Support Indigenous Students in the Face of COVID19

Dear Friends and Supporters

We hope this report from the field finds you all well. Although the COVID-19 vaccination efforts in Peru are progressing faster than expected, the indigenous population is a particularly difficult group to reach. This month, however, the government’s vaccination campaign targeted OEPIAP, and 35 young students decided to get their first dose. This situation slowly allows the return to some normality.

In the previous report, we briefly mentioned some of the exciting upcoming activities, such as the "canoa cinema" event and the indigenous women's workshop where the young female students of the OEPIAP were going to participate.

With more than 100 people joining the event and attentively watching the movies from their canoes, the “canoa cinema” was a great success. The young indigenous students who participated as directors, producers, and protagonists in several short films, had the opportunity to present themselves and their products on this extraordinary stage: an outdoor venue in the Belén neighborhood in Iquitos, which at this time of the year is entirely flooded. So, the only way to attend this event was by boat. The students spoke about the importance of making visible the problems faced by the indigenous population, especially young students, and women. The young women, some of whom also made their own short film, took the opportunity to raise their voices about the violence exerted against indigenous women, the prevailing machismo that they experience, and the difficulties that this causes in their current trajectories of studying in the city of Iquitos.

Shortly after this event, June 10to 13, a group of these young female students from the OEPIAP also participated in the empowerment workshop of Indigenous Women's Organizations, organized by the Chaikuni Institute. They were joined by four local women's organizations: Huayna Kana Kamatahuara Kana, Organization of Indigenous Women of the Marañón (ORDEMIM), Association of Indigenous Women of Saramuro (AMISAM) and Federation of Women Artisans of Loreto (FEMIAL), representing a total of 28 indigenous women. The objective of this workshop was to empower these indigenous female leaders on the personal, community and political levels. Shortly after the workshop, OEPIAP’s female students had a presentation meeting with the National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Women of Peru (ONAMIAP) in July, where they agreed to hold workshops during the last quarter of this year, creating a growing and ever stronger network of indigenous female leaders.

Furthermore, in July, the OEPIAP held elections for a new board of directors 2021-2023. Two candidate lists were presented, one led by a Ticuna woman, Leonarda Suárez Guerrero. The latter went on to win the elections, becoming the first female president of the organization since its creation in 2003. Our team is assisting the students in the transition process from the old to the new leadership, providing support with formalities and offering organizational training to the new – young and yet unexperienced – board members.

In the end of July, coinciding with the start of classes for the 2021-1 semester of UNAP, the local university, we resumed our reinforcement classes which we continue to this day. In total, Chaikuni has offered 10 Advanced Mathematics sessions, 10 Physics sessions, 20 Basic Mathematics sessions, and 8 Statistics sessions. In addition, 18 Mathematics sessions have been offered for young applicants to the university. We also continue with our constant personal academic monitoring and follow up of the students. As part of our activities to promote micro-entrepreneurship, we furthermore held 5 Business Plans workshops in which 6 indigenous youths participated. Likewise, 2 students, Gimena and Jose, are doing their pre-professional internships in the Permaculture program of our Institute. And finally, accompanied by our team, 2 more young people managed to obtain scholarships over the last three months, resulting in a total of 9 young people from the OEPIAP with scholarships to date.

We couldn´t do all of this without you. Thank you for being a part of this. Thank you for supporting the indigenous students in Iquitos.

With gratitude,

OEPIAP and The Chaikuni Team

Links:

• News article about "canoa cinema"