We are living in an age of irregular warfare. A war against nature and its indigenous protectors.
Unbelievably, over 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned EVERY DAY! That is over 150 acres lost every minute of every day, and 78 million acres are lost every year!
Deforestation is the biggest problem in the Amazon?
One of the largest, and most well-known problems in the Amazon is deforestation. While trees have been cut for logging, development, and human expansion, it is actually farming that is causing the most extreme and drastic deforestation in much of the Amazon rainforest.
Burning away the Amazon condemns millions of living species to extinction and destroys their habitats. Many of these plants, animals and other forms of life haven't even been identified by science yet.
The indigenous culture of the Sacha Wasi people, who are the last of the FRONT-LINE PROTECTORS of the rainforests in the Amazon basin, is also condemned to extinction due to the cultural erosion that has occurred over generations of combating this war.
Much of this has been caused by the expansion of the petroleum industry, forces of modernization, and globalization, in addition to the position of the Indigenous people on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder in Ecuador.
The FRONT-LINE PROTECTORS of the rainforests in the Amazon are Indigenous peoples who currently face multiple threats to their ancestral territories, cultures, beliefs, and languages.
These threats include agro-industrial developments, extractive industries, and rapid infrastructure development.
For many years the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon have been discriminated against, intimidated, criminalized, imprisoned, and even killed when they assert their rights in the face of these developments.
Many indigenous peoples are displaced from or lost access to their territories.
Indigenous peoples face great waves of change that systematically extinguish their history and destroy their relationship with nature.
The modern system of education oppresses children, especially those from indigenous and other culturally-rooted communities.
Current political structures in the Amazon, corporate power, and national education systems act together to force the assimilation of indigenous peoples through cultural homogenization.
The national educational system imposes dominant languages and philosophies and tends to teach homogenous national or global knowledge. In this process, thousands of pieces of knowledge and cultures like that of the Kichwa at Sacha Wasi are made invisible or described as ignorant, obsolete, or backward.
“If we want to continue to be the GUARDIANS OF THE RAINFOREST, then we must maintain our customs and traditions, we need to teach our children all our ancestorial knowledge so that the new generation does not lose our community values nor our customs, traditions, or our native language. If we do not teach them little by little, all the good passed down to us from 50 generations will be lost and forgotten forever and so too will be the loss of the rainforest."
- Jesus Dagua, Yachak & Tribal President
And so they developed a vision of the future:
"It is important for us to start our own education - our indigenous education. So we are the ones who determine its methods, we are the ones who determine its contents, and all of this within our territory - Sacha Wasi. As indigenous people, we have the right to decide our future!"
-Marlene Guatatuca, Sacha Wasi Tribal Elder
Help us raise money to support culturally-rooted education for the GUARDIANS OF THE RAINFOREST.
Since time immemorial the indigenous Kichwa people have found their own solutions to the challenges they face.
Your financial support can help them strengthen their indigenous educational movement.
A movement that ultimately empowers students to make informed decisions about their own futures and to use modern tools and education to campaign effectively to defend their rights to shape their own destinies in their ancestral territories of the rainforest.
Your financial gift supports the development of indigenous education that is rooted in the knowledge systems and practices of their ancestors; and helps the indigenous people of Sacha Wasi, prepare for the challenges of a modern world.
Your contribution helps ensure the successful ongoing transmission of ancestral knowledge and worldviews that uphold their shamanic spiritual traditions as protectors of the amazon and plant medicine rituals.
Donations help pay for daily operating costs for the indigenous school. Costs such as the internet and electricity. It also funds the purchase of books, computers, equipment, and supplies, along with housing support for the volunteer teachers.
Volunteer teachers come from all over the world come to the Sacha Wasi Tribal Learning Center (at their own travel expense), to join the movement and help prepare the next generation of Guardians of the Rainforest for the challenges ahead.
We are asking you to SUPPORT OUR WORK and HELP THESE GUARDIANS OF THE RAINFOREST PRESERVE THEIR INDIGENOUS CULTURE.
The Tribal Learning Center can not OPERATE without financial support from donor donors like you!
Help us fight the cultural erosion that's happening today as a result of modernization, global interests, and national agendas.
Together we can fight to protect the remaining rainforest and what could be the very last generation of Guardians of the Rainforest. 150 acres of rainforest are lost every minute of every day. Time is running out.
We cannot win this battle alone. Without your immediate contribution of $10, $20. $50 $100 or more, we are not sure how long we will be able to operate the Tribal Learning Center.
PLEASE MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY!
Mission & Purpose
Sacha Wasi Tribal Learning Center is an indigenous school in the Ecuadorian rainforests of the Amazon, created for indigenous students, (both young and old).
Its main task is to create culturally appropriate and relevant courses, producing indigenous students with knowledge and skills that are still rooted in their own Kichwa culture.
Sacha Wash Tribal Learning Center was set up in the community after many discussions with the elders who’s dream was to educate their youth without compromising their deeply rooted cultural beliefs, knowledge, and practices.
So the Sacha Wasi Tribal Learning Center was established to teach culturally appropriate and relevant courses, and empower students with knowledge and skills that are rooted in the indigenous Kichwa culture.
Support Indigenous Education
Your financial gift supports the development of indigenous education that is rooted in the knowledge systems and practices of their ancestors; and helps the indigenous people of Sacha Wasi, prepare for the challenges of a modern world.
Donations help pay for daily operating costs for the school.
Contributions help ensure the successful ongoing transmission of ancestral knowledge and worldviews that uphold their shamanic spiritual rituals and traditions regarding nature, plant medicine, conservation, and sustainability.
Please help us support Culturally Rooted Education!
Donate Now!
