Reforestation at Rio Blanco

**Updated for 2024**

Next travel is June 2024

Hi, my name is Jen, or as my companions in the Andes know me, "Pastora Jennifer." I am raising funds for plantings in the Ecuadorian Andes' community of Rio Blanco, for reforesting the indigenous lands that have been ravaged by decades of damage at the hands of mining companies. What began as a single fundraiser for a trip to Rio Blanco has become a repetitive fundraiser, so I keep this link open to receive donations.

The mountain called me. That is the only way I can describe it. I had visited Rio Blanco at 12,000 feet in February 2023 during an immersion trip organized by RECONPAZ (Christian Continental Network for Peace), and was still processing the experience when Eloy Alfaro of RECONPAZ Ecuador came to visit our church in York, NY in early March. He told us more about the history of the Sinchi Warmi women and their decades-long defense of the land they call home, speaking about a love for the land that calls to mind the kind of love that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians. The church I pastor, York Baptist Church, signed a diplomatic statement of siblinghood with the community of Rio Blanco, which we have since come to call a relationship of "Walking Together."

“Sinchi Warmi” is a Kichwa-Kañari phrase, roughly translated as “resilient women.” Elizabeth, the leader of the Sinchi Warmi, and the women defending the home territories of Rio Blanco are indeed resilient. They seek to restore the land and also the culture of this community. AND we are making hopeful progress!

I have returned many times, to Rio Blanco in the Ecuadorian Andes, feeling called by the mist and by the people. I have spent a lot of time getting to know their community and families, only because of the grace of the Rio Blanco people. They have welcomed all of us with loving kindness, and we return that lovingkindness with solidarity. We have traveled up the mountain multiple times with busloads of community members and university staff and students. At 12,000 feet, decades of mining had drained the water from the land. The lagoons and rivers are gone, their medicinal plants are endangered, and the animals fled. The mining has been suspended, and legal efforts continue to make that suspension permanent. In the meantime, the community is seeking restoration of the land so they might be able to inhabit it again.

We started this effort by planting dozens of plants. Since March of 2023, we have helped plant thousands! During the March 2024 planting, strong evidence of recovery was documented. We need to continue this. It is the community members that lead, procure the specific indigenous plants that heal the land, and tell us where to plant them. This is reparations. This is restorative justice. It is, as said in Ecclesiastes 3, "a time to sow."

Our next trip is in June 2024, and we will go back to Rio Blanco again to plant. We hope to raise funds for this effort. This is social justice, to be sure. However, I also want to share with you that this is a spiritual journey.

The mist of the mountain calls. Will you journey with me? Will you help the families of Rio Blanco return the land to being able to sustain, to feed and nourish their families, in the lands they have called home for generations? All of the funds from this fundraiser, after GoFundMe fees, will go directly towards the costs of reforestation. Please consider donating today.

Peace,

Pastora Jennifer

Jen