CRUDE

CRUDE

The Film Chevron Doesn't Want You To See

We would like to suggest that you take the opportunity to watch the award winning documentary " CRUDE ". Very important for Ecuador it documents well, the simple life of the people here in the Amazon and has received many awards.

A new award-winning documentary about the struggle over Chevron's massive contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon is now premiering in New York, followed by runs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and 36 more cities across North America.

The film is a balanced look at all sides of this monumental case in which you can decide for yourself how much responsibility Chevron bears for the ecological and public health crisis in the Ecuadorian Amazon. There is a growing grassroots coalition of environmental, human rights, and social justice organizations to keep the issues raised in the film in the public spotlight.

Three years in the making by acclaimed filmmaker Joe Berlinger (Brother's Keeper, Paradise Lost, and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster), CRUDE chronicles the epic battle to hold oil giant Chevron (formerly Texaco) accountable for its systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon – an environmental tragedy experts call the "Amazon Chernobyl," and believe is the worst case of oil-related contamination on the planet.

CRUDE centers on a landmark lawsuit filed by the indigenous and campesino communities in Ecuador who continue to suffer a severe public health crisis caused by Chevron's contamination. CRUDE is a highstakes David vs. Goliath legal drama with 30,000 Amazon rainforest dwellers facing down the 5th largest corporation in the world. Texaco – which merged with Chevron in 2001 – deliberately dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into Amazon waterways and abandoned more than 900 unlined waste pits filled with oil sludge. Indigenous groups in the area say Chevron's contamination has decimated their traditional lifestyles and caused an outbreak of cancer, leukemia, birth defects, and other health problems never before seen in the rainforest.

The trial documented in CRUDE is nearing an end, with Chevron facing a potential $27 billion damages claim that would be enforceable in the United States, according to lawyers for the plaintiffs.

"With the release of the film Crude, Chevron goes on trial in the court of public opinion. Despite Chevron's current attempts to confuse the public with misinformation and obstruct justice in Ecuador, CRUDE allows the audience to be the judge and decide for themselves how much responsibility Chevron bears for the ecological and public health crisis in the Ecuadorian Amazon," said Mitchell Anderson, Corporate Accountability Campaigner for the Clean Up Ecuador Campaign.

Amazon Watch works to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. They partner with indigenous and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological systems.

The 2002 campaign's three principal demands of Chevron are that the company:

• Fund and implement a major environmental clean-up
• Compensate local communities for health and environmental impacts
• Provide affected communities with real access to health care and potable water

For the film's trailer: http://chevrontoxic o.com/crude

For more information about the film Crude, visit www.crudethemovie.com

Crucita, Ecuador

Crucita, Ecuador

Crucita is a lovely oceanside playground and seaside fishing town about 50 minutes south of Bahia de Caraquez, and west from Portoviejo the capital of Manabi. We have now visited Crucita twice. A very popular holiday destination for people from Portoviejo and Manta, it is mostly busy on weekends and holidays.

While the long, sandy, beaches were much quieter than they will be in December or January, as the schools are out in the Sierra until September (same traditional school schedule as North America) there were many people on the beach. Families set up tents for the day to take cover from the direct rays of the sun, for their children to have a nap, to change, or to shelter their picnic & belongings.

Lunch was a wonderfully fresh fish and an Ecuadorian ensalada, which had peas, potatoes, carrots and a few other vegetables with a tangy dressing – similar to a potato salad – but much lighter. Deb would love to either find the recipe, or to have someone show her how to make it.

We enjoyed lovely walks along the long expanse of sandy beach returning on the parallel malecon filled with sidewalk vendors, restaurants, artisans, and handicrafts.

Crucita is considered one of the three best destinations in the world for hang-gliding and paragliding. Weather conditions and long stretches of sandy beaches, from which magnificent cliffs arise provide the ideal environment for these sports.

Miravista is a hillside development of white homes entangled in bougainvillea overlooking Crucita towncentre and the Pacific Ocean. It resembles the seaside resort villages of Turkey or Greece. It encompasses the launching site for the parapenting sports, and a restaurant with a magnificent view. We watched the paragliders both land, and catch the air currents to launch themselves. Spectacular launch-sites and favorable conditions allow pilots to be airborne for extraordinary long periods of time. The scenery both over the ocean and inland is spectacular and gliders are often joined by sea-birds that are enjoying the warm thermals keeping them effortlessly in the air. Watching the sunset while enjoying dinner and watching the gliders is a memorable evening.

For additional information and photos on Crucita:

www.crucita.net

Immediately adjacent to the north is the small fishing village of Arenales. Here you can see millions of sardines being brought ashore by the fishermen each day and processed by hand by the local families before being trucked to a cannery. Along a primitive dirt trail adjacent to the beach are literally miles of thatch roof covered fish processing tables where we watched the workers cut the sardine heads and tails off. Very young girls and boys worked alongside their parents. By late morning mounds of sardines were waiting to be processed, and more waiting to be loaded onto the truck.

We stopped in San Jacinto to look around and enjoy a cold refreshing drink and fresh fruit. San Jacinto is 3 km south of San Clemente and known mostly for its salt production.

This night club is interesting from two perspectives – first it's English signage, and secondly it is very considerate. Music is often played very loud, and in this rural location, several miles from the nearest inhabited area it simply cannot disturb anyone with excessive noise levels.

The cats like to go out on the ledge at the front of our apartment and try their luck at catching a bat. Later that evening when the cat was returning backwards along the ledge she lost her footing and her feet became entangled in some wires and she fell to the ground. We are thankful that it was late and there were no customers sitting at the restaurant table where she fell. She was very happy when I went downstairs and opened the front door for her to come in. She is fine but now she only has seven lives left!! ( an earlier post described her fall into the well ) The staff at Arena Bar Pizzeria & Restaurant were very concerned about her. They had watched her fall and were surprised when she landed on her feet.

El Nino 2009

El Nino 2009

El Nino's are weather conditions which recur in a somewhat regular 5 to 10 year cycle. It is predicted that this fall we will experience "firsthand" El Nino conditions. The last several weeks we have witnessed exceptionally high tides, with mounds of driftwood and debris being left ashore.

Alexander von Humboldt, an early European scientist to visit South America, observed a cold ocean current flowing from south to north, which was named after him. The Humboldt current follows South America's Pacific coastline northward as far as the equator causing very low precipitation (low evaporation due to cool water) and creating the deserts in northern Chile, Peru, and southern Ecuador. Bahia de Caraquez, located on a peninsula just south of the equator, has little precipitation and enjoys the moderating ocean breezes directly caused by the Humboldt current. At the equator it turns due west sweeping past the Galapagos Islands into the central Pacific Ocean.

North of the equator the warm Panama current flows in the opposite direction. This warm current brings warm moist air and high levels of precipitation to the Pacific coasts of Panama, Columbia, and northern Ecuador.

The relative strength of these two currents, which differ in temperature by 8 to 10 degrees varys with the seasons. The warmer current strengthens in the winter months and dominates and pushes it moisture farther south. Such heavy rains in normal desert like areas are the El Nino phenomenon. Trade winds from the far east also blow west . As these change they create drought like conditions in Southeast Asia & Australia, by bringing the rainfall to the coast of South America. The ocean level rises causing marejadas or exceptionally high tides, which can destroy beaches and seaside property.

The occurrences of extreme tide levels result in the ferry docking right at the edge of the pavement, beachside property having 12 to 18 inches of sand lowered and removed in one fell sweep of the ocean, significant amounts of driftwood and debris being collected and redeposited elsewhere, and floating dock ramps now past level horizontal and approaching an incline!

The two most recent El Ninos took place in 1992-1993 & 1997-1998 which were both devastating for the coast of Ecuador. Bahia de Caraquez significantly suffered in 1997- 1998 with significant mudslides, silt and debris deposits in the mouth of the river, and major road closures for months, and suffered major damage from the earthquakes.

A live satellite chart showing ocean temperatures & current El Nino conditions:

http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/ocean/sst/anomaly.html

South Africa 2010 Qualification Games

Colombia and Ecuador will face each other again on Saturday, September 5th as qualification to reach South Africa 2010 resumes all over the world! There are only four matches left for each team in the campaign. Columbia is only 3 points behind Ecuador for the last qualifying position so it could prove a very strong contest. Brazil faces Argentina on the same afternoon.

Noche de Verano 2009

The visitor numbers to the coastal community of Bahia de Caraquez have swelled significantly. Hotels and restaurants are brimming with business, the beaches full of families, both ferries operating at full capacity and the gas stations are now regularly out of fuel. Even the grocery store shelves are depleted of some items - there was no cheese on the store shelves.

Our current apartment is very central and is located above a pizzeria and bakery. The daily smells are heavenly, and so far the aromas are enticing but not fattening.

Targeted towards their visitors both from the Sierra mountains and internationally, there is music, a variety of entertainment, a parade, cartoon characters, and fireworks. This was a family event with community clubs selling cakes, food, and drinks. There are often causes for celebration here ranging from the installation of the mayor, 40th anniversary of a local school, religious events, various association or club events, a business's grand opening, or an individual's birthday ! Every school has a student queen, and each year's inauguration is celebrated with pomp & circumstance, attended by all the previous year's reigning royalty. The last several days a small group of about 8 colourfully dressed jokers have been traversing the community on long stilts, playing music and performing acrobatic and gymnastic routines. Watching them hop on one leg on stilts, or lift themselves up onto another's shoulders is awesome.

This Sunday NBC airs the Miss Universe pageant where 84 contestants will compete for the world title. Ecuador's Sandra Vinces, 19, and Iceland's Ingibjorg Egilsdottir, 24, are early favourites on the social networking sites.

Unique local community celebratory events in North America such as Regatta in Kelowna, Spoolmak days in Kamloops have mostly disappeared , even the Pacific National Exhibition survival in Vancouver was in question !

Although Bahia de Caraquez has been pro-claimed an "eco-city" and holds some international prominence in this declaration, the municipal government no longer seems supportive of the direction. Established recycling programs have been abandoned due to lack of funding, and education programs and social awareness is no longer paramount. Several visiting international students who were completing their educational theses in eco-tourism and ecological and environmental sustainability have been very disappointed with this turn of events. Clay Unger and Patricio Tamariz have begun the process to rescue the Eco-city from what has become almost total disregard by the municipal government by engaging concerned citizens of the community as Friends of the Eco-city.

Planet Drum is a non-profit organization providing a grassroots approach to ecology that emphasizes sustainability, community self-determination and regional self-reliance, that under the direction of Peter Berg developed the program for Bahia de Caraquez to recover from nature's devastation in 1998 & 1999 and provide continued environment sustainability. Based in San Francisco, Peter Berg is an environmental activist and an international expert in bioregional sustainability. He has been the Special Environmental Consultant to the Mayor in Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador since 2001

More information on the organization, their work, and Peter's articles are available here:

http://www.planetdrum.org/ecuador_2008.htm

http://www.planetdrum.org/ecuador_2009.htm#In_the_Season_of_Rising_Expectations

Ecuadorians are able to rapidly adapt to change reflected recently by Ecuador's innovative new constitution - a world leading document providing new national purpose. Environmental protection of nature in Ecuador is now legislated by recognizing nature's rights to exist and function. While laws still need to be developed the contemporary living processes of resource extraction, energy production, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and housing developments will need to adjust to the new environmental consciousness. Starting with the offshore Galapagos Islands; vast unpopulated coastal areas; moving inland to cloud forests, and the Andean peaks with active volcanoes; descending into the rainforests of the Amazon Basin providing oxygen for the planet, the equatorial named country of Ecuador hold's the world's richest diversity of birds, plants, and animals. A long-time resident of Bahia de Caraquez, journalist & professor Maria Soledad Vela was instrumental in the development of this new constitution.

Some other observations and comparisons between the south and northern hemispheres. The news media can be starkly contrasted between the hemispheres. In the North the media focuses on sensationalism, and tragedy throughout the world creating a negative environment. In the South media coverage rather downplays tragedy and focuses significantly on all local events, conversation, and positive achievements and milestones, (including individual birthdays) initially seeming trivial but tremendously positive ! As a small example recently on Sunday, July 19th at 3:35 am we had an earthquake here that was officially recorded as 5.4. It was felt over most of the province of Manabí, and by friends, but we didn't notice. Rather than be positioned as major headline news, it was a marginal story. Compare Bahia de Caraquez local newspaper - El Nuevo Globo to the newspaper you read this morning:

http://www.elnuevoglobo.com

























The National Corp of Engineers is currently constructing the longest bridge in Ecuador to cross the river estuary. Progress is estimated at 40 % completion. Our walk by the project last night reflected that while any single one of the pylon support stations have yet to be completed, nor any of the bridge deck installed, they have changing colour illumination on the first two stations! If it is to be illuminated in its entirety it will indeed be an impressive feature at night.
























http://www.elnuevoglobo.com/publicidad/puente.jpg



Stephen Covey said "Trust is the one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, family, organization, nation, economy, and civilization throughout the world - which, if removed, will destroy governments, a thriving economy, influential leadership, friendship, the strongest character, and the deepest love. On the other hand, if developed and leveraged, trust has the potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life."

Perhaps leaders throughout America will notice Ricardo Martinelli's (Panama's newly elected president ) leadership example. Speaking directly to high corruption levels in Latin American countries, already a wealthy businessman, he successfully campaigned on the slogan "Other politicians enter politics poor and leave rich." In his debut leadership month he has donated his entire $ 11,000 monthly salary to charities excepting $ 1; raised 20,000 policemen's salaries by $ 100 per month (33 %); implemented a $ 100 monthly allowance for over 10,000 elderly residents without pensions; and is cracking down on wealthy businessmen's tax evasion.

Resourcefulness – the people are uninhibited, and imaginative - able to accomplish so much with ingenuity, muscle, and basic tools. I have been caught many times seeking tools to accomplish a task only to have a local person easily complete the task without the aid of any additional tools. (be quiet Al). For example in construction, the use of power tools is rare, and the cement required for an office building, apartment, or house is mixed by hand.

Reality of Death - funeral processions consist of a highly visible walking parade of family & friends from the home or church, through town to the cemetery. They are fairly common, and simple, or elaborate based on family wealth. One day outside of the school the children and teachers gathered to watch an ambulance return a deceased body to the family home. Immediately following a variety of family members arrived, weeping, to make the necessary funeral arrangements. Society here seemingly provided the mourning family very little privacy.



















Safety Standards – laws & regulations regarding safety either don't exist or are not enforced. While the "lack of rules" can seem liberating or chaotic, people seem to be much more aware & careful. The absence of the common safety net of insurance coverage may also be a significant factor in increased responsibility. When was the last time you rode an ATV or motorcycle downtown without a protective helmet at whatever speed you desired? or walked across a busy multi-lane highway with precision timing enabling traffic to continue to flow and your life's continuance? In Latin America it is a regular occurrence without incident. There are far fewer accidents in South America than in North America!

Food standards – while there is probably room for some improvement in consistency in the southern hemisphere, meat, poultry, seafood, fruit, vegetables, dairy products are fresh from their origin to your kitchen table. The gastronomic experience is difficult to equal in the Northern hemisphere due to a variety of agencies protecting health standards, but in the process preventing the possibility of equivalent freshness. It is possible that in the southern hemisphere on occasion one may experience stomach discomfort due to poor hygiene in food preparation, or the presence of unhealthy bacteria.


In most of the world, coastal areas are populated by the wealthy. Ecuador's coastal areas often surprise visitors as they represent the poorer regions of Ecuador. They are inhabited by fishermen, agriculture workers, and common working folks.


In Bahia de Caraquez the utility companies do not send any invoices. Telephone, water, municipal taxes, electricity, television, and internet are all the individual consumer's responsibility to pay in a timely manner monthly. How is that for leading in environmental and efficiency methods! However North America is significantly ahead when it comes to society's consciousness of littering. We watch people throw their garbage onto the sidewalk or street even if there is a receptacle for garbage just a few feet away. Education, pride in their country, refundable container deposits and littering penalties are urgently required as the litter can be problematic and unsightly. Bahia's has high cleanliness standards when compared to other cities in Ecuador.

Household pets cats and dogs are not well looked after here and they roam the neighbourhood streets socializing and scavenging food. Their health conditions vary greatly depending on their owner's care and their respective place in the local animal kingdom.

Restaurants "pop up" or disappear here with much higher frequency than North America. Due to the entry thresholds being much lower (almost non-existent) inconsistent hours of operations, service levels, food quality and patron volumes. To open a restaurant you simply need a table and a surplus of food one evening and you open your home to the public as a restaurant. Depending on your success you may choose to open again "sometime." Some of the best meals are prepared with loving care in a "grandmothers kitchen." A more permanent and traditional commercial establishment is inexpensive to renovate and fit with a commercial kitchen. Neither Bahia de Caraquez nor San Vincente with a trading population in excess of 100,000 residents have any internationally recognized chain restaurants, and the selection of ethnic cuisine is limited.

The concepts of specialized stores with service - butcher shops, bakeries, and fresh fruit & vegetable farmer's market, health food & candy stores, a trend which is regaining popularity from the superstores and mega-malls in North America, are alive and well here with tremendous diversity and selection. Is the southern hemisphere 50 years behind or leading the way in this area …?

The southern hemisphere has little inhibition, or perhaps the northern hemisphere, in particular Canada, is overly conservative. Latin music & dance is very expressive and spontaneous; swimsuit material is scarce; breastfeeding a baby does not require any privacy, nor does a man urinating in public. People with a wide range of disabilities are common, accepted, and integrated into normal society life not marginalized or treated differently or specially. Statistically I don't know if there is any higher occurance of disabilities here. For example we watch a teenage paraplegic walk down the street using crutches keeping pace with a group of his friends laughing and joking.



I spent several weeks teaching secondary students in this Ecuadorian school. In a classroom with a single grade you have a tremendous disparity of knowledge levels. This seems to result primarily from: i.) a wide disparity in discipline and motivation ii.) political interference from family's with status in the community iii.) students are able to retake the achievement exams repeatedly until they pass. So a student who achieved 98 % on the exam initially will be in the same learning class as the one who finally achieved 51 % after a dozen attempts. In attempting to teach this diversity the bright academic students who want to learn are quickly, and easily bored. The weaker students struggle and require more support to learn. Add "open classrooms", a shortage of qualified instructors, and the cultural complexity of little self-discipline and respect for others, and you have a very challenging learning environment. The school is a microcosm of Ecuador - a competitive and open culture. The environment is very open with everyone knowing "everything" that is happening from academic results to personal lives and troubles at home.
























A young lady is selected as "school queen" for the year for each of elementary, junior, and senior groups. Noelia a very strong academic freshman student who was in my English class was selected as this year's royalty.

It is not offensive here for the children to be labelled with what we would consider derogatory nicknames (fat, skinny, dumb, or racial slurs). Common in genetic composition throughout the world, academically strong students are not often also strong athletically and vice versa. One day the school held a track and field mini-olympics. Each individual's performance was viewed by the entire school community, and there was blatant ridicule and laughter at some of the student's athletic abilities. I had great empathy with those students who did not do well, as I have long since learned with my athletic talents it is best for me to lie down until any sporting urge passes!