MALOKA

Volunteer group for Human rights and development of the Indigenous towns in Argentina

We are a group of volunteers, belonging to the International Federation of Human Support. In Argentina we have two hundred active volunteers and nine hundred forty supporters.

It is common knwon and abundantly publicized in the mass media and academic arena that recent politics have not benefited the indigenous population. They have been marginalized, isolated and stripped of the rights that are otherwise recognized by the National constitution of the Republic of Argentina.

The vast majority of these people have lost their ancestral territory where they lived until they were evicted without warning. They had until that time been making a rational use of the resources of their earth. Now the usurping companies are by contrary, contaminating, striping the ground of its richness and taking for themselves the products without regard to the resources and with no benefit what so ever for the inhabitants of the country.

Throughout this time we have seen whole indigenous towns disappear, without a trace. The evictions, famine, tyranny and the lack of knowledge to face these new conditions and difficulties of life, have contributed to their disappearance.

We believe in recognizing the value of the original ethnicity and culture of such towns and the necessity to count on their ancestral wisdom for the development of Latin America. This is why we have decided to undertake the task of forming volunteers to attend the Original brothers and establish with them, not a relation of dependency but of exchange and reciprocity.

We are convinced that we can contribute technical and human resources to find new forms of increasing adaptation towards the difficult conditions that prevail.We want to help them defend their culture and restore their rightful value, to find the way of unity among the indigenous towns. It is our goal that the new generations find access to the health service, dignified work and education, without losing their roots and their identity.

We would also like to benefit from the herbal wisdom of the Original people. A valuable legacy of their ancesters as well as their reverence and care towards the environment, manifested by the rational use of their resources, evidenced by this community’s wonderful harmony with nature.

We want to emphasize, that these communities are full of excellent craftsmen, transmitters of millenarian arts such as weaving straw and totora to create many kinds of baskets and hats. They are expert wood carvers and sculptures and well versed in the art of pottery. They produce the most beautiful and realistic animals replicas typical of that region. They use the seeds of plants of their land to hand craft necklaces, bracelets and rings. They carve canes and the typical “Mate” teacups. They also weave and knit purses and bags.

At the moment, they do not have a Marketplace where to offer their wares and they end up giving them up to the wholesalers for mere pennies just to be re-sold to tourists that will pay a much better some. We are sure that in the near future together we will succeed in obtaining a much more ideal place of marketing in the great cities, with the craftspepople themselves being the owners and managers of their own business.

We hav, at this point, formed partnerships with three communities in this project. Kokuerei, located in Old Port, San Ignacio, Katu Piri in Alberdi, the two provinces of the Missions, to the northeast; and "the Tabacal" in the province of Salta, to the northwest of Argentina.

The dialog between the cultures needs precise actions that will bring us closer to the construction of a team and to benefit everyone. For that reason we have started up the following mechanisms:

1: Fundraisers and requests for donations have been organized for their benefit. This was used to buy firewood for the Community of "the Tabacal” that after being evicted could not cook due to lack of fire, nor could they have access to the mountain where they once lived.

2: There have been campaigns dedicated to gathering winter clothes for three communities. Although in Missions the climate is normally tropical, there have been two really cold winters with approximately a one month duration, The cold weather is a result of the alteration of the climate by the indiscriminate cutting of trees in all the Missions forest. Many of our brothers contracted pulmonary diseases like tuberculosis and infections because of lack of shelter and suitable nutrition.

3: Thanks to an agreement with INTA (National institute of Agrarian Technology) a system of attendance to the culture has been implemented, to provide the Kokuerei community with seeds. Assistance was organized to provide tools like shovels, grills, machetes and rakes, all essential for the planting of vegetable gardens and obtaining desirable crops.

4: There is a current plan of Spanish instruction in the Kokuerei Community to help the communities being developed, since the knowledge of the language of the country is a vital step in their progress. If they don’t speak the language of the country, they cannot do even the most basic tasks such as obtaining personal documentation, or sell their crafts.
5: We are financing the traveling and visit of two of the representatives of the Community of the Tabacal from Salta to Buenos Aires, with the objective of negotiating the return of their territory.

6: There has been a good amount of funding to benefit the sanitary conditions of the people and some social surveys conducted by professionals of social sciences and the health respectively, to give us and idea of the depth of the situation.

7: Press campaigns have been made to inform of the situation each community faces.

8: There have been organized lectures, seminars and talks at the Universities with the objective of make public knowledge the situation of the original towns.

9: Co-ops been organized for the purchase of tools useful for the projects that are currently in action in the different communities.

10: The financing trips to Salta and Missions, through raffles and dinner parties donated by volunteers as well as professionals in sociology, anthropology, health and education.

11: The last trip to the Community of "the Tabacal" in the province of Salta, was made on the 15 of January to 1ª of February of 2006 with ten volunteers with the purpose of working strongly and together as a community, though talks and seminars to teach the communities the constitutional rights that pertain to them on account of the fact of several violent acts of abuse have taken place onthe part of Police forces towards several children and adults.

We have held several seminars and talks to strengthen their bonds and relationships as a sharing community. There has been a relief effort to improve the environment and sanitary conditions for the communities.
We have organized lectures and seminars with other neighboring communities to fortify the unity of the indigenous towns and to establish their relationships based on shared knowledge.

Five years ago we undertook this wonderful task and what we have learned has been more that what we have humbly contributed. Despite the challenges that we have encountered, we now have a project of global development based on a permanent dialog among the communities involved until now: "Kokuerei" in Old Port, and "Katu Piri" in Alberdi, province of Missions and "the Tabacal" in the province of Saltos. The first two pertain to the town M¨bia Guarani, and the second to the town of Ava Guarani.

This great project emphasizes the brotherhood and rapport between the cultures, and basic knowledge and communication as a lifetime practice.

It is necessary to count on a place in Buenos Aires where the brothers of the Original towns that travel to the Capital to and stay in a well placed visible location where they would be able to be to sell their wares and crafts contributing this way to their financial self sufficiency .
We have a dream of a communal marketplace in Buenos Aires were they could not only sell their art and crafts but also offer their typical foods and music. A place were several Communities one by one would be a valuable contribution to the richness of their culture.
Although this objective remains a dream that orients to us from the horizon, there have been many steps taken, and with the help of others, every day we can take one more step towards the recognition of the rights of the indigenous communities.

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