Dear friends,
I made the first call, and cried.
Then I made a hundred more -- talking to Amazon chiefs and
elders throughout the rainforest.
The voices changed,
but it was all one story: of earth's most resilient people,
passionate guardians of the forest,
facing complete
annihilation by Covid-19. It's killing their elders,
their children, wives, and warriors.
One man was days
from any hospital, and his wife was sick. The next time we
spoke, she was dead. And yet he couldn't stop to grieve. Too
many of his people still needed help.
The scale
of the suffering nearly broke me -- but instead, I got to work
on a plan.
I've now mapped out the Amazon's
most vulnerable communities and what they need to survive. I
know where they are, and how we reach them -- and I'm hopeful,
because with just one good fundraising response from the Avaaz
community,
we can save thousands of lives. Medicine,
covid tests, urgent food aid -- we can deliver it
all.
It's an incredibly ambitious plan, but
these people -- the Waroni, the Yanesha, the Kayapó, and
dozens more -- they've given all they can to protect their
families and the rainforest. Now it's our turn.
Donate
now and Avaaz will spend every penny we get on this urgent
response:
We
can't save the Amazon without the people who call it
home. Over thousands of years they've grown a deep,
intimate wisdom of the rainforest, and how we can help it to
heal.
But they're practically defenceless in the face
of this virus, and more than 150 tribes in Brazil are already
infected.
They're dying at DOUBLE the rate of the
general population. I know how desperate it is. They
told me through tears.
We can get funds into
these remote communities, fast. Already, thanks to
the power of small donations from many of us, we’ve just
helped over 35,000 indigenous families across the Amazon. It's
incredible, but we have to do more. So I've mapped it all out,
and if we raise enough, we can:
- Provide vital Covid-19 testing
kits, medical supplies, and food packages for
desperate families;
- Fund mobile health facilities and
makeshift ICU beds in remote areas and rebuild
rundown health centres;
- Buy vital communication equipment so
communities can coordinate evacuations, report infections,
and call for help.
This is our chance to defend the
defenders; to lift up the people who've cared for and
protected the world's most precious rainforest for millenia.
And I promise that myself, Avaaz colleagues, and all the
indigenous leaders I spoke to will make every cent count.
This can save lives, so please donate what you can
now:
It's been an honour to
do this work, and I can't tell you how proud it makes me to be
a part of this movement with you. The things we can do when we
come together are truly extraordinary. Thank you.
With
fierce hope and determination,
Oscar, with Mike, Bert,
Nell, Martyna, Mouhamed, and the whole team at
Avaaz
PS - Here are a few photos of what
our community’s first round of donations has already made
possible:Testing,
treatments, and oxygen tanks -- it's all provided in one of
the 262 rapid-response ICUs we've helped set up in remote
areas of the Amazon.Community
members receive medical advice and covid-testing at a
makeshift clinic.There
are no roads deep into the Amazon, so here food aid and
medical supplies are delivered by boat.Medical
equipment is disinfected and delivered to one of the many
indigenous communities we've already helped
together.This
is one of many community food gardens Avaaz members have
funded, so families can grow healthy food while supply chains
remain severely disrupted.Days
from the nearest hospital, often the only way to reach
communities is over rivers or by air. This is one of the
planes that was used to deliver aid and medical supplies --
again funded by small donations from people like you. Thank
you!PS - This might be your first donation to
our movement ever. But what a first donation! Did you know
that Avaaz relies entirely on small donations from members
like you? That's why we're fully independent, nimble and
effective. Join the over 1 million people who've donated to
make Avaaz a real force for good in the
world.
More
information:Deforestation, oil spills, and
coronavirus: Crises converge in the Amazon (Grist)
https://grist.org/justice/deforestation-oil-spills-and-coronavirus-crises-converge-in-the-amazon/Protecting
the Earth’s First Responders from Covid-19: How to Prevent the
Extinction of Indigenous Communities in the Amazon (Avaaz
Report)
https://avaazimages.avaaz.org/AVAAZ%20COVID-19%20AMAZON%20REPORT.pdfCoronavirus
gets dangerously close to isolated ‘Arrow People’ in Amazon
(National Geographic)
https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2020/08/coronavirus-gets-dangerously-close-to-isolated-arrow-people-in