PEOPLE'S LIFE PLAN
ORIGINAL KICHWA FROM SARAYAKU

Sarayaku's life plan is structured under a general objective focused on guaranteeing the preservation of the social, cultural, political and organizational life of the people, which is complemented by three specific objectives aimed at ensuring the defense, control and integral care of the territory, guaranteeing the sustained improvement of the living conditions of the community, and valuing and ensuring the continuity and practical application of all their own knowledge.

Key Indicators of
Sarayaku Life Plan

Sumak Allpa
(The Environment, Natural Resources and Territory)

It is the guiding principle that evaluates ecological integrity, environmental health, and the conservation of the physical territory as a living organism and home to the beings that inhabit it. Kawsak Sacha. It measures wealth through the vitality of water resources, biodiversity and soil fertility, contrasting it with processes of fragmentation, pollution and ecosystem loss.

Wealth Indicators (Usuy):

  • Conservation of large, preserved and living territories.

  • Water sources (rivers), clean water and air free from pollution.

  • Fish fauna, abundant and healthy flora.

  • Healthy and fertile land.

  • Harmonious connection between beings of Kawsak Sacha.

Poverty Indicators (Mutzuy):

  • Territorial loss and fragmentation.

  • Territories destroyed and contaminated.

  • Dead or polluted ecosystems of lagoons, rivers and air.

  • Barren soils.

  • Scarcity, extinction process or extinction of fish, fauna and flora.

  • Disintegration of Kawsak Sacha.

Runaguna Kawsay (People's Life, Economy and Organization)

It is the dynamic axis that articulates social cohesion, political organization, and community production systems. It integrates food sovereignty, intergenerational participation, the solidarity economy, and the practice of minga (collective work) in the face of factors of economic dependence, individualism, and social breakdown.

Wealth Indicators (Usuy):

  • Decisions of a collective nature.

  • Equitable participation of gender and generation.

  • Active community life and strong family unity.

  • Constant practice of solidarity and community work.

  • Consolidated organization and food sovereignty through organic farming on our own farms.

  • Strict application of ancestral knowledge in hunting, fishing, agriculture, architecture, health, and cultural and spiritual manifestations.

  • Poverty Indicators (Mutzuy):

    • Presence of racism, individualism, and exclusion.

    • Exploitation of labor and implementation of monocultures.

    • Family and organizational division, in addition to intergroup conflicts.

    • Passivity and structural dependence on the external system.

    • Loss of ancestral knowledge and economic dependence.

    • Cultural erosion, alcoholism and consumerism.

    • Copied infrastructures that are incompatible with the environment.

    • Malnutrition or dietary imbalance.

 

Sacha Runa Yachay (Wisdom, Science, Education and Cosmovision)

It is the axis that brings together ancestral knowledge, traditional science, intercultural education, the arts, and folk medicine. It values the transmission of knowledge and the spiritual connection guided by the Yachak, contrasting with the loss of identity and the lack of knowledge of the techniques specific to relating to the jungle.

Wealth Indicators (Usuy):

  • Mastery of the sciences and techniques applied to hunting, fishing, agriculture and traditional art.

  • Education within a solid intercultural framework.

  • Permanent equilibrium relationship with the Kawsak Sacha.

  • Permanence and guidance of the Yachak (spiritual authorities of high knowledge and connection).

  • Poverty Indicators (Mutzuy):

    • Lack of knowledge and devaluation of agricultural, architectural, fishing and artisanal practices.

    • Devaluation of traditional medicine systems.

    • Breakdown in the relationship and integration with the Kawsak Sacha.