PhotoVoice: Monkoxi Reconnection. A tapestry of stories of autonomy, identity and climate action from the youth of the Monkoxi
7th November 2022
Book Launch.
The territory of Lomerío is our home. Our ancestors, our parents and we ourselves have always taken care of it. We live and feel connected as Monkoxi People because of our relationship to the forest. Today, we need our young people to take care of our home and feel connected to it, to our history, to our identity and to knowledge about the forest. The PhotoVoice project was a way to bring our young people closer to the forest, to the elders, to our stories. For four months, eight of our young people were trained in participatory photography and documented our culture, way of life and challenges. They are: Brenda Chuvirú García, Eliana Peña Chore, Gabi Irene Ipamo Ipi, Johan Pedriel Rodriguez Cesarí, Jorge Andres Guizada Palachay, Juan Said García Chuvirú, Mary Isabel García Parapaino and Victor Hugo García. Now they know their reality and identify with the home that is our territory. The photographers who were trained represent youth voices that document our wisdom and knowledge, making new intergenerational and intercultural dialogues possible. The youth of Lomerío are the present that is building our future and that of new generations. The priority of the Indigenous Organization of the Native Communities of Lomerío (CICOL) is to safeguard the harmonious development of our people. Young people are the ones chosen to build a better world. The PhotoVoice project was part of a larger project entitled “Indigenous International Interactions for Sustainable Development” (INDIS). INDIS was developed by the University of East Anglia in the U.K. and Nur University in Bolivia, with support from the National Geographic Society and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Civil Peace Service programme. To conclude, I would like to thank all of the institutions and people that contributed to this process of reconnecting our young people to their territory. Analeto Pena, (Chief General of the Monkoxi People)