By the time the newsletter was written we did not have much to tell you yet about the situation here in the Amazon and in order to update you we will give some extra information in the e-mail here. At the time of writing the newsletter the COVID-19 cases were still very few but since one week this has unfortunately changed. We are in the border triangle Leticia (Colombia)/ Santa Rosa(Peru)/Tabatinga (Brazil) and over a population of around 150.000 people in this region there are 200 cases now and there have been 10 deaths. In Tabatinga they are keeping the numbers very up to date but in Leticia they seem to have lost count. One of the persons who passed away was the local hero Antonio Bolivar, who played the shaman in the wonderful movie “The Embrace of the serpent”/ “El abrazo de la serpiente”. It is a big loss for the people here.
In the indigenous communities people are still quite relaxed about it: luckily the activities as farming, hunting and fishing have never been neglected. Some communities have been receiving their families who were living in Leticia and this is starting to create conflicts. Most of all because people are becoming aware that this is the way the virus might spread over the communities. In San Martin de Amacayacu there are no cases at the moment and we hope this will not change.
Our political and negotiating activities have been suspended but luckily not everything has come to a standstill: we have plenty of time now to write new project proposals for the community. We will keep up the work and try to think positive!
