 880 people, in seven villages, living on the edge of two worlds. We are people of the Amazon. We have lived here for hundreds of years. Our traditional land has been stolen by illegal loggers and miners, but we persevere. We can not harvest the medicinal plants that we have always relied on. We can no longer hunt enough to survive in our ways. Today, we maintain our culture and traditions, while beginning to adapt to a different way of life.
Our elders and our youth work together to find a way forward for our people. To stay together. To speak our language. To protect the part of our land we remain on.
The journey for us to regain self-sufficiency as we integrate with the western world will take years. We are planning. We are learning. We are committed, and we need your help.
The Project
What your partnership will achieve
Schools
Elementary school children get a bilingual education in Spanish and Shawi
Medics and Clinics
A male and female medic and first aid station or clinic in every village
Rainforest Preservation
Drones and documentation will make government protection of land possible
Textile Manufacture
Hand wovenoven cotton fabric using traditional Shawi methods. Vivid colors and modern styles
Aquaculture
Constructing a fish pond will provide a sustainable source of protein
Solar and
Technology
Clean power, and connection to markets and government, as the younger generations learn to use technology and advocate for themselves
Your donation saves lives and makes a future where indiginous and western knowledge can unite to save our planet.
By preserving indigenous languages and cultures can we save the ancient and important knowledge carried by people like the Shawi, as well as the rainforest they steward.
About Shawi Advocate Eda Zavala
The Shawi are lucky to have Eda Zavala as their advocate. An anthropologist, sociologist, Curandera and wisdom keeper, Eda works tirelessly to protect indigenous lands and the pure places of our mother earth. She has been working to secure the homeland of, and opportunities for the Shawi for the last 13 years and is instrumental in their success.
Donated funds and resources are stewarded by Eda as the Shawi learn the skills necessary to navigate the westernized world on their own.
You can learn more about Eda here
