Village Earth Blog: Spring 2008 Online Newsletter

Happy Spring 2008! Village Earth continues to learn and grow as we expand our efforts as allies with indigenous communities and through our training programs. Village Earth believes it pays to be small and non-bureaucratic. This gives us the flexibility to be responsive to the grassroots and the ever-changing nature of the community empowerment process. Furthermore, our staff is committed to the people and communities we work with and relate to them as partners and friends rather than as experts or managers. This solidarity encourages honest communication and dialog necessary to determine what is working and what is not. Just look at what we're accomplishing...

Oil Exploitation will NOT bring "Development"

Besides working with indigenous organizations in the Peruvian Amazon to defend their territories against oil exploitation, Village Earth is working with communities on micro-livelihood projects. These projects such as small-scale communal fish farms, women's artisan cooperatives, and a micro-credit program will allow the indigenous communities to take their futures into their own hands. For hundreds of years indigenous Amazonians have been at the mercy of large plantation owners, mining, and other extractive industries for any kind of income. By working with indigenous communities to create their own business ventures they can be proactive and take control of their own livelihoods in a sustainable manner with the income and working conditions being controlled by the indigenous peoples themselves. The Peruvian government uses poverty as the excuse to open up the Amazon to oil exploitation as if no sustainable alternative development opportunities exist. Yet, oil exploitation will only further impoverish the people of the Amazon as it destroys the natural resources on which they depend. By expanding Village Earth's efforts to include more indigenous communities in these micro-livelihood business ventures they can take a stand against the oil "development" proposed by the government.

Village Earth recently supported and accompanied a Shipibo leader to attend an important oil meeting at the Houston Petroleum Club. There, PeruPetro, the state-run oil licensing agency of Peru, was present to try to sell off the remaining 30% of the Amazon rainforest to oil companies. Fortunately the presence of the Shipibo leader and the information he was able to give investors about the risks of investing in oil exploitation in the Amazon helped to turn potential investors away from this very risky investment. However, the discourse of PeruPetro continues to be that oil exploitation will bring "development" to the Amazon region. After a speech by the Shipibo leader asking the oil companies to stay off indigenous lands, Daniel Saba, President of PeruPetro, said to the group of potential investors to visit the Amazon and see the poverty. He says there is no way the people of the Amazon "want to live like they did in the past" with 66% of the population in poverty. However, in the decades of oil exploitation throughout the Amazon in places like Northern Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, oil exploitation has brought nothing but severe health problems, environmental devastation, and an influx of new migrants to the Amazon-all with severe consequences for the indigenous peoples who call this region home. Children in Northern Peru have toxic levels of lead and other carcinogens in their blood from an oil-contaminated environment. The Camisea pipeline in Southern Peru has ruptured multiple times causing untold environmental damage. As well, the roads and infrastructure built by the oil companies opens up the Amazon to colonists and logging companies.

Together we can offer alternatives to the unsustainable development offered by the government and corporations, and instead, the people of the Amazon can determine their own futures.

For more information, visit the Peru Project Blog

Advanced Training Program on Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development at Bidham Chandra Krishi Viswavidyala - Calcutta, India

A team from Village Earth and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) held our flagship course Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development at Bidham Chandra Krishi University in Calcutta, India. January 25th through February 1st, 2008 a group of approximately fifty graduate students attended the seminar jointly organized by IISD and Bidham Chandra Krishi University. The training was well received by the students who all plan to work to support village development across India after they complete their studies.

For more information about organizing a specialized training courses for your group or organization, please visit International Institute for Sustainable Development.

Guatemala Scholarship Program

Providing annual $150 scholarships for Xucaneb, Guatemala students (as pictured above) has been a big success.

For just $150 a year, a student can pursue a ninth-grade certificate, which hugely increases their opportunity for a job with a future. Book groups and others have each sponsored a student, so that we have been able to provide a total of 50 scholarships since 2003. With that success has come a tremendous word of mouth, such that this year we have double the number of students hoping to participate. Checks to sponsor a student ($150) or smaller checks toward a scholarship can be sent to Village Earth, P.O. Box 797, Fort Collins, CO 80522.
For more information, contact MaryLou Smith at mlsmith@aquaengr.com.

Cambodia Education Project Update

The Cambodia Education Project has expanded, and moved to a new room not far away. "The staff has increased their capacity, and we have some really dynamic students, who are taking on a lot of initiatves. The best feeling is showing up and learning what is going on. By giving them so much control it has a life far beyond what I could have ever provided," said Project Coordinator Drew McDowell.

To read more, visit the Cambodia Project Blog

Appropriate Technology Library Sale

SALE - $100 off March 2008 only!

The Appropriate Technology (AT) Library is one of the most comprehensive technology resources for anyone working in the field. The AT Library is full of thousands of small-scale, do-it-yourself technologies on everything from alternative energies to sanitation.

To purchase your library today, visit the AT Library webpage.

Participatory Practices for Sustainable Development Training Course

May 19-30, 2008
Colorado State University campus
Fort Collins, CO USA

Registration deadline May 2.
Join development practitioners, community leaders, activists, and academics from around the world in this important course.

For more information visit the International Institute for Sustainable Development
or contact nancy@villageearth.org

Upcoming Online Courses