What started as an optimistic, altruistic dream to help my cousins has blossomed into a full blown charity which if all goes well should not only help the people of the central Amazon region in Peru but potentially indigenous people everywhere. This is due to the generous support of my dear friends from around the world who to my great astonishment put their money where their mouth is and made Ind
igenous Revival a reality. Thanks to all of you I now have two acres (roughly 4 football fields) on which construction can now begin. As the project progresses I have had the good fortune to meet many people much more knowledgeable and qualified than myself for such an undertaking. Special thanks goes out to Frau Strobele-Gregor who brought up many important points which have slightly changed the direction of the charity side of my project and greatly broadened my horizons. One question she asked was “Did the local people ask you for a school?” to which I had to admit they did not. She then suggested that I first start by building a community center, or rather ask for the village’s help in building a community center where they can then decide themselves on the best use for said structure. I still plan on having classes on local indigenous customs and languages as well as a core curriculum taught by volunteers from around the country and globe, but inclusion of the local community in realizing and taking ownership of what I hope they will come to see as their project is now the top priority. On the cacao front I have made progress in finding local organic farmers who I can put in touch with the good people of Rausch chocolate, to whom I also owe a debt of gratitude for allowing me technical assistance and access to their very talented group of agriculture specialists. I still plan on helping my family grow their own crop but I am now mainly looking to find buyers for the existing local varietals of cacao to add to the demand of high quality, organic, fair trade cacao. From what I have also heard from numerous sources there is a lack of technical expertise in the fermentation process of the cacao bean which I also hope to address in my soon to be built community center. We have now entered phase two of my project. The German government has approved my charity status and I already have two potential sponsors to help with the fundraising for the construction of the school/community center. I will be starting another generosity fundraising campaign to which all are of course welcome to donate but the main goal is to find business sponsors who can make significant monetary contributions. Phase two will require hiring workers, contractors, an architect, procuring building materials and creating a sustainable model which can hopefully be copied throughout the Amazon. Some of you mentioned once I have my official charity status you would be able to point me in the direction of larger charities and companies which may help me further. Now is the time! Once again though I want to thank everyone who has helped me get this far, to be honest I never imagined I would be where I am today, focusing all my energy on helping indigenous tribes create positive change in agronomics.
