Read our annual report and finances for 2016. Discover the inside story and the highlights from our three programs: Permaculture, Intercultural Education and Human & Nature Rights.
Letter from the Director
It takes great vision to build a great organization. When I review last year’s achievements, my first thoughts go immediately out to Matthew Watherston, Founder of The Chaikuni Institute and The Temple of the Way of Light. It is with exceptional gratitude that we continuously receive his confidence in our team. Chaikuni was born from his inspiration, and day after day, we work hard to determine how to put into practice our holistic vision of honoring indigenous wisdom and cosmovision in a modern world. We strive to move away from the dominant economic model in order to promote a life-affirming movement that honors core values such as reciprocity, respect, solidarity and interculturality.
Of course, it also takes a great team to do the sort of demanding, complicated grassroots work The Chaikuni Institute has been doing. It is with great pride that I can share with you what The Chaikuni Institute achieved throughout 2016 through the expansion of our incredible team of dedicated professionals, who are both local and international. In 2017, we will continue to set high standards for our work on the ground with our local and indigenous partners, and to us that firstly means respecting their right to self determination.
I am happy to see that Chaikuni has grown as an organization of both action and research, and is not afraid to be at the forefront of change. Peru went through a very tumultuous year marked by a difficult election process that left the country divided with two governments - the official one led by President Pedro Pablo Kuzcinzky and the other one as the Fujimori majority in Congress. We continued to empower civil society organizations believing real change is possible from the bottom up. While corruption scandals continue to abound (a legacy of nearly all of Peru’s presidents), Chaikuni took action for better living conditions, alternative models and equal rights and opportunities for Peru’s Amazonian peoples. And while Loreto, Peru’s largest region, was polluted last year with the biggest number of oil spills ever, we stood with those who protect the water, land and life itself in one of the world’s most important ecosystems to regulate the climate: the Amazon.
I can’t present this Chaikuni Annual Report without giving special mention to the support we receive from our families, living close by or far away, and from our friends and allies in the global network of resistance and resilience. Let’s continue to stand together. In 2017, there remain many challenges to tackle. Join us, there is nothing more necessary or urgent, and certainly nothing more exciting.
With love from the heart of the Peruvian Amazon,
Sarah Kerremans
Executive Director
