The Jungle Book, "Minga Perú"

Minga Perú

I spent last weekend in the Peruvian part of the Amazon Rainforest. A little background information to start:

The Amazon Rainforest covers 1.4 billion acres of South America, nine nations: Brazil (60%), Peru (13%), Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The rainforest represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and is home to about 2.5 million insect species, 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish species, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles. In short, it's the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world!



I went as an "amiga" of Minga Peru, a nonprofit organization that focuses on communication strategies to help women in rural communities in Peru's Amazonia. Minga Peru records a culturally appropriate radio program called Bienvenida Salud which addresses issues confronting indigenous women such as sexual health, domestic violence, poverty, and HIV/AIDS. Women (and men) in these rural communities are invited and encouraged to write letters to Minga's office in Iquitos which are read on the program. Some women, called promotoras, from the communities are chosen to attend workshops in which they participate in talks and exercises about women's rights, community development, and self esteem among others. Minga also provides supplies to some community women to build fish farms (piscigranjas) and camu-camu (a fruit) fields.

I had the great honor to visit 2 rural communities several minutes outside of Nauta (a small city near Iquitos) and talk with the women in those communities about their situations, Minga's help, their community projects, etc. I also visited the poor community of Belén in Iquitos to talk with a colaborador of Bienvenida Salud. It was a wonderful, unforgettable experience! The community members in the jungle (la selva) are very friendly, kind, and they care very much about their neighbors, their community, and the future of their children. Seeing their progress in matters of violence, health, and education was very inspiring.

The above is a very short version of my four day trip. The smells, sights and tastes were like nothing I have ever experienced. Therefore, the following series of blog posts is entitled The Jungle Book in which I will try to convey how incredible the rainforest and it's people are.