Pachamama Alliance

"If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."

These are the words of an aboriginal leader in Australia and they reflect the attitude of the Pachamama Alliance, our newest pro bono client. They work with native peoples in the rain forest of Ecuador and Peru to help protect their native lands from being destroyed by oil companies and other intruders that are threatening not only their ecosystem, but an entire way of life. I think this quote is amazing. The idea that the native people are not the ones that need help is revolutionary to me. It turns all the assumptions of how we see "under developed" countries on its head and says, we might be the ones that are messed up and need to change.

The Pachamama Alliance is not only working in South America to help protect the rain forest, they also put on a three to five hour symposium in the US, Europe and Australia that highlights what you can do to help and how you can get involved. We participated in the symposium today and it was very interesting and empowering. I am looking forward to working with these folks to help them with their communications, and hopefully I will learn a lot along the way.