Ecuador
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Alpaca Story
February 10, 2010 by Daniel Malin
Coming back from Otavalo last Friday, I convinced my family that I had bought an alpaca. It began as an off-hand remark. I was sitting on the concrete step in front of our house, having dropped my stuff on the bed. As usual, I was drinking from a large bottle of water and looking uncomfortable sitting under the relentless sun. My host-brother, Jonathan, sat down and asked me how it went in Otavalo and whether I had purchased anything. I said that it went really well, and that I had bought some toilet paper, rubber boots, sandals, deodorant, a large animal and shampoo. There was a long pause.
“Did you say you bought an animal?”, he asked.
“Oh yeah,” I responded, “It’s around here somewhere.”
I didn’t think anything of it, other than that it was kind of funny. I was proud of myself for saying something funny in Spanish, since humor is one of the hardest aspects of a language to convey. Humor and navigating a difficult break-up. If you can do both of those things in a second language, then you’re fluent in my book. But I digress.
So some time passed and
Quiet Voices from CGI: Those that Fight the Epic Battle in the Ecuador Rain Forest
September 25, 2009 by Michelle Kraus
Amidst the glitterati and the bustle of the Clinton Global Initiative (“CGI”) are the “quiet voices” of individuals and NGO’s trying to affect change on this planet. This year one remarkable individual comes to mind. It was his maiden voyage into the unchartered waters. His name is Richie Goldman and he has pledged himself to find the money, partnerships and muscle to alleviate the suffering of the people of Ecuador. A relative “newbie” to the philanthropic world in search of like-minded individuals that can help him fund the work of Amazon Watch to fund clinics, bring in medicine and provide clean drinking water. Lawsuits go on for years as this one against Chevron has done. But people continue to get sick as countries posture and lawyers argue.
This man is up against one of the most massive public relations machines of recent times, possibly second only to the tobacco industry’s campaigns. The fact is that Chevron is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on television, radio and Internet ads attempting to create a new image – the leader in clean energy. They want to wipe the slate in the court of public opinion. Ironically,…
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