Continued Success in the Peruvian Amazon

Village Earth just returned from a visit to some of our partner communities in the Peruvian Amazon last month.  We are happy to report that all of our community projects are continuing with success.  Communities are continuing the processes of legally titling and demarcating their territories in order to protect their lands and resources from outsiders, and we are planning for an important training workshop this summer focusing on land demarcation and awareness-raising about critical land issues in this area. Our continued partnership with the Engineers Without Borders – Fort Collins Professional Chapter to install a clean water distribution system in one community is moving forward as the community continues to organize themselves and prepare for the installation of this system. Community radios that were built by community members in the Village Earth/Project Tupa radio workshop last October continue to work well and are a sense of pride in the communities. Unfortunately, the regional government is moving slower than had been expected in regard to radio licensing, but communities have moved forward, nevertheless, by electing radio management committees to decide on programming, built radio towers and buildings to house the equipment, and are constantly maintaining their self-built equipment. And finally, women artisan committees are flourishing and taking further steps to access new markets for their beautiful artisan products. Village Earth has helped these artisan committees to plan and organize themselves while connecting them to the resources they need to make themselves a strong force for economic development using their unique cultural heritage as the basis. Thank you to all of you who continue to support our partner communities in the Peruvian Amazon.