Segunda Semana

Hola todos,

I have been here about two weeks now... Doing a little work for Fundacion Pachamama which has been cool. I have learned a lot, mostly about los derechos de la naturaleza (Rights for nature). It is inspiring and excited to be working closely with people who are revolutionizing the way the world interacts with nature and treats our resources. It is in an idea, to give nature the same rights which people enjoy, that is spreading all over the world- from communities in the US to indigenous communities in Ecuador and is even now a part of the National constitution in Ecuador. It also got much attention at the World People´s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights for Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia in April of this year. Because the let the public into the event thousands of people arrived to partake....It was a massive event compared to the one in Coppenhagen. At the PWCC, they agreed on an initiatives for rights for mother earth - something farfetched at the UN Climate Change Conference.

Yesturday I attended an event for the implementation of the rights for nature here in Quito. I was working for most of it so I didn´t get to listen to all of it. It was very cool to hear all the speakers though. There were different perspectives of lawyers, indigenous activists, groups from the US working on grassroots programs and Cormac Cullinan, an environmental lawyer from South Africa who I have gotten to know over the past two weeks. He also wrote a book called Wild Law to refer to an Earth Jurisprudence, ¨looking at the actual philosophy and value systems that underpin most legal and governance systems, and making sure that they support, rather than undermine, the integrity and health of the Earth.¨ -http://www.earthjurisprudence.org/

If you want to know more about rights for mother earth...email me! mthomas3@uoregon.edu


Other than that...I have done a bit of travelling but nothing too exciting.

Hope I didn´t bore you too much

love,
Megan