We’ve not heard from you for a while. How are you? Is everything ok? I got many messages and emails along these lines towards the end of 2023 / beginning of 2024.
Friends, professional connections, colleagues outside academia who tried to get in touch with me heard nothing but crickets. In preparation for a trip of a lifetime, I took a large step back from social media. I didn’t monitor any of my accounts, didn’t check messages, didn’t post nor did I consume social media passively. I was off the thing, completely. Meeting this man, in London, last week was what prompted me to finally come out of my contemplative cocoon.
Sharamentsa, a village of about 100 indigenous men, women, and children of the Achuar tribe, is as remote as it gets. It’s on the banks of the awe-inspiring Pastaza river, one of the major tributaries of the Amazon River in Ecuador, not far from the Peruvian border. The nearest town is about a 10-day walk away.
That’s the place where I left a piece of my heart in January 2024, and that’s where Uyunkar Domingo Peas is from.
Meeting him in London out of all places was a sign for me to break my contemplative silence and start sharing stories from this journey. Stories of the Achuar’s incredibly rich culture and language, their way of life inside the jungle, and why they seek connection and collaboration with the outside world. Stories on how our actions directly impact their lives and environment, and how everything is interconnected.
Uyunkar, Achuar leader and president of Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance, unites 30 Ecuadorian and Peruvian tribes to safeguard 35 million hectares of rainforest and indigenous culture.
Learning he'd be at London Climate Action Week, I put on my Sharamentsa regalia (necklace and earrings I bought from the local ladies) and headed to a venue in Notting Hill to meet him. An Achuar. Here in the concrete jungle!
I recounted encounters with Sharamentsa's Sukut, Tee, Marco, Santa, and young Carmen, hosts who graciously shared their home, garden and food with us. Uyunkar responded: ‘Yes, that guy! Of course, I know them!’ It was surreal to talk about mutual acquaintances from such a remote place.
Early June, I treated the audience of ILCA (International Language Coaching Association)'s third annual conference in Budapest to an exclusive storytelling session about this very journey, talking for the first time about my profound experience in the rainforest. It was really special.
I've been planning to share some of these stories, but meeting Uyunkar in London — an Achuar leader from one of the most remote places on Earth — felt like a sign.
In the coming weeks, I will share some of my personal insights from the Amazonian rainforest. Lessons on why indigenous wisdom matters for our modern world. On why we must share in the responsibility of protecting languages, cultures, communities and ecosystems of the planet we inhabit together.
Maketé, Uyunkar, for inspiring me to share these stories.
#LCAW24
