SUPPORTING LOCAL LEADERS - AIL WORKSHOP

RESUME OF THE VISIT TO THE SHAWI COMMUNITY SANTA MARIA DE CAHUAPANAS

From May 21st to May 25th the Indigenous Peoples and Sustainable Development Project together with the institutions Terra Nova, Centre of Development and Environment of the University of Berna, of Switzerland (CDE) and the Institute of Sustainable Development of the Small-scale enterprise (INDESPE), realized a visit to the Shawi community Santa Maria of Cahuapanas located in the department of Loreto. This visit had the achievement of the workshops as a target " Supporting Local Innovations" and “Interculturality: Building a New Citizen”.

Through the participative approach the “Supporting Local Innovations" workshop promoted the creation of innovative ideas in favour of the sustainable development of the area, through the exchange of experiences, being based on the characteristics and local obtained visions of the social strategic actors of the community.

The creation of rules for the workshop, referred mainly to the times of recess, has been a proposal hit to create responsibility and order between the participants. Also, for a major comprehension and interior of the content of the workshop, the duration of the workshop should diminish, bearing in mind, also, the daily activities of the settlers.

To awake the interest of the assistants the social drama “The story of the different monkey” was performed motivating the group to carry out the different proposed dynamics, with which they move of “I see " to " we see and want ", vision obtained thanks to the communication and agreement between the social actors. On equal form, the achievement of the historical map of changes helped to make the assistants reflect and evaluate the changes in the community in the different aspects of the local reality. Nevertheless, we could observe that some terms used to explain the dynamics should be simpler concepts and applicable to the communal reality, for their best understanding.

The creation of innovations must depart from the members of the community, being based on its own vision. Also, it is necessary to promote the hierarchical structuring and priority of the needs, that is to say, face them towards the revaluation, development and strengthening of the cultural local identity; so, often, the proposals of innovations correspond to cultural bosses’ coming of urban centres that do not adapt themselves to the local reality. In the same way, it is necessary to monitor to see if the initiatives have been started.

The Innovations Fair is a very good proposal, because it synthesizes the obtained achievements of the Workshop and, especially, it serves to teach the general population the innovations that can be done as well as the cultural, biological and human richness of the community. In other words, it helps to the cultural affirmation and promotes interest between the settlers to rescue and to revalue the local.

The " Interculturality Workshop”: Constructing a New citizen" took as target to announce to the participants the cultural and biological richness that Peru possesses and the need of taking conscience on our duties and rights, basing on the indigenous specific ness as well as the importance of creating intercultural spaces where the dialogue and mutual learning is promoted between cultures in order to obtain the improvement of the quality of life by means of the sustainable development.

There will always be difficulties and unforeseen to the moment of performing a workshop but it is necessary to foresee elements to deal with: time, understanding, positions or opposing opinions, attitudes of only receiving and not to learn but at the end all it’s  resend to the learning and the good thing is that with this kind of evaluations it is possible to improve what is has been worked and even puts in function the effective improvisation, that is to say to take assertive decisions in spite of the disadvantages of carrying out the workshop or the principal target of this one.