Příběh
What is our project about?
Three years ago, I volunteered in Simiatug for a year. This indigenous village is located high in the Ecuadorian Andes and even the Ecuadorians mostly don't know about its existence. I had a chance to get to know the local life up close, including all the difficulties the indigenous people have to deal with.
Besides discrimination and a lack of basic services like drinking water, sewage, and partly electricity, locals also face extreme poverty and inadequate access to quality education and work opportunities.
My dream is to establish the Minga Foundation in order to help the local people, especially the indigenous children with their studies and the indigenous women disadvantaged in the labor market.
We will also aim to support the rural community development by building a sustainable community center using traditional techniques and materials.
Together with the local women, we are already planning educational activities and workshops, that will take place at the center.
Another goal of the project is to educate about the culture of Ecuador in Czech republic. We want to share our knowledge of local traditions and life of indigenous people by giving public and school lectures. Also I am currently writing a book about my experience in Ecuador.
How did it start?
In 2018, I decided to go to Ecuador with the volunteer program of Adopce Nablízko. This experience has deeply changed me and since I could take a close look at the life conditions of the locals, it gave me a desire to help them even more. When our cook's husband had a motorcycle accident and was not taken to hospital nor examined due to lack of money, I launched an initiative to help his family with the medical expenses.
The support that came from the Czech Republic was amazing. There were more contributions than it would be wise to donate to one family so I started a temporary project called "Fund of Solidarity”. It helped the indigenous families and students in need during the time of my stay.
Among other things, I helped to build small houses for the poorest families who only had a plastic sheet instead of a roof and thus couldn't cook during the rainy seasons. For other families we bought farm animals that they had to sell in order to pay the medical expenses. I also supported educational activites and studies of the children of single mothers.
In 2020, I received the Křesadlo award for my volunteer activities.
I also collaborated with the SADBA organization on the educational project Dnes jím jako Ekvádorec. I shared my materials, texts, photos an other knowledge about Ecuadorian culture. In the years 2020-21, about 60 Czech schools participated in the project despite the covid-19 pandemic. My stories were also published in the booklet of "Colorful Ecuador".
Step by step, the idea to establish the Minga Foundation was born, with the goal of supporting these families on a long-term bases.
How do we want to help?
The Sustainable Development Program will be implemented through the following projects:
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Financial support of talented students through godparenthood – help with the study costs, educational activities, leisure time, etc.
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Support of women's entrepreneurship - improving the quality of handicraft products, support and training in marketing, product distribution and export and sales abroad.
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Construction of a sustainable community center:
In order to decentralize the aid, which is usually provided exclusively to Simiatug, we will build the community center directly in the indigenous community of Salaleo, which is a three-hour walk (approximately 10-12 km) from the center of Simiatug. It is inhabited by about 500 indigenous people and nearby there are three other communities called Mindina, Cascarilla and Cutahua.
We plan to build the center using ecological materials and original traditional indigenous techniques, which are already almost forgotten. Cooperating with an architectural firm that builds modern houses with these techniques, we want to show the natives that their tradition has value and that in the end these materials are more accessible and provide better conditions than currently used cement blocks or zinc sheets.
We want to realize „minga“ to build the center, so the natives will learn how to use these techniques again and will be able to use them to build their own homes.
The center will host educational events for children and adults, as well as leisure activities for children. The events will include training in proper nutrition, especially for children and pregnant and lactating women, educating about domestic violence and women's rights, business courses for women, and alcoholism prevention events.
An essential part of the center will be a study room with a small library and computers that the local families do not have and children often need to study.
The center will also serve as a place for volunteers, trainers or tourists, who will have the opportunity to stay directly in the community.
In collaboration with Al Cubo Arquitectura, we will implement a pilot sustainable model to address the missing basic services. We will use modern ecological methods of rainwater reservoirs with biofilters and dry toilets, possibly also a solar panel. We will also apply the principles of permaculture on the land belonging to the center, using organic fertilizers to achieve diversification of cultivated crops in order to combat child malnutrition. The goal is to transfer this sustainable model step by step to the families and other communities.
All activities in the center will be done with respect for the local traditions and with an effort to promote the cultural identity of the local people.
Why is it worth helping them?
According to the UN, indigenous peoples, as well as women and children, are the most vulnerable group. This is due to the long-term historical discrimination and the lack of respect for their human rights.
Despite their perseverance, over several centuries of domination, the native population had lost the vast majority of their culture, traditions, language, and religion, and thus their cultural identity.
In Ecuador, there used to be a system of haciendas. Hacienda was a huge manor and the inhabitants who resided within its area had to forcibly work for the owner in a serf relationship and unjust conditions. According to the 1964 Agricultural Reform Act, the landlords were supposed to return the lands to the indigenous communities. In Simiatug, however, it happened only in 1980 when the natives revolted and took over the hacienda.
In Simiatug, the first indigenous schools were established in the 70-80s.
The way in which the indigenous people had been humiliated, abused, and exploited until the recent past has been a clear violation of human rights. As a result of this inequitable past, the people of Simiatug live in deep poverty to this day.
Despite all this, many local people are very positive, happy, and grateful and we can be inspired by their modesty and perseverance.
My dream is to help this nation to stand on its own two feet again so that they can be proud of their origins and feel love for their own traditions. I believe that only by getting to know their own history and by education can this violent intrusion to the indigenous nations slowly begin to correct itself.
What are the biggest problems of Simiatug?
Simiatug is relatively cut off from the rest of Ecuador.
There is no transportation between the communities, although some are up to 5 hours walking distance from the Simiatug-center.
There are already schools in most of the communities but the quality of education is low. Studying in the city is not within the financial possibilities of most families.
Many adults have no education and cannot write or count.
Another problem of Simiatug is extreme poverty and related problems such as child malnutrition, lack of drinking water and other basic needs, alcoholism and related domestic violence, lack of equality for women, and urban migration due to lack of job opportunities.
Therefore, parents feed their children by working in the fields, raising cattle, and making handicrafts, which they sell once a week at the local market.
However, because of discrimination and humiliation from the upper classes of society, women are often forced to sell their goods below fair market price.
Blanquita's story
Who else is part of the team in Ecuador?
Where is Simiatug located?
The indigenous parish of Simiatug is located in the central part of Ecuador in the western zone of the Andes and it lies 2800 to 4000 meters above sea level. It belongs to the province of Bolivar. Average daily temperatures are around 10°C. This area holds 42 indigenous communities scattered over a vast area of mountains, the largest of which is Simiatug-center. It is commonly visited by local people in the search of education, work and basic purchases.
In the population of nearly 12,000, 95% of these inhabitants are of indigenous origin.
What is the purpose of our project?
The purpose is mutual enrichment through cultural exchange and strengthening the sustainable development of the Simiatug parish and its people.
The recipients of the aid are the Ecuadorian natives, but we do not want the energy to flow in only one direction. We base our work on the indigenous Randi-Randi principle, which strikes a balance between giving and receiving.
An essential part of this project is to connect the world of the indigenous people with the Czech Republic and other parts of the world, especially in an effort to share local values and life in remote areas of Simiatug and its surroundings, bringing interesting information from local traditions, history and culture.
What is our vision?
In the future, we would like to extend the aid to other indigenous groups of Ecuador, for example to the indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest, where they are already interested in our support. Then we can go even further, as there is a large number of indigenous and otherwise disadvantaged people in need throughout Latin America and the rest of the world.
More about the UN's SDGs here.
What will we use your money for?
The selected amount will be used primarily for legal support, legalization, and other necessary steps to launch the Foundation. In the second place, the money will be used as the founder's contribution to the Foundation, so the above-mentioned projects can be implemented step by step.
