02/12/2025
Friends,
In a few days I head to Ecuador to meet with the Achuar community of Sharamentsa and put together the plan for moving forward with their Indigenous lead K-12 school they are committed to creating for their children and the other children in their region of the Amazon. We are calling this joint project Children of the Amazon and I look forward to sharing much more when I return. I can share now though that this project and dream extends far beyond the rainforest where the school will be held.
The Amazon rainforest is one of the most critical ecosystems on Earth—stabilizing the global climate, storing vast amounts of carbon, and sustaining 10% of the world’s biodiversity. Yet it is disappearing at a devastating rate, largely due to extractive industries and political pressures far outside the control of the Indigenous peoples who have protected these lands for millennia.
The Achuar Nation lives at the frontlines of this crisis. Their territory—one of the most intact areas of Amazonian forest remaining—is constantly threatened by oil expansion, illegal logging, and road construction. As global forces disrupt the ecological and cultural fabric of the region, Achuar youth face the risk of losing their language, ancestral life ways, self-determination, and ecological knowledge. Their community has shared that they are ready to protect the Amazon from the inside, out — this happens through the continued education and support of the younger generations.
Currently, children in Sharamentsa must leave their community to receive education beyond the early grades—a reality that leads to cultural fragmentation, family separation, safety concerns, and challenges in maintaining Indigenous identity. Parents and community leaders have identified education as the most urgent priority for ensuring a thriving future grounded in Achuar ways of knowing.
At the same time, in the United States and other countries, millions of children—especially from urban, BIPOC, and low-income communities—face widening gaps in access to nature, increasing rates of anxiety and depression, and deep disconnection from the natural world that sustains life. Research continues to show that nature connection improves mental health, increases resilience, strengthens academic outcomes, and builds environmental stewardship.
The Center for Wild Hope works at the intersection of these needs: supporting Indigenous land guardianship in the Amazon and expanding nature access and ecological literacy for youth and adults globally.
We invite you to join us in this work. 2026 will bring the Children of the Amazon Project and a project here in the US to foster Earth Champions — generations of youth who understand their connection to all life and live healthier lives because of this awareness.
We are asking you to be a Champion as well and support our efforts of opening doors of healing and connection across the globe. Any amount makes a difference in the lives of many, and you then become a part of a team of boundary walkers — navigating the liminal space between ideas, ideologies, cultures, religions and more. We give no value to titles and work daily to become free of the conditioning that has created labels and categories that create separation and judgement.
Center for Wild Hope is a 501c3 and you will receive tax donation letter for your support.
https://www.centerforwildhope.org/donate
