Help the Shipibo Regenerate from the Pandemic

Dear donors and friends of the Shipibo people,

We made it! Thanks to your generous support during the last two and a half years, we have reached the funding goal of our campaign.

As you may remember, the “Onanyabo in Action”- initiative, led by the ancestral Shipibo healers of Asomashk, started in the aftermath of the Pandemic with a pilot project aiming to bring intercultural health brigades to distant Shipibo communities. The pilot phase was a success, with extremely positive feedback from the visited communities. Therefore, our campaign here on GlobalGiving intended to raise enough support to secure the continuation of the health brigades, eventually reaching all Shipibo communities.

We are delighted to report that since the start of the campaign - the first funds were sent to Asomashk in late 2021, and the first brigade was leaving for the communities in February 2022 – your support has facilitated 10 intercultural health brigades to reach 120 Shipibo communities, representing 98% of the targeted population, attending over 5000 patients altogether.

The brigades consisted of 5-6 Onanyabo (ancestral Shipibo healers) and 1-2 representatives from the regional health authorities. Each delegation usually spent between two to three weeks in the field visiting the communities, offering treatment to the patients on a large variety of diseases and conditions, applying ancestral Shipibo practices combined with contemporary medical treatments. The brigades also detected and reported on the precarious conditions in the communities. Most lack access to any kind of health services. A general lack of access to clean water contributes to many cases of intestinal parasites and malnutrition, especially among children. Psychosocial and mental health challenges, many arising from the pandemic, were also common, and addressed by the Onanyabo.

The response in the communities to the visits of the Shipibo health brigades was very positive, as we have reported along the way. But the brigades weren´t the only aspect of this initiative. A more concealed but fundamental goal was to promote and consolidate the unity of the Shipibo-Konibo people through the recovery, revaluation and strengthening of their unique cultural and medical tradition. With this goal in mind, Asomashk organized monthly spiritual retreats for representatives from different Shipibo organizations, including key political Shipibo leaders, from mid-2023 to this day. This campaign also supported a weekly radio program which broadcasts on Shipibo customs, music, singing, art, history, food, myths, and legends, to promote and revitalize the Shipibo-Konibo culture. Finally, it covered some core costs and as such helped strengthen Asomashk as an organization.

As a direct consequence of this campaign, Asomashk has managed to attract attention and find new allies and funds along the way, to both strengthen this initiative but also to support other areas of the organization. Today, five years after its foundation, Asomashk has a collectively elaborated roadmap on 10 different topics, including women and gender, territory, intercultural education, indigenous health, youth, and culture, among others.

Today, knowing that the initiative has positively impacted many lives, that it helped strengthen the unity of the Shipibo people, and that Asomashk has consolidated as an organization, we conclude this fundraising campaign, with profound gratitude to all your support.

When campaigns are closed, as a standard procedure, GlobalGiving rolls over monthly donations to other active projects of the organization. If you are in a position to help the Chaikuni Institute to continue making an important contribution in Amazonian communities, please consider switching your recurring donation to our Regenerative Food Forest Initiative. By supporting the development of diverse agroforestry systems, we help families to strengthen their food security, generate an additional income, and avoid deforestation. We would be extremely thankful for your continuous support.

Thank you for having made this campaign possible!

Asomashk, the Temple of the Way of Light & the Chaikuni Institute