Sani Isla

 

Oral History as Institutional Strengthening and Community Empowerment

 

Sani is a medium-sized Kichwa community nestled deep in the Amazon Rainforest. They began a unique community-operated lodge as an alternative to oil exploration. This project undertakes a participatory reconstruction of the community’s history, which demonstrates their struggle to maintain their tourism operations in the face of ever-growing pressures to concession their land to oil extraction. The project's objective is that the community becomes empowered by its oral history, seeing it as a way of strengthening their grassroots organizations and building a greater level of understanding of their historical, economic and cultural development.

 

Direct beneficiaries: 360 community members, Indirect beneficiaries: 500 community members.