Yesterday, Saturday 16th May 2020, I received a WhatsApp message (see below) from Juan David, our guide on a recent trip to the Colombian part of the Amazon, starting in Leticia. It made for a harrowing read, especially when added to by other guides’ narratives. Whilst we all know the impact of Covid-19 on our, European, way of life, I, for one, had not really thought about what might be happening in underdeveloped countries. Of course, I had heard the news, including the death tolls in South American countries, and the Brazilian President’s “no lockdown” approach. But I had not realised that to some indigenous tribes, the effect might be as with measles, when first introduced to South America. Add to that the endemic corruption, ineffective services, and huge distances, and these peoples are facing annihilation. I have compiled some information to provide more detail. Juan’s message: Hello, everyone. I'm Juan and we probably met in Leticia, Amazonas Colombia. We may have also done tours of the wonderful rivers and streams of this region. Together we breathed in forests full of water and oxygen. We slept in the jungle or listened to the breathing of the forest. We sailed at night and saw the Black Caiman's eyes shine. We listened to the monkeys and were surprised by the dolphins. We ate piranha or simply fed the fish. We got sick and the plants in the forest helped us. We met indigenous families who opened the doors of their homes to us and amazed us with their meals. We heard about the spirits, the Kurupira and the Yacuruna. We chewed coca leaves with shamans of deep knowledge. We tasted fruits and saw colors we never imagined. We walked distances we never thought and sometimes the jaguar footprints scared us. We shared the word, water and food. We got rid of prejudices and learned about each other and their stories. We spoke in Spanish, English, Portuguese and even learned phrases in Tikuna. We cried because of the nostalgia that the jungle imprints. And we enjoyed ourselves, laughed and cried. Now these forests and their populations are at imminent risk because of this invisible enemy. An enemy that can end life in days. An enemy that comes from the white world, say the grandparents. An enemy we are not prepared to face. But an enemy that finds resistance in the solidarity of the people. That spontaneous solidarity that goes beyond politics. That true solidarity for the other. That is why today I write to each and every one of you making a call for help and support for this region of the Amazon. So, with a group of guides and collaborators we have created a platform like crowdfunding that is allowing us to collect funds that will be totally destined to the purchase of food and elements of biosecurity. These aids are directed to diverse families and communities that are passing a serious situation due to the pandemic and that do not find in ONG's or the same governments sufficient and true support. The support may not only be financial. By making the problem visible from many parts of the world we can generate international pressure to take action in these regions so forgotten by governments but exploited by the market and now hit by Covid-19. I am very grateful for your attention. I am aware that each of you and your countries have similar situations and I hope that you will find yourselves in good health, you and your families, in the middle of this situation. A fraternal greeting from the Amazon rainforest hoping that together we can face this emergency. Juan... He finished with a link to GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/corona-relief-for-leticia-amazonas-colombia Corona relief for Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia. (taken from GoFundMe) The team of people who are helping with this fundraiser has, in the meantime, grown significantly. Getting money together is one thing, but getting the right goods to the right people is the real challenge. Besides Eliceo we now have Elvis, Juan David and Ramiro running around trying to set up the logistics, investigating the most critical areas and communities, brainstorming about various ways to go about it and generally just being amazingly involved with this project, working tirelessly to help their communities. Urgent help needed for the communities of Leticia, capital of the Amazonas Department in Colombia. Leticia is the capital of the Amazonas Department in Colombia, at the tri-state border of Colombia, Peru and Brasil, on the Amazon river. The city is only reachable by aeroplane. Leticia and its surroundings are economically highly dependent on tourism and the majority of food supplies are brought in by plane from Bogota. Its healthcare system is fragile in good times. As the country of Colombia went into complete lock down due to the Corona virus, tourism in Leticia came to a complete halt and, as supplies became sparse (due to shutdown of the airspace), the costs of basic food supplies skyrocketed. In other words, while the costs of living increased dramatically, income dropped equally dramatically! The government of Colombia vowed to release funds to help those in dire need however, a large part of these funds are embezzled and reach the intended recipients only sparsely. All the while the virus, as many viruses from the other side of the ocean have done to indigenous communities in the Americas ever since Columbus landed on her shores, has started to take its toll in an area who´s healthcare system has systematically been neglected (see https://colombiareports.com/colombias-healthcare-show-if-you-get-sick-you-die-and- thats-the-truth/ ) While talking to our friend Eliceo, the gravity of the situation was validated. Eliceo is an indigenous tour guide from the Matapi and Yukuna tribes. Normally running a successful tour business in which he shares his extensive knowledge of the area, he is now running around trying to take care of his father and mother, who have both fallen ill, most likely from the Coronavirus as well as trying to get food and other supplies to those in need. The hospital seems to be closed and the national Corona helpline is not reachable. A new hospital especially built for Corona patients will most likely not be finished in time to avoid a catastrophe. Adding to the trouble is the fact that the town of Leticia is flooding from heavy rains. Visibly exhausted, he and many others are trying to find ways to help their communities. When not trying to find help for his father, who is in a critical state, and delivering food and other supplies to those in need, he is out in the rain forest, looking for medicinal plants deep in the jungle as western medicine is reaching the people sparsely and thus far has not proven effective. https://youtu.be/MK0iyx6IYJs Houses with red flags are houses of people who have no food: Therefore we are setting up this campaign. We ask you to donate, however big or small, so that we can help families survive by supplying food, basic sanitising products and immune boasting supplements. There is no time to wait, and we cannot rely on the local or national government for help. 14 MAY 2020by Layla Kyle, Team Member I would like you all to read this & Thank you again for all your help! By: Elvis Cueva Márquez "Global Solidarity in Defense of the Ancestral Guardians" . We are fighting against an invisible enemy, is among us, we are in the middle of the fire, which we do not know exactly who we are facing? it is known to be microscopic, and it hangs even in our own shadow. The world, for as long as we can remember, has lived and endured the waves of pandemics such as those of November 1918 and February 1919 that affected the Amazon after the First World War. Before it was natural or man-made due to lack of health, today we may be living a global tragedy of a virus that is mutating. We are able to find the cure between traditional doctors and scientists?. Since the time of the discovery of America in the 16th century, this part of the Amazon has been globalized and diseases and pandemics have come to affect the immune system of the indigenous communities; the riverine populations were numerous at that time, this current virus has come to stay, perhaps to exterminate not only man but also the culture of the forest. We ask for international cooperation, because the government already did what it had to do... the control of the situation got out of hand, there has been talk of an imaginary of the future, without solving the problem of the present, figures of infected people are given like scoring the score of a game, even the information is not complete in the exact number of positives, even without mentioning the real deaths; if there is no adequate forensic team to replace doubts, how to know what the patients die of? even without counting the unreported cases but that there are families suffering the characteristic symptoms in their homes, how to reference the figures? There is a lack of doctors, those who are already infected or dead, this is increasing, we are going to disappear if nobody listens to us? We need a green-hearted helping hand, that can help us abroad, through embassies, NGOs, foundations or private companies; the indigenous peoples have been hit hard, being the guardians of ancestral knowledge, the healthy care of the forest depends on them, if they disappear, their environment disappears, they contribute to the conservation of genetic material and maintenance of the ecosystems, because not to say to supply sustainable food, not only for humans but for the wild fauna. There is an interdependence between man and nature, if they are not harmonic, it will be extinguished, in this case it will be the human species, buried to oblivion and its legacy for humanity stored in its DNA. We, the indigenous groups, tell the world that we are vulnerable with this virus, we are not to blame for this pandemic, we are the visible victims in the history of man, as long as we have known about this continent. Friends, we need organization to address the media and the urgent, clear and timely in our decisions, generating confidence in international aid. Health is a universal human right, without distinction of race, religion or nationality, we all deserve attention, even if we do not have medical insurance to protect us. "The globe of the earth is the territory of man"... that was said by the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko in one of his verses dedicated to Leticia in the 1960s when he was there and saw the conflagration of a sinking ship, without anyone giving him help because of his nationality. The problem has to be mitigated by managing human resources and medical equipment well. Decision-making must be technical and scientific in order to replace our current dramatic situation, since political decision is not the only one. We heartily appreciate all the help that is coming, but it is not enough; this allows us to move forward to mitigate the problem. The indigenous groups in question have travelled through the jungle, and know every corner of this sacred temple, the jungle. It is worth mentioning some of the ethnic groups that live in this vast region of the Colombian Amazon in the Triple Frontier, among them we have Omaguas, Cocamas, Ticunas, Yaguas, Huitotos, Moruis, Boras, Muinanes, Yukunas, Matapis, Ocainas, Andoques, Mírañas, among others. We communities are vulnerable in our daily activities in search of sustenance in the urban area, exposed without the minimum standards of prevention and security to avoid infection. The river has become the corridor for the virus, and we know that the number of people infected on both sides of the Amazon River has increased. Tropical diseases are waiting for their turn, a race against the clock, hopefully! not another outbreak of tropical disease due to the global warming that is coming, otherwise we will be left on tenterhooks. We must control the visible and invisible borders, like the indigenous communities in their reservations. Have a contingency plan to transport the sick, the ambulances are not enough, beds, care rooms, mechanical respirators, pressure gauges, and others. "All that remains is for me to tell all my friends around the world: There was a funeral here. We are all witnesses to it. I hope this is not a chronicle of a death foretold. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) • 13 MAY 2020by Layla Kyle, Team Member Our friend Elvis Cueva Márquez worte the following article about the situation in Leticia, Amazon, Colombia (see below for English) English version: "The Pandemic, the Amazon and Oblivion" The Pandemic is a reality, we do not need to check it, it is real in the media, it is already in our house, attacking in the Amazon. There is no time to think but to act, to make timely decisions. In an area of no more than 8 square kilometers, measuring the triple border between Colombia, Peru and Brazil; to date there are 718 infected with covid-19 in Leticia and Tabatinga 320 alone, without having information about the Island of Santa Rosa and the number of deaths. In view of the fact that the support of the government at the local and national level has not been sufficient to provide immediate attention to the health emergency, we are going to die out due to our vulnerability as indigenous people, mestizos and afro-descendants. I would ask a foreign government that sees us, and knows about our problem, that there are more infected people than what the media reports, to please the NGOs, Foundations or good- hearted people, to help us in this emergency with medical endowment through an ICU or funding for it, administered by someone responsible, alone we can not win this battle with an imported enemy, our immune system will take time to adapt and by then, I will not have time or have disappeared to continue writing this note by this social network. Leticia, because she has a cosmopolitan vocation, advanced quickly to the contagion since December, there was no immediate communication of alert and closing of borders, we were permissive without commitment and lack of the presence of the state, we are forced in desperation to summon you in this cause, help us! We have adaptable hotel infrastructure to attend this health emergency, isolating patients in accommodations with health guarantees, only lack diligence and promptness for the local government to manage, reaching a common agreement with the private company for the good of all. There is a lack of solidarity and a sense of belonging. Together in front of our houses we can clean the streets of the virus, they have already done it in cities of India and Ecuador where there is more economic precariousness, why not do it? Together we can. "We don't have time for criticism, we need immediate action". Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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