A News Worthy Art Exhibit

From a distance, Fernando Bryce‘s works look like clippings from newspapers of a bygone era. His art, drawn in Indian ink and painstakingly copied from old prints and newspapers, bring up historical images into the present without fluff or biased opinions. His works are history and art rolled into one- expressing hard facts and figures, and at the same time, subtly expressing the underlying emotions that highlighted them.

Fernando Bryce, who currently spends his time between Berlin and Lima was born in 1965 in Lima, Peru. He received a thorough education in art: he studied at the Universidad Católica in Artes Plasticas from 1982 to 1983; moved to Paris, France and enrolled at the Université Paris VIII Arts Plastiques from 1984 to 1986, and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts from 1986 to 1990. In 2009, he received a scholarship and residency from Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa in Italy.

Bryce’s works were inspired by how people back in his home country would use copies of art or museum pieces as educational materials. Inspired by this idea, he set out making facsimiles of a variety of prints from serious subjects like newspapers, and old political propaganda, to prints as mundane as travel brochures and advertisements. He carefully picks each item to be copied- every single one of his works is a clear reflection of that past time’s culture and zeitgeist.

His latest exhibit tries to trace the history of Pan-American relations in the context of the Cold War. “Viva la Revolucion!” says one of the framed pieces in his Inter-American Affairs series. This is juxtaposed with a printed copy of Che Guevara‘s familiar visage, and other propaganda materials from that particular time.

Fernando Bryce art pieces do not rework history. His work does not offer a clear interpretation nor does it even try to. His genius lies in the transformation of hard facts into art that will make you ponder and rethink about how you render history yourself.

For more on thought provoking art, read about our visit to the Oswaldo Guayasamin’s: The Chapel Of Man Monument in Quito, Ecuador.

More art blog posts can be found here:

Big, big, bigger Botero
I met the Guatemalan Picasso
Guatemala City, Art & Capitalism?
Podcast Episode #9 – Reflecting on Culture Through the Arts

In February we returned to the States for a short visit. My dad (Miro’s grandpa) surprised us with 2 airline tickets and an invitation to his 70th Birthday party. Before we agreed to return, I asked my dad if we didn’t go, would that prevent him from turning 70. He said it would not, so we were so excited to be there for his milestone.

It was beyond amazing seeing my family, many of whom we haven’t seen for close to three years or longer. Our two week visit was spectacular in terms of reconnecting with friends and family once again….

Here’s some pics of the amazing people we connected and reconnected with:

But ‘home’….

So, what does it feel like to visit your home country after almost 3 years out of the country?

I can tell you what I expected to feel: nostalgia, filled with memories, emotionally connected, the feeling of ‘coming home’.

But I did not experience any of those things.. I expected some sort of emotional response.. but really, my experience contained a bit of stress.

We’ve been living stress free for almost 3 years. I can feel the difference throughout my entire body. Being in the states and specifically in Los Angeles felt so different, than our current lifestyle. Perhaps what I was feeling was residue through legacy emotions or perhaps it was the current demands of the city. Either way, there were some distinct differences we experienced in our trip back to Southern California as opposed to our current lifestyle.

In Los Angeles, I dealt with the stress of driving, the stress of traffic and the stress of scheduling time. These are all things that on a larger scope, I have removed from our lives. Now, we sleep when we want to, eat when we want to, take our time in one place, live weeks without any preplanning. I don’t drive anymore, deal with traffic, have a tie to schedules or need to make deadlines…

The difference between being in the moment and being on a schedule was huge for me.

And there was consumerism.

Consumerism.

Oh yeah,  the culture of buying.

Oh yeah, it was there. It’s here too. Consumerism is live and well in every country we visit, but it seems cartoon-like as an observation. The questions of what we live, what we live without prompts us to observe our own actions..

But friends and family made our trip.

Home.

What is Home?

Home is a place in the mind. When it is empty, it frets. It is fretful with memory, faces and places and times gone by. Beloved images rise up in disobedience and make a mirror for emptiness.

MAEVE BRENNAN, The Visitor

The people made the trip. The place did not.

Would we do it again? Sure, but give me another 2 ½ years before you ask that question again.. You’ll always be a part of our experience, United States of America, just don’t need to be there to know that.

Miro holding his Divercity cash & credit card, primed for the system.

Start them young.  Brand engagement  is an essential necessity for any successful business. I know, I used to be a branding professional.

Divercity takes this concept to heart and makes a healthy profit in the making.

But the profit is not just in the form of making money on these children & their parentes.. It’s through creating a future loyal customers through artificial engagement.

Lima, the capital of Peru has an addition to its list of child attractions. Divercity is the located at the Jockey Plaza Shopping Center, the heart of Lima’s consumerism culture. The Jockey Plaza is a high end mall with a list of the usual suspects Apple’s iStore, Diesel Jeans, Armani Exchange to name a few.

All of Peru's most popular brands in miniature designed for the perfect child brand experience.

Divercity is spread over an area of 7,000 square km. This artificial mini-city is a pint size consumer experience designed especially for children. Children between the ages of 3 to 13 are offered admittance, at a hefty 40 soles per child (which is expensive by Peru’s standards). Adults are allowed to accompany their children into the center for 10 soles, but once in, are forbidden to enter any of the attractions.

Having an enjoyable time in relationship to a brand guarantees a new generation of a brand consumer.

Upon entering Divercity, kids become a citizen of this magical land and their game begins. The object to the game (as in the game of life) is to visit all the options available, get a career, earn money then spend it.  Kids having fun acting as an adult.  Twisted, right? Depends from who’s point of view you are coming from.

Upon entering Divercity, each child is required to open up a bank account at BCP, a minuture version of leading bank brand, here in Peru. The child is first required to open up an account and issued a play ATM card and account passbook. Moneys in this magical place  is called ‘Divi’s’. 

Miro learning about 3M Scotch brand products (who thought that would be fun, besides 3M Scotch Brands Co.?)

Divercity offers more that 60 different jobs to choose from. They are each sponsored by a brand. Some don’t even try to mask the fact that the child just walked into an interactive commercial where others use a reward system thereby offering their product as positive reenforcement. Upon entering the center, children choose the type of work they want to commit to for the next 12  to 15 minutes of their life. They enter into the themed vocation. Miro tried his luck at a cereal making factory, working for 3M Scotch brand tape, training at the Huggies baby center, and working at a miniature mine to name a few. Other options available were journalist, chef school, become a fashion model or a famous soccer player.  After each child receives their training course, they earn cash (and a brand engagement).  The child can deposit their earnings at the bank (consumerism).

Miro learning how to be a detective sponsored by one of Peru's largest mobile phone networks Claro. Hmmm..

Establishing Early Brand Relationships

For a brand, it’s about relationships. Brands strive to communicate their message effectively to their target audience on a regular basis. It’s difficult in a sea of a million messages, and competing brands launching clever ways to penetrate a crowded mind-space. But starting young is a full proof plan for any brand, and I suspect these brands at Divercity pay a hefty fee for that privilege.

Miro learned how the cereal factory made the sugary processed stuff they pawn off as being food. Miro was the only one in the bunch who was not into this. Loyal consumers for life?

Brand Loyalty starts at an early age

Approaching the children’s market can be a minefield, but investing time and funds to get your message across can pay off handsomely.

According to Marketing Week:

Children’s spending power is booming. Marketing consultant Martin Lindstrom estimates children’s global purchase influence to be $1.88 trillion (£1.29 trillion). Moreover, young people are often seen as early adopters for many digital and direct media technologies, according to last year’s Buckingham Report on the commercial world and children.

Direct marketers that properly research and execute work targeting children and families may well be able to build future brand loyalty among young people. The Buckingham Report indicates that children exert a lot of influence on their parents’ purchasing activity as well as being consumers in their own right.

Miro waiting in line with the other children for their voluntary brand brainwashing session.

However, there is something to be said with having a grown up world to play in. When I was a child, I remember playing house, hospital, zoo and many of the activities offered here. I see the value of having a place like this for children to play…. just wish it was an advertisement-free zone.

Even the social services were sponsored by health group brands. Miro volunteers to be the victim in the ambulance rescue mission, but really, all these kids were the victim.

Branders know, that the most lasting and memorable engagement are usually emotional and enjoyable. If you create an experience where the person is actually having a wonderful time, and if you can imprint their brand on their brain during this experience, you’ve made a positive brand impression. These brand impressions live deep in everyone’s subconscious but do have lasting effects which usually translate into some form of brand loyalty.

Folks, Branding 101 is live and well at Divercity.

Miro being rescued by the children in this branded role playing game.

It’s an interesting concept as well to see all the children empowered in this little world. Adults are only allowed sit wait outside of each of the classrooms for their child. It’s rather interesting from that observational point of view as I sat for a combined 3 1/2 hours in front of each event as Miro went through his voluntary brainwashing. Actually that’s not correct. Being a conscious  advertising and media-literate parent one of the best gifts I could give my child.

How many brand names can you count in this extremely happy looking version of manipulated reality?

When Miro was young I taught him how to watch commercials to decipher the point of view from each one. We made it into a game:

Q: What is this commercial communicating to you that you have lacking in your life?

A: (always had to be a feeling or emotion) I am lacking ‘fun’ or I am lacking ‘excitement’.

Once Miro was able to find the point of ‘lack’ I’d  follow it up with this question:

IS IT TRUE?

Then we’d find 3-5 things in his life to prove the message of lack was NOT true.

It worked for us and Miro eventually tired of the game, but on many levels, I’ve taught him to question everything including blind allegiance to a product or brand and how to be a conscious consumer.

Finally with the Divercity money Miro earned from taking all the sessions, he spent his cash on the rock climbing. Think that was brand free? Think again.

The children and families are being exploited & victimized at Divercity.

But most are simply not aware.

But isn’t this just a microcosm of the real world, you ask? I believe this is the case, but most do not enter the center with such awareness. As families walk through the door at Divercity, they complainant with a predatory experience. And most are not aware of this unspoken agreement which in turn is a form of exploitation.

Miro successfully climbed the rock formation twice and felt like he accomplished a lot. To 'reward' him for his achievement, Miro was 'rewarded' with a sausage dog from a popular brand here in Peru. How's that for a manufactured rewarding experience?

A little awareness goes a long way, in our diversity of thought.

Miro wanted me to add, he doesn’t recommend this place to anyone. There you have it. Out of the mouths of babes…

I’d love to hear your thoughts, please leave your comments below.

Trail of Seeds

A Sustainable Project in Venezuela & Tanzania

Could you tell me about the inspiration behind the Trail of Seeds project?

So many little things in my life made me reflect on the issues that are important to Trail of Seeds- having multiple cultures growing up, attending the United World College and seeing the first hand effects of Globalization, traveling to different parts of the U.S and the world and interacting with various disenfranchised groups, studying development and observing its hegemonic power structures and teleological ideals, exploring aspects of identity politics and formation, and so on. But truthfully it all hit in one sudden moment on the New Jersey Transit in March 2010- I was thinking about all of these things and how Culturally Sustainable Development can be realized, and what role I want to play- and I thought out the entire structure of Trail of Seeds: the introspection workshops, the micro-grants, and connecting communities through humanity.

How do you choose a location/ community to participate in your project?

First I think of locations that would interest me, that I could passionately devote time to research and where I would want to spend a few weeks engaging with cultures and learning. For our first project last summer, I picked Tanzania because I was its language, development history, and trajectory with regionalization fascinated me. For this summer in Venezuela, I wanted to practice my Spanish, have many friends in the country, and think it holds a unique perception on development that I was interested in learning more about.

Second, for the specific communities, it is largely about access. We want to work with local organizations and community activists that already have an agency for development. We also need to feel safe, familiar in some way, and have the community be willing to engage with us. In Tanzania I wrote to multiple organizations, explained our desires, and then picked Mangula, a village where there were multiple organizations who were willing and interested. For Venezuela we picked Santa Elena de Uairen largely because we have a contact there, a UWC alum who is from the town. That enabled us to feel secure in our choice and access different groups to work with.

What is ‘culturally sustainable development’?

Traditionally ‘development’ has meant strictly an increase in economic indicators. Culturally Sustainable Development though, is trying to revise the semantics so that development means simply an increase in quality of life and that individuals and societies themselves (rather than outsiders) are able to create their own metrics for determining how to forward that quality of life. Importantly, Culturally Sustainable Development is not about freezing culture- but rather making communities the stewards of their own development. Also, it does not mean that economic development is wrong or bad, in fact a lot of Culturally Sustainable Development initiatives do forward economic indicators- but that shouldn’t be the main focus.

Though it is a phrase that isn’t yet widely used, the theory of Culturally Sustainable Development and the passion behind it is part of a paradigm shift in development, economics, psychology, business, and many other fields, where culture is being increasingly regarded as important and something to consider.

Why is agricultural development so important to the Trail of Seeds project?

Estimates about how much of the world’s population relies on subsistencefarming ranges from 40%-60%. However, nearly all of these communities feel alone, disenfranchised, and like they are fighting an unwinnable battle. One of Trail of Seeds’ goals is to connect agricultural communities around the world so that they see that their challenges, their desires, and their successes are aspects of all humanity- that they are a part of something bigger. Agriculture and the environment are also largely left out of most discussions of development, and so Trail of Seeds wants to show not only the beauty of Culturally Sustainable Development, but also the importance of the environment and our relationship with it.

What was the criteria in assessing a community’s needs ?

Our goal is to not be the assessors ourselves, but rather to facilitate a process where the community makes these assessments themselves. It is of course a struggle to come in and say “I want to facilitate you helping yourself” whereas for centuries most of these communities have only heard “We are here to help you.” The problem with the latter statement is that it has mostly resulted in failure, cultural alienation, and incited hierarchical ideas. We ask the communities to historicize what development has taken place, how it has furthered or digressed their ideals of quality of life, and what changes are desired.

We try to go in with no preconceived notions of what the community needs, but also assume that the community itself does not immediately know what it needs until it really reflects on what development means and where they want to see themselves in the future.

What role does cultural identity play in the project?

Cultural identity is tricky in various contexts. Even though Trail of Seeds goes into these communities and tries to empower them to be stewards of their own development, we are still, in some ways, perpetuating neo-colonialism just by bringing in people and money from abroad. We have to be aware of this fact but try to minimize its consequences by showing that we stand for mutual respect, consensual learning, and eliminating inequalities.

What is the difference between a community identity and a cultural identity?

Culture is probably one of the most difficult words to define and many psychologists, anthropologists, and philosophers have spent many pages writing on it. I would say that there are various levels and degrees of culture that overlap, intersect, and affect one another. A community identity is a kind of cultural identity that unites people in a specific location or with specific interests. With Trail of Seeds project we are trying to see what levels of cultural identities are most important to the individuals in the locations we work and how initiatives can forward and support them.

What does ‘culturally led development’ mean?

Culturally led development is utilizing and being aware of cultural factors when trying to better life. It acknowledges that there is no one “model” of development because people think, act, and perceive things differently (because of culture) and thus will react to the same approach in different ways. Just because it worked one place does not mean it will work in another, and culturally led development examines what cultural factors are at play in the success of failure of initiatives.

How does the Trail of Seeds project benefit the participating communities?

I think that each stage of Trail of Seeds work (introspection, micro-grants, increased connections) benefit the participating communities in various ways. The introspection process allows the community to deeply analyze development and its history and then claim it for themselves through the redefining of development as an increase in quality of life that is culturally based. It also deepens the appreciation of culture and highlights its importance to the community. The micro-grants forward initiatives that the community feels are culturally sustainable and are the more visible effect of our work. The grants may increase passions for various work, sustain cultural practices, or increase incomes or health. The increased connections through our documentation and linking between the Tanzanian and Venezuelan project will hopefully show each community how pervasive their goals are throughout the world and reveal how similar all of humanity is.

How do you promote a sense of global citizenship among the participants?

Through our interactions with the participants and the deep friendships we make, we constantly emphasize the shared aspects of humanity and promote our differences as exciting things to be learned about. It really is not hard to do, as intercultural and international relationships I think implicitly promote global citizenships as they breakdown perceptions of differences in identity and reveal the human essence that unites us all.

How do you think micro lending can impact the individual communities?

We do not do micro-lending, just mico-grants- so we do not ask for any money back, have any interest rates, or anything like that. This is because we are not funding profit-making initiatives, we are funding Culturally Sustainable Development initiatives. Some may forward economics, others strictly cultural preservation, others health, and so on. I think this approach is more useful to the community because it give more room for the types of things we can fund, but we also must be cautious of how lasting and meaningful the effects of the grants will be.

What is next for the Trail of Seeds project?

We’re talking about the possibilities every day, and I’m a big dreamer so we’ll try and reach for the stars! This August we will be completing our second project in Santa Elena de Uairen, Venezuela and we will be doing a lot of documenting to produce a small film about Culturally Sustainable Development, the introspection process, and Trail of Seeds in general. I’m hoping to show that film to various schools and other groups this Fall to inspire young people to do similar work and to promote Culturally Sustainable Development as a way to approach these kinds of projects. I’m sure there will be more Trail of Seeds community projects, next summer and beyond. I’ll be graduating from university with my undergrad in December, and hope to get a job in development that will support my continued management of Trail of Seeds. We’re not stopping for nothing!

How can people get more information or participate?

Our website has a good bit of information: our detailed proposal, our bios, explanations of the grants we gave in Tanzania, and some info on our project and partners in Venezuela. More simply, anyone can feel free to contact me directly with an email,   I would love to answer any questions, give advice on people wanting to start similar projects, or talk about how they can support or join our team.

Sal Lavallo

Sal Lavallo is the creator of YoungGlobalCitizen.com, a blog about global citizenship, travel, identity, and learning something new from every person, place, and thing that you encounter. Sal studies Culturally Sustaining Development at New York University and believes that all cultures should be appreciated and have the ability to plan their own path of development. He is also the Founder of Trail of Seeds, Inc a not-for-profit that works with development in agricultural communities around the world.  With a German mother, an Italian father from New York, and as a graduate of the United World College, Sal has always loved global issues, intergroup dialogues, and travel.  He has worked to pay for his own journeys to over twenty-five countries on five continents. His constant exposure to the world has instilled the thought in him that, at our essence, we are all the same, and that our differences are what make us amazing.”

Episode #31  we explore one of the indigenous cultures in Peru’s Amazon, the Shipibo. This podcast includes an interview with a Shipibo artist who shares with us an emotional song.

Welcome to Podcast Episode #31. This podcast  focuses on the culture of the Shipibo people of the Amazon jungle region in Peru. We examine some of the challenges facing the indigenous peoples of the world and specifically at the struggles of the Shipibo. This podcast includes an interview with a Shipibo artisan, in which we only scratch the surface in terms of exploring this beautiful culture. However, our hopes are that this podcast creates inspiration within you, our listeners and readers that you seek more information on this and other indigenous cultures.

Indigenous Peoples of Our Planet

Over 95% of the world’s high-biodiversity areas overlap with lands claimed by indigenous peoples, partly because biodiversity is central to indigenous sustenance and partly because indigenous lands have not been subject to the intensive development responsible for destroying the natural biosphere. As a result, today indigenous peoples are traditional stewards of 80% of the earth’s remaining nature.

Indigenous peoples throughout the world are as diverse as the places they live. Yet indigenous communities live with an intimate connection with the natural world and commonly share similar values:

• A deep value and spiritual connection between life and the eco-systems that sustains it.
• The sense of nature as a teacher.
• The unique value of nature as life.
• Honoring the interdependence between natural life and the viewpoint that all life is connected.
• Maintaining a sense of responsibility for their actions as a contributor to the ecosystem of an interdependent world.

According to Our Earth/ Ourselves  web site, Indigenous peoples of the world characteristically maintain these values:

• Gratitude and reverence
• Sharing
• Cooperation
• Reciprocity
• Humility
• Balance

The Shipibo

The modern Shipibo culture consists of around 35,000 people living in over three hundred villages in the Pucallpa region. Their communities are mostly situated along the Río Ucayali. The Río Ucayali joins the Río Marañon to form the mighty Río Amazonas, the longest and largest river in the world. The Río Amazonas flows northward past Iquitos on its long journey north to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Shipibo people speak a native language, but today, most speak Spanish as well. Despite 300 years of sporadic contact with European and mestizo “civilization” and massive conversion to Christianity in the 1950′s and 60′s, the Shipibo people maintain a strong tribal identity and retain many of their ancient shamanic traditions and beliefs.

Shipibo artisans are well-known for their intricate designs on their pottery and colorful fabrics depicting their Ayahuasca-based cosmology.

Unfortunately, the proximity of most Shipibo communities to the burgeoning city of Pucallpa has made it inevitable that their culture has become altered by mainstream trade, exploitation and encroachment of western values. Still, the Shipibo are a resilient people.

Ayahuasca-based cosmology

In this podcast, you will hear Robert sharing with us the mythology of ayahuasca in the form of a traditional Shipibo song. Robert sang the song with such emotion. He went on singing for us for almost five minutes, sharing with us the traditional story of his people. The ceremony involved with taking the plant medicine Ayahuasca is not for entertainment purposes. It’s a healing voyage guided by their deceased ancestors.

Even though we did not understand the words of the song, we understood the voyage shared with us through Robert’s raw emotions. His singing brought tears to his eyes and in turn, transferred his passion into our experience as well.

What is Ayahuasca? 

Ayahuasca is a medicinal tea prepared from Banisteriopsis Caapi, a jungle vine, found in the tropical regions of South America, often combined with other plants, commonly Chacruna/Rainha (Queen); Psychotria Viridis.

The practice of ‘taking’ Ayahuasca has a rich legacy of associated traditions, myths, therapies and rituals , spanning from the primordial roots of the indigenous tribes of South America, including those of the Shipibo. According to wikipedia:

The brew, first described academically in the early 1950s by Harvard ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, who found it employed for divinatory and healing purposes by the native peoples of Amazon. How indigenous peoples discovered the synergistic properties of the plants used in the ayahuasca brew remains unclear. While many indigenous Amazonian people say they received the instructions directly from plants and plant spirits, researchers have devised a number of alternative theories to explain its discovery.
Although we have not had a personal experience with ayahuasca as of yet, we found the ancient traditions of this plant medicine to be intriguing. If you are interested in learning more about ayahuasca, we found a wonderful ayahuasca resource online that includes many articles on ayahuasca if you wish to research further.

Pucallpa

From Wikipedia:

Pucallpa (Quechua: puka allpa, “red earth”) is a city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Ucayali region, the Coronel Portillo Province and the Calleria District.

Pucallpa was founded in the 1840s by Franciscan missionaries who settled several families of the Shipibo-Conibo ethnic group. For several decades it remained a small settlement as it was isolated from the rest of the country by the Amazon Rainforest and the Andes mountain range. From the 1880s through the 1920s a railway project to connect Pucallpa with the rest of the country via the Ferrocarril Central Andino was started and dropped several time until it was finally abandoned. Pucallpa’s isolation finally ended in 1945 with the completion of a highway to Lima through Tingo Maria.

Chonomeni

Robert’s Shipobo name, and the name he uses to sign his paintings, is Chonomeni, which means “bird who paints.” Here are two links that sell his paintings online:

Servindi: This organization provides information in Spanish related to indigenous communities and ecology in Peru, as well as internationally. The gallery page contains a link to Robert’s work.
Runcato: This environmental group began a meal program for Shipobo mothers and children, which the Shipobo now administer. The organization sells Shipobo art and other items through this site, including Robert’s paintings.

These links concern the Shipobo artist and shaman Pablo Amaringo and the Usko-Ayar School he founded for young Shipobo artists to preserve their cultural traditions:

eGallery Amazon Project: This page features artists from the Usko-Ayar School. The goal of the school, in the words of Pablo Amaringo, is to act as “a tool for the conservation of the Amazonian environment and culture. By observing and depicting nature, people – especially young children – become more aware of its beauty and richness, and they learn to respect it. In addition, the students hope that their paintings will inspire other people to share similar attitudes of appreciation and reverence.”

Pablo Amaringo: A brief biography of the Shipobo artist and shaman who was awarded the Global 500 Peace Prize from the United Nations Environmental program.

Ayahuasca Visions: This link provides some images of Amaringo’s paintings from his book, as well as the table of contents, in English.

Non-Profit Organizations:

Shipiboshinan (Shipobo thought)

This NGO website in English offers a glimpse of Shipobo life and describes some of the projects it had initiated to respond to the community’s economic poverty and support cultural preservation. From the NGO’s first post in August 2011 (last post in September 2011):

“Maybe our biggest originality is that the whole project, since its original idea to the way of achieving our goals, emanates from the medicine, through the visions of ayahuasca. Our project is born from the harmonious meeting of westerner and Shipibo practitioners and beneficiaries of the medicine, working together with the spirits of plants and nature to bring a better future to theShipibo people and the world.The NGO’s first objective is overseeing the construction of a large project whose long term goal is the full development of the whole Shipibo people. It will work towards the implementation of various projects in all areas including whatever the Shipibo need today: agriculture with the creation of seed banks to prevent situations of extreme weather, livestock and fish farming, construction, water supplies, education, communication, health and culture.

The NGO’s strategy for succeeding is by fully valuing and using all the resources of the Amazonian traditional medicine. By advertising a new tourism based on education and ecology, but also on the Shipibo medicine which is unique in the world, the NGO hopes to contribute significantly to the economic and social development of all the Shipibo communities in the Ucayali region, centred on the city of Pucallpa in Peru. In the long term, this work will contribute to the wellbeing of all Peruvians, including the Indian Mestizos and other communities like Ashaninka.”

Alianza Arkana

Alianza Arkana is a Peruvian non-profit, non-governmental organization with offices in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest, in the regional capitals of Iquitos and Pucallpa. Our sister organization in the United States is The Arkana Alliance, based in San Francisco and is fiscally sponsored by SEE (501c3).

Alianza Arkana is committed to raising awareness about the current environmental and social crises in the Amazon; supporting the creation, connection and strengthening of strategic networks and regional and community-based alliances; and inspiring positive change at local, national and international levels to protect and preserve the people, environment, and ancient traditions of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest.

The Amazon is under siege by destructive and unsustainable practices driven by prevailing social and economic policies. Through community-based projects, field investigations, activism and strategic communications inside and outside Peru, Alianza Arkana is deeply committed to bringing urgent attention to the grave risks we all face if the destruction of the Amazon continues. Through our many partnerships and programs we seek viable alternatives and a new paradigm of sustainable development.

Supporting Raising Miro

If you are able to support us financially we would be so grateful.  We continue to raise money to keep us safe, and keep us out on the road. I continue to work a little remotely and we have started to earn a little income from our web site, but if you can support us with a donation, no matter the size, we’d be so grateful. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to continue our travels. We live frugally, stay with families & couch surf and  volunteer our time and energies. We  know this is  all part of our experience in the world and are grateful for each and every moment. We want you to know, your donations go such a long way helping keeping us in the present, safe and knowing we have exactly what we need. Thank you to all who have supported us through your donations in the past and those who will in the future and believing in our travels.
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Thank you!

We want to take a moment to thank a few peoplewho have contributed to our travels. Your donations have helped cover our travel expenses and for that, we are so grateful! The people who have contributed to Raising Miro are: Ashley Hansen, Grandpa, Scott Van Pelt, Sashya Amee, Ivan Amador,Heather on Her Travels, Bradford Akerman, Tuan Vutran, Terrance O’Dowd, Eric Hammond, Chip Jacobs, Billy Horn and Sonia Kim. Thank you so much! Your support is heart-felt and much appreciated!

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Special Thanks

To those of you who have supported us so far on this journey, the donations we’ve received and the wonderful words of encouragement. Thank you all for your comments and feedback, and please keep them coming. Thank you Hanna for giving us a wonderful professional boost with the intro & outro, engineered by Hanna Jakobson, music “Multilayered Timbres” by Dr. Pimp courtesy of CC (creative commons) license.

Families on the Move

We have been blessed to connect with many amazing families online, all of whom have adapted a travel lifestyle in one form or another.  We wanted to take the opportunity to introduce you to them here and highlight the positive aspects travel has had on their families. Welcome our interview series called Families on the Move. Miro & I are honored to a part of this global community we consider our extended family.

Meet the Amazing Family Behind ActofTraveling.com

We are a family of four and live in the Netherlands. The little VandenBoomens are aged 7 and 10. Our son and daughter both are totally into sports (soccer, tennis and volleyball). Our daughter is always experimenting in Picnic, Photoshop and Paint so I guess she will be a graphic designer! My wife works as an Office Manager at a Marketing Communication Agency and is interested in design (mostly interior design). I myself like photography, writing/blogging, movies and next to all that I work as a Marketing Communications Manager.

Where are you now, where have you been and how long have you been traveling?

We are now home based in The Netherlands and we are definitely not a long-term traveling family. We prefer to travel 2-3 times a year and return home, providing our children roots and wings at the same time. At the same time we have to admit that we are also kind of restricted to this traveling lifestyle because of the strict Dutch Education Law. This law doesn’t allow homeschooling or traveling long-term after a child turns 5 (only in exceptional cases). We could and might give it a try someday but for now we travel during school holidays. This year we take the maximum of 6 weeks during summer holiday to go and travel to Asia.

In the meantime we have traveled with our kids to Morocco, Bali, Thailand and New York City.

Why do you travel as a family?

Why we travel as a family? Why not? My wife and I were passionate travelers before we got kids. It all started when I spent a couple of months in Japan back in 1996. Right there we got caught by the travel virus. Within 4 years we traveled to India, Nepal, Vietnam, Cuba, Peru, Egypt, The Gambia, Brazil, and lots of cities in Europe, before we started to travel with our kids. Travel is in our blood. All year long we talk and read about traveling, busy preparing for the next trip. We always have a clear answer to the question many people ask us: “Do you already have plans for the holidays?”.

What are some of the benefits of family travel?

Just like traveling in general, family travel offers lots of benefits. For us parents, travel is important to take us out of the daily routines. For kids (and actually for us as well) traveling is one big adventure. Having fun, seeing places different from our own, meeting people with different habits, it’s one giant class room! How can you learn about India in a class room without smelling the Indian air, tasting Indian curries, listening to exotic languages and just be overwhelmed by its existence?

What inspired you and your family to incorporate travel into your lifestyle?

Mainly my own international lifestyle. I have always been learning languages, reading international news, making international friends and working at international companies. Holland is a small country and history proves that we were born to be international traders. We speak our languages and we always strive for a good position of our country in the European and global market. The thought alone of being restricted to only Holland makes me shiver. That’s why we travel. The stories of our world are out there and if you can, never limit yourself to your own backyard.

Next to that I am a big fan of cultivating serendipity. What do I mean with that? Serendipity is the art of unexpected discoveries. Sometimes you walk the streets of a small village, without actively searching for something. Suddenly you discover something great (a certain place, an event or people) and these kinds of discoveries make travel unforgettable. I’m trying to cultivate serendipity by consciously spending more time at the same place, creating the opportunity to discover things not described in all the travel guide books. That’s my way of traveling. I can sit on a bench in a park for hours, just watching local life passing by. I call myself a sentimental idiot, but through traveling I learned that the world is full of undiscovered territory. We need to go out and observe!

How do you and your family experience being global citizens?

I notice it when we talk to our children about events in the world. They know about places and countries and luckily they also talk about it at school. They talk about the revolution in Egypt, the earthquake in New Zealand, President Obama and the Oval Office, etc.
On being a global citizen, our daughter last year prepared a list of countries we wanted to surely visit as a family….the list ended with Namibia in 2017!

Can you share one of your families most memorable experiences?

Our most memorable experience as a traveling family? I don’t believe it’s just one experience. Travel grows upon us and our children. With every trip and every destination our children become more aware of the world around them. With every trip their travel memory is expanding.

My blog is a kind of memory back-up of all the smaller events and happenings, the small pieces of that giant travel jigsaw puzzle. If you look at it like that, I can think of lots of nice memorable experiences.

For example that beach on Koh Phangan island in Thailand. It was a small beach on the northern part of the island, quite far away from the main town. But we didn’t care. We were just there, on that half-moon shaped beach for a couple of days. It was really a feeling of being totally disconnected from the rest of the world. No worries, no itineraries, no nothing. Only us and the beach (and some food and drinks of course!). For me this is enough for a memorable experience.

OK, one more.

That time on the beach in Essaouira in Morocco. We arrived at the beach where camels were waiting for us. We booked a camel drive. Our son was only 4 at that time and he was quite afraid of these majestic animals. You can see on the picture that it was quite an adventure for him! After 10 minutes however, he was smiling…”Look mommy, I’m on a camel!”.

Can you share one story from your travel experiences when you and your family had an “aha moment”.

I believe that must be the moment our youngest son experienced differences in religion. We were traveling to Morocco and had to spend (lots of) hours at the airport of Casablanca. We were watching a man who prepared himself for his prayers. A piece of carpet was put on the ground, facing Mekka. As he started praying we watched silently from a certain distance. Many times his forehead touched the ground, rested there for a couple of seconds before he sat straight up again. Suddenly our son turned to us and asked his famous question: “Mom, dad, is there a hole in the ground where this man is peeking through?” A-ha! Now we know the world is one giant classroom and we are our childrens teacher!

What’s next?
This year we take it slow. We have booked our flights to India and Thailand and will use 6 weeks to travel slowly from one place to the other. If we like it in one place, we stay longer. If people advise us to go to another interesting place, we might go there. Slow travel is all about experiencing a place more consciously. Not jumping from one must-see attraction to another, but just trying to get a grip on local life. New Delhi, Jaipur, Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pai…I know that 6 weeks is already far too short…

Emiel van den Boomen
twitter: @vandenboomen
web site: ActofTraveling.com