For five days, 70 indigenous women from Ecuador’s Amazon will walk from the rainforest town of Puyo to the capital Quito. Their journey will begin on October 12th. The women will walk through Shell, Rio Negro, Ambato, Banos, Latacugna, arriving in Quito on October 17th. These determined women, from the Zapara, Waorani, Shwar, Achuar, and Kichua nations, will walk 240 kilometers, from the Amazon lowlands to 9,350 feet high in the Andes.
These women will walk to Quito to protest against oil, mining and other destructive projects currently under development on their territory, to demand that their human rights be respected, including the right to free, prior and informed consent . Extractive industry projects affect the rainforest, on which the livelihoods of these women depends. They find themselves unable to feed their family by cultivating contaminated land or by having their land taken away. Most projects ignore indigenous women’s rights to participation and their voice is not heard. Extractive activities divide communities and weaken their social structure making them more vulnerable, while destroying the environment on which communities depend for survival.They will demand from the government to respect their rights, their territories and to consider the “life plans” (Planes de Vida) that their communities have developed in a collaborative way. On October 10 and 11, Shwar, Huaorani, Zapara, Achuar, Kichwa women will participate in Puyo in a general meeting “Mujeres en Vigila por la Vida” (Women Protecting Life), followed by the walk to Quito. What these women need is logistical support for the walk: money for food and lodging along the 5 day walk. These women have the ideas, the courage and their fight, however they lack resources. Let’s help these women get to Quito and enable them to make their voice heard. Let’s be with them every kilometer along the way, let’s feed them and let’s get them a place to sleep, this way we will enable them to defend their territory, rights and future. Follow the Women’s Walk on Maloca’s website: http://malocacommunities.org/ – See more at: http://www.crowdrise.com/WomenMarchtoQuito/fundraiser/consortiumforsustain#sthash.e0bjwcxi.dpuf
GSLL 1501 – Approaches to Community Development
This course provides a framework for community development based on a participatory, bottom-up, multi-sector model. Various approaches have been used in community development with varying degrees of success. One approach that has consistently demonstrated effectiveness is the Village Earth model based on participatory practices.
Through personal and structural empowerment, the objectives of economic well-being, environmental sustainability, and socio-cultural vitalization can be met. By looking at an overview of the entire development process and using case studies, this course will prepare participants to work in the field of community development and illuminate how all of the development efforts fit together to support the overall goal of sustainability.
Upon completion of this course participants will be able to:
Compare different development approaches and evaluate their effectiveness.
Understand the basic principles that underlie sustainable development.
Incorporate participatory practices into community development activities
Design a development project based on the Village Earth model
Who should take this course? This course is suited for people who are interested in community development and work or plan to work in this field. This includes people working or volunteering at NGOs, NPOs, governmental organizations, without border organizations, or missionary organizations. In addition, people involved in funding community development projects benefit from this course.
