We’ve had some great meetings with folks in Quito during the past few days; here’s a sample of some of the people we met with:
We met with Manuel Pallares, who is a biologist and GIS satellite-mapping expert. An authority on the Secoya culture with 20 years of experience in the northern Amazon region of Ecuador, Mr. Pallares is an expert on the multifaceted impact of oil production on indigenous populations. Manuel was full of knowledge on the case, and had personally visited hundreds of the oil sites. He was responsible for much of the early mapping work that identified which sites belonged to Texaco.
We met with Luis Yanza, co-winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize. In 1993, Yanza, working with a team of US-based lawyers, filed a class-action lawsuit against Texaco. He has been working tirelessly on the case since the beginning. When we met Pablo at his office, he spoke with us about how Ethos Alliance can work together with his team, and how to best integrate efforts with the indigenous people to make sure they are in the decision making process.
There was a screening of CRUDE at a local college in Quito. This was the first time many of the locals had seen the documentary. The screening drew about two hundred people, and it was our first chance to introduce ourselves to Pablo Fajardo on behalf of Ethos Alliance. The audience was on their feet when Luis then Pablo spoke to the points brought up in the documentary and the progress made to date.
Part of the crowd for the screening of CRUDE in Quito.
Pablo Fajardo answering questions following his speech.
We also met with Michaela D’Amico, who currently works in Ecuador with Amazon Watch. Michaela will graduate in 2010 from Northeastern University (in Boston, MA) with a degree in International Affairs, and minors in Sociology, Spanish and Social Entrepreneurship. Michaela is an outstanding example of the passionate graduate-to-be that will help bring aid to the people and land of the Amazon rain forest.
Tomorrow will conclude our 30 day tour. Stay tuned for a final posting.