History - AMAZONICA

HISTORY – IN ACTION SINCE 1980

1997 to date: Development of cooperation with the Sapara, Achuar, Shuar and Kichwa in the provinces of Pastaza and Morona Santiago, Amazon region of Ecuador

1997: Start of development cooperation in the Amazon region

After the border conflict between Ecuador and Peru in 1995, the military exclusion zones in the Amazon region were lifted. The forest indigenous peoples living there had not yet received any help. There was a particular lack of medical care. At the same time, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health and Sapara leaders asked INDIO-HILFE to set up a medical infrastructure. First exploratory trip in the Pastaza province on the Pinduyacu and Conambo rivers to the Peruvian border.

1998: Start of the health project among the Sapara

INDIO-HILFE and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health sign a contract with the Sapara leadership for a four-year project.
Further visits and selection of five villages on three rivers for the future medical stations.

1999: The Sapara and other peoples of the Amazon region

Training of five Sapara as paramedics at the hospital in the provincial capital of Puyo
The work of INDIO-HILFE gets around. The neighboring Achuar, Shuar and Kichwa invite Mascha Kauka. Their leaders are worried about the future of the peoples in the forest. Due to the isolation under military administration, there is a lack of training and jobs, but also of such basic things as clean drinking water, medicine and sufficient food. On the other hand, external pressure is increasing dramatically: civilization, with all its negative and destructive consequences, is encroaching on the forest. „We have to make our families in the forest fit,“ says Achuar guide Domingo Peas, „otherwise we will be wiped out along with our forest in one or two generations“. And this despite the fact that the Amazon region of Ecuador legally belongs to the indigenous peoples with land titles!

2000: Construction of 5 medical stations near the Sapara

Equipping the medical stations with drinking water, toilets, furniture, medicines and radios, which are powered by solar panels
Cooperation with the Shuar, Achuar and Kichwa is a done deal. INDIO-HILFE is now working with four Amazonian peoples in the provinces of Pastaza and Morona Santiago on the Peruvian border. At the same time, the projects with the mountain farmers in the province of Tungurahua and with the Chachi in the rainforest of Esmeraldas are continuing.
The Shuar in Yuwints receive a large, comfortable medical station with rooms for visitors too
The paramedic attends a training course
Procurement of wire mesh for keeping chickens, which in turn contributes to school meals.

2001: Equipment and inauguration of the first-aid station in Yuwints

Reforestation with various types of palm trees in order to have the material for the traditional house roofs in the future
Establishment of two workshops for the carpenters and the mechanic in Yuwints
The Achuar in Sharamentsa on the Río Pastaza receive a powerful outboard motor
Financial contribution from INDIO-HILFE for the construction of a drinking water and electricity supply through photovoltaics: every house in Sharamentsa has running water and light
Computer course for three Achuar, purchase of laptops with printers supplied by the solar power grid
The Kichwa in Nina Amarun receive a medical station with two trained paramedics from the village
Fight against malaria in both provinces over one and a half years.

2002: Completion of the nationwide health project: Coast-Highland-Amazonia

„First Alternative Round“ on renewable energies in Puyo, Pastaza province, for 150 Indio parliamentarians/CONFENIAE and the Ecuadorian government. Cooperation with the Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences
Start of the AMAZONICA pilot project on „Saving the tropical rainforest by supporting its indigenous inhabitants“. Development work with the three model communities of Yuwints, Sharamentsa and Nina Amarun
A malaria epidemic with the pathogen Malaria vivax breaks out. INDIOHILFE launches a malaria campaign in the worst-affected communities
Literacy courses and cultural education to preserve traditional culture in the model communities
Support for nine students in the community of Yuwints: Teacher/teaching assistant, agriculture and forestry, environmental management, community management, marketing.

2003: Tailoring courses for women in Yuwints and Sharamentsa

Volunteers from the community of Yuwints try out fish farming in constructed ponds
The sponsorship of students is supplemented by two students specializing in environmental management and marketing
A sanitary battery is installed at the school in Yuwints
The community of Yuwints builds a community center (for meetings, school meals) and a house for the teacher’s family, who are not from the village, in the traditional architectural style
In Sharamentsa, two Achuar are trained as carpenters. From now on, they will take over the construction of the planned buildings
Washing facilities are built at every house in Sharamentsa. INDIOHILFE introduces the construction of separate dry toilets (composting toilets) for the first time. The building material can be found locally. They are hygienic and odorless and a cheap and healthy alternative to the usual smelly latrines in corrugated iron sheds. The compost produced is used to improve the soil in the palm plantations
The community of Sharamentsa is building workshops for the carpenter, the maintenance mechanic and for tailoring in the traditional building style
Nina Amarun: Computer course for a Kichwa, purchase of a laptop with printer, charger and battery
INDIO-HILFE works with Spanish ornithologists to provide scientific evidence of the harpy eagle as a bioindicator in the Achuar region. As a result of this work, the harpy eagle is declared a symbol of Ecuador’s natural heritage, and the Achuar have the opportunity to have an area of 7,500 square kilometers declared a nature reserve.

2004: INDIO-HILFE builds the first biogas plant

In the Ecuadorian jungle in the community of Yuwints. The plant is fed from the elementary school’s sanitary battery and with compostable waste from the school kitchen. The amount of gas is enough to
Stove in the school kitchen or a refrigerator in the first-aid station. More important than the gas production is the fact that all waste must be separated for regular feeding of the plant. This solves the entire waste problem in the community: what does not go into biogas production is incinerated or buried. Yuwints marked the beginning of waste separation in the forest – also for other villages.
In Yuwints, students of community administration, environmental management, agriculture, forestry and teaching finish their studies and become active in the community.
Yuwints receives a decentralized power supply via photovoltaics. A Shuar is trained as an electrician to install and maintain the systems.
A large tailoring workshop is completed in the model community of Yuwints. The men in the village build it using traditional construction methods. The workshop has a wooden floor, solar power and furniture from the village carpenter
From the village carpenter. INDIO-HILFE also donates 4 sewing machines and the initial equipment with working materials and fabrics.
In Sharamentsa, the Achuar women want a communal washing area for the whole village. To achieve this, the men have to work hard, fetching stones and gravel from far away in canoes. A spring is tapped, basins and washing areas are cemented. The spring water is also used for a shower.
The families of Nina Amarun painstakingly complete the construction of the airstrip by hand. This model community can now be served by airplanes and benefits even better and faster from the pilot project.
Nina Amarun will have a drinking water supply as well as washing facilities and composting toilets at every house. A small stream was partially dammed for the water supply. A pump that runs on solar power pumps the water into tanks on a water tower. From here, the villagers lay the water pipes underground over a distance of more than 1 km.
Nina Amarun, the model community among the Kichwa, invites representatives of the Shuar and Achuar. INDIO-HILFE finances the trip and a three-day workshop in which the Indians themselves define and moderate the topics. The pilot project and general visions and problems are discussed from the perspective of the three peoples.
Clean water, not just for drinking, is an important issue in all the villages of the forest Indians. All three model communities now have concrete basins with running water at every house.
Training of more paramedics in the sample communities.
Courses in handicrafts, especially pottery, to preserve the culture and produce trade goods.
The tailoring courses are so successful that the communities receive a second advanced course. Some particularly talented women receive individual lessons from the master tailor.

2005: For the first time in the jungle: the production of wire mesh

In Yuwints, the Shuar start producing wire mesh, followed soon after by the Achuar in Sharamentsa. Wire mesh is mainly used for keeping small animals. However, the bulky rolls cannot be flown into the forest in the small cessnas. The solution is a hand-cranked device that weaves rolls of wire into wire mesh – which we call „Strickliesl“. The wire mesh has become a profitable commodity for its manufacturers. The rolls are sold or exchanged for chickens.
Yuwints has its first positive experiences with growing vegetables in raised beds: Growing kitchen herbs and vegetables at table height is an experience that INDIO-HILFE had brought back from the Chachi on the Pacific coast. The beds are protected against pests and flooding and can be fertilized in a targeted manner – with diluted urine from the dry urine-diverting toilets and with compost.
Sharamentsa: The central medical station at Río Pastaza is inaugurated. It is a spacious wooden building in western design with a large covered terrace, treatment room, pharmacy and several rooms. This medical station not only serves Sharamentsa, but also the Achuar upstream and downstream. It is also intended as a central base for doctors and paramedics from the health authorities who come to the forest for vaccination campaigns and other medical campaigns.
Cooking courses in the jungle: Since new types of vegetables have been cultivated, the indigenous women have been given cooking courses so that they can integrate these new products into their traditional diet. New delicious recipes are created and everyone is deeply satisfied.
For the first time: harpy eagle with transmitter. The Spanish ornithologist Ruth Muñiz was supported financially and logistically by INDIO-HILFE in her scientific work with the harpy eagle in the deep primary forest, see 2003. Now she has succeeded in strapping a transmitter like a rucksack onto a young eagle – a world first, for which Ruth Muñiz was honored.
Launch of the INDIO-HILFE campaign to combat the malaria epidemic among the Shuar and Achuar. The cases of malaria vivax and malaria tropica had increased alarmingly. But neither the national health authorities nor international organizations responded. 112 villages on both sides of the Pasta River are the worst affected. INDIO-HILFE links these villages to form a medical network that is supported by 12 medical stations. As no outside help can reach the forest, our aim is to be able to diagnose and treat malaria locally. To achieve this, paramedics must complete a special course as laboratory assistants and malaria helpers must be trained in all the villages. In addition to treatment, prevention is also important: INDIO-HILFE is buying 5,500 insecticide-impregnated mosquito nets under which two adults or several children can sleep protected. In addition, hygiene measures must be taught and implemented in all villages.
Quito: Our second „Alternative Round“ on renewable energies takes place at the Polytechnic in Ecuador’s capital. The Climate Alliance and the German Development Service DED are involved.
The keynote speaker is Prof. Dr. Ernst Schrimpff from the Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences, who has traveled to this seminar. Representatives of the Shuar and Achuar also attend and explain their experiences with renewable energies in the forest communities. The audience is mainly made up of students from various universities in Quito.

2006: Happy pigs in Yuwints

Species-appropriate animal husbandry, not only with pigs. In large enclosures with streams and natural ponds, the indigenous people also keep chickens, geese, caimans, domesticated capybaras, native fish species and snails. This activity conserves the wild animal population and improves the families‘ diet. Naturally, wire mesh from our own production is used for the enclosures.
A Shuar from Yuwints is successfully on his way to becoming an electrical engineer. He completed his training as an electrician with distinction and now wants to go on to study at university. INDIO-HILFE is supporting a total of 52 students and pupils who will soon graduate from high school. All of them are studying subjects that are needed in the forest communities so that the young people can find work in their home villages and help their people.
For the first time in the forest: training indigenous paramedics under the microscope. Previously, anyone who wanted to receive medical training, even if only in first aid, had to fly out of the forest and be trained at the district hospitals. The malaria authority only provided courses for laboratory technicians in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil. The course usually lasts 6 months – an unacceptable situation for the forest Indians and also difficult for INDIO-HILFE to finance. We manage to get doctors from the health authorities to hold training courses in the forest for the first time. For this purpose, the paramedics of the future malaria network will be concentrated at two locations. Intensive all-day courses can be held here. After just two months, the paramedics will be fully trained. The malaria authority confirms that the final exams of the forest Indians are on average better than those of students in the city.
The first comprehensive hygiene and ecological disposal program in the Ecuadorian jungle. INDIO-HILFE is financing the work of Ecuadorian Jenny Aragundy, an engineer for Ecological Sanitation, for over a year to prevent malaria and to lead a healthier life in general. She gives monthly courses and works with the entire population in Yuwints and Sharamentsa, analyzing and correcting family living conditions and habits from a health perspective from house to house. She installs a closed circuit of ecological disposal, which includes the following measures: Waste separation in each household, school, community center and first-aid station – Use of wastewater from the toilet facility and organic waste from the school kitchen to produce biogas – Use of organic waste from households to produce compost – Post-treatment of composted feces from the dry-separating toilet and use as a soil conditioner in the composter – Setting up cold frames, Use of diluted urine and compost as fertilizer – Post-treatment of grey water in a plant treatment plant – Removal of all standing water to prevent breeding grounds for mosquito larvae – Fireplaces for incinerating waste and Creation of deep pits for the disposal of non-recyclable residual waste.
Training workshops on health, environmental sanitation and environmental education.

2007 Completion of the malaria campaign and establishment of the AMAZONICA Foundation

After training the laboratory technicians, all 112 villages are visited to distribute mosquito nets, teach families about malaria prevention and train the local malaria helpers.
On April 17, 2007, Mascha Kauka establishes the AMAZONICA Foundation in Munich. It is to carry out PR and fundraising for the projects in the Amazon region, use the funds to support the field work of INDIO-HILFE and set up the AMAZONICA Academy. The chairman is Markus Reppenhagen. Contacts are established with Bavarian universities and technical colleges.
End of May: The network consisting of medical stations, laboratory technicians and malaria helpers is installed (what is still missing are further visits to the families in the villages). To mark the official conclusion of the campaign, INDIO-HILFE invites the directors of the malaria authority and the president of the Achuar Federation to the forest. The last round of training takes place in the Achuar village of Pumpuentsa. Afterwards, INDIO-HILFE hands over the network to the national health authorities (Ministerio de Salud Pública) and the Achuar leadership for further maintenance. The network comprises roughly equal numbers of Achuar and Shuar villages and is an extended arm and base for the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health in the forest, far away from the road network.
In Sharamentsa, the first school is built in the traditional style. The old wooden shack with a corrugated iron roof – an installation by the school authorities – is torn down. The typical Achuar building has two classrooms, an office for the teachers, flooring, self-made furniture, light and running water. This means that Sharamentsa now only has traditional Achuar houses (apart from the first-aid station).
In June, the top management of INDIO-HILFE in Ecuador changes: for the first time, a foreign organization transfers the project management to a member of the indigenous project group. Achuar Uyunkar Domingo Peas Nampichkai from Sharamentsa is given responsibility in all areas and will work primarily in the forest communities. He will be supported by an assistant and an accountant in our office in Puyo.
At the end of September, the pilot project part Ι (start 2002) is completed with financial support from the BMZ. This also marks the end of the largest malaria campaign in the entire Amazon basin after two and a half years.

2008: Pilot project part II: The AMAZONICA Academy

From the very beginning of our work in the Amazon provinces, we knew that several central training centers would have to be created in the forest in the future due to the geographical and demographic dimensions of the region.
Following the successful completion of the first pilot project, we now had a fully developed „model for contemporary living and working in the forest“. All peoples urged rapid dissemination to the other villages.
In the two exemplary model communities of Sharamentsa and Yuwints, we began teaching and building infrastructure for two training centers. However, they were not only intended to serve the forest population, but also to be open to the youth of the world. We wanted to give international teaching and research, students and lecturers access to and responsible use of the rainforest.
We needed allies and sponsors to expand the model across the country, and we were looking for paying visitors to create jobs and income for the local population. „Tourism in form“ was the express wish of the Achuar and Shuar.
The AMAZONICA Academy, which began with the second „Alternative Round“ with the Polytechnic of Quito and the Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences in 2005, is now the main project. INDIO-HILFE signs a cooperation agreement with the State University of Cuenca. The university will send lecturers to our academy in the forest as well as accepting indigenous high school graduates to study in Cuenca.
On May 1, the first one-year „Seminar for Indigenous Leaders“ begins in Sharamentsa. Selected high school graduates from the Shuar and Achuar will take part. The lecturers come from the University of Cuenca.
Domingo Peas, who has a degree in teaching, holds the introduction, a two-week course on the „Cosmovision of the Forest Indians“. After all, it is about the forest population, which needs trained leaders. Mascha Kauka also teaches for four weeks: „Communication today and in comparison with traditional forms of communication“ of the participating peoples. She is advised by the elders in the villages.
The contact with Munich University of Applied Sciences leads to a first visit by university representatives to Sharamentsa in August. The dean and lecturers from the Faculty of Tourism are interested in working together.

2009: The community development model and the academy grow

The agricultural program with vegetable cultivation, chicken farming and fish farming is introduced in 12 neighboring villages. Selected families in the model villages begin to grow sensitive vegetables in greenhouses to protect them from heavy rain, humidity, parasites and predators such as rabbits and forest rats.
14. February: Coincidentally, but exactly on Masha Kauka’s birthday, the first seminar for indigenous leaders is successfully completed. The students receive a diploma in the presence of the German
Ambassador to Ecuador, the rector and lecturers of the University of Cuenca and the Achuar tribal leadership.
In May, the first group of students from three faculties at Munich University of Applied Sciences (Tourism, Geoinformation and Architecture) arrives. They are accompanied by four lecturers and the university’s chancellor. This marks the beginning of the academy’s intended function as a „forest with the world“ meeting point, and the Indians can receive their first paying visitors, their first tourists.
Now it’s all happening in quick succession: the village of Sharamentsa receives the first satellite antenna in the forest from Marcus Tandler, an internet guru. Bild am Sonntag sends a team of reporters, which leads to a three-page article in BamS. Three Spiegel-TV employees film for „Abenteuer Wissen“ and for a half-hour documentary on ZDF.
In the fall, eight representatives from the Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences, the Technical Universities of Munich and Berlin and the Institute for Vegetable Cultivation in Potsdam come. This will be followed by two lecturers from Munich University of Applied Sciences with 10 students.
In Sharamentsa and Yuwints, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Tourism is running several courses for tourist guides and community-based tourism. The tourist guides in the villages receive a diploma at the end of the course.
In September, the University of Cuenca begins a seminar on the hotel and catering industry, which has been specifically developed for the needs and situation in the forest. Six Achuar and two Shuar students take part, including three women. Shortly before Christmas, they all successfully pass their final exams – a first big step towards tourism by, with and among the forest Indians.

2010: The No. 1 topic is work in every respect

Everything that got off to a good start in 2009 must be implemented, improved and partially completed this year. The villages, INDIO-HILFE and AMAZONICA are working like never before.
Mascha Kauka and the project manager in Ecuador, Domingo Peas, visit all 14 villages that are now involved in the project in a two-week tour on foot and by canoe. The families prefer to build fish ponds rather than keep chickens, but both are needed. Yamaram, one of Yuwints‘ neighboring villages, has been particularly successful with the Shuar. After a short time, the families are able to sell their chicken production to Makuma, the nearest district town. Among the Achuar, in the Sharamentsa district, the inhabitants of Wayusentsa seem to be the most industrious. They have also made progress in agriculture. The peanut harvest is more abundant than ever. Maize is grown in all the villages – for the chickens, the fish and for the Indians themselves.
Marcus Tandler donates a second satellite antenna, this time for Yuwints. Both model villages are now online.
In September, a Deutsche Welle camera team visits Sharamentsa and Yuwints. The result is a half-hour documentary in German, English and Spanish.
At the end of October, the main building for the AMAZONICA Academy in Yuwints is inaugurated. It has 20 beds for students and lecturers, a raised work platform and a huge hall with a fireplace
With a fireplace, the floor of which is decorated with a mosaic of river pebbles. The separate bathrooms for students and lecturers are large and comfortable, and the janitor’s office next door is always staffed by the day service and a night watchman. The Shuar/NASHE leadership and representatives of the canton and province take part in the inauguration.
At the end of the year, construction work begins on the student accommodation in Sharamentsa.

2011: Exhibitions and lectures stir up the publicity

From January 12 (until the end of February), an AMAZONICA rainforest exhibition with workshops for kindergartens and primary school classes will be held at the „Little Art Galerie“ in Munich.
In March, the Foster Institute will hold an event in Zurich at which Mascha Kauka will present the AMAZONICA project.
In April and May, Heidelberg Town Hall makes its historic hall available for the AMAZONICA exhibition. The exhibits include pictures by international photo artists of fauna and flora in the rainforest and of the projects currently being carried out by INDIO-HILFE and AMAZONICA. Indian handicrafts and utensils and several films complete the well-rounded program, which has met with a very positive response.
On May 8, „The Rainforest Guardians – Mascha Kauka in Amazonia“, the Deutsche Welle documentary about our work, will be broadcast worldwide.
In September, Bethmann Bank, Frankfurt, invites you to an evening at the Bethmannhof as part of its „Sinn stiften“ series. Mascha Kauka will present our projects.
A similar presentation will take place at the beginning of November at the invitation of UBSBank at the Friedensengel in Munich.
In Ecuador, the cooperation agreement between the AMAZONICA Foundation and the University of Cuenca is extended.
Students from Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences are now also working in Sharamentsa and Yuwints. The dean of the media faculty at Lemgo University of Applied Sciences comes to the forest for a first meeting.
A Shuar from Yuwints graduates as an electrical engineer! Holger Jencham, whom we helped to graduate from high school and university with scholarships, justifies every effort and hope. As his final thesis at university, he installs a water turbine in his home village and supplies his community and our academy with electricity.
In July, we receive a high-ranking visitor to the forest: Peter Linder, the German ambassador to Ecuador, meets Sharamentsa and Yuwints. He is so impressed by the Achuar, Shuar and our work that he donates a small project to the embassy to equip the carpentry workshop in Sharamentsa. This means around 12,000 dollars for the purchase of machines.

2012: Anniversary year: 30 years of INDIO-HILFE

The anniversary year begins with the publication of a fine, large-format calendar documenting our work and the beauty and importance of Amazonia.
INDIO-HILFE’s second pilot project with financial support from the BMZ comes to an end at the end of February. The core topics were the dissemination and deepening of community development among the Achuar and Shuar and the
Development of the AMAZONICA Academy. We have made good progress and have created a solid basis. However, with more financial support (donations) we could be even further ahead.
In March, the German Ambassador Peter Linder and his wife Abeba come to Sharamentsa for the second time to inaugurate the carpentry workshop financed by the Embassy. The ambassador is very pleased to note that „the chips are flying“ and the accommodation for the students will soon be ready.
To mark the anniversary, the Chachi invite Mascha Kauka to visit them. She spends five days visiting the rivers, old friends and the results of the projects from back then. Almost everything is still in operation or has even been further developed.
On June 2, the INDIO-HILFE anniversary flea market takes place on Rotkreuzplatz in Munich. It has been a continuous tradition since the founding year 1982.

1992 to 2004: Development of cooperation with the Pilahuines, Tungurahua Province, Ecuador

1992 The sister organization of INDIO-HILFE is registered as a „Fundación“ = non-profit association in Ecuador with headquarters in Quito. Name: FACISA = Fundación Alemana de Cooperación Indígena Sudamericana. Board and members are Ecuadorians.

The Ecuadorian Ministry of Health asks INDIO-HILFE to take care of the situation in a slum in the capital Quito. Thousands of Kichwa who have moved here from the mountains in the south are vegetating in unimaginable conditions. After visits and discussions in the slum, INDIO-HILFE does not want to relieve the city of Quito of its concern for its slum, but is prepared to get to the root of the problem: If the Kichwa are interested, INDIO-HILFE would analyze in their home region how to tackle the problem of rural exodus. This is followed by an invitation from the Kichwa to the mountain villages at the foot of the Carihuayrazo.

1993: The project with the Pilahuines is financially supported by INDIO-HILFE

The project supervisor in Ecuador is FACISA
Purchase of farming equipment and seeds. An agricultural engineer teaches the farmers
A large community center is built.

1994: The agricultural engineer demonstrates ecological fertilization and pest control

New vegetables and cereals are grown on a trial basis
The community center is completed.

1995: Agricultural production is in full swing

A large market hall with abattoir is built next to the community center and an area is leveled for the open-air market.

1996: Opening of the market, which is a great success from day one.

1997: Acquisition of 5 agricultural machines

to enable the fields on the steep slopes to be terraced and plowed

Purchase of 6 sewing machines and establishment of a tailoring course for the farmers‘ wives
Study grants for four young Pilahuines (one woman, three men) to study business administration, agriculture and veterinary medicine at specialized institutes.
1998: Expansion of the product range to 28 crops, berries and herbs
They are sold on the local market, but are also brought to Quito to the capital’s largest Indio market
Purchase of a large old house in Quito next to the Indio market to give the farming families a place to stay during market days
Start of the drinking water project: 2 springs are tapped, several tanks are built and over 10 km of water pipes are laid underground. The initial beneficiaries are 500 farmers from the Misapamba community. The project will be able to supply thousands of Indians in the future.

1999: Expansion of the drinking water project

Restoration and opening of the Indio hostel „Tambo Huasi“ with a large canteen in Quito
Increased marketing of garlic production, which is now the largest in Ecuador. Distribution of garlic oil and garlic powder.

2000: The Pilahuines are included in the health project

Construction of toilets for the elementary school

2002: Completion of the health project.

2004: Donation of the hostel in Quito to the mountain farmers from the province

The house is donated in its entirety to 12 villages
This ends the successful cooperation between the Pilahuines and INDIO-HILFE by mutual agreement.

1980 to 2002: Development of cooperation with the Chachi people in the province of Esmeraldas, Pacific coast of Ecuador

1980: First acquaintance with the Chachi

As tourists, Ulrich Pohl and Mascha Kauka meet some Chachi on the Río Cayapas, including the chief’s family. The Chachi ask for help in their hopeless situation.
1981: Donations for school materials
Donations from the Pohl family for school materials and study grants for three Chachi students in the port city of Esmeraldas and for medicines.

1982: Foundation of the non-profit organization INDIO-HILFE e.V.

On June 27: Foundation of the non-profit association INDIO-HILFE e.V. in Pullach near Munich

Further study grants
Support for five orphans
Medicines to the value of DM 8,000

1983: Continued support for students

Purchase of large quantities of handicrafts to sell in Germany.

1984: Opening of the secondary school in Zapallo Grande, the main town in the Chachi region

Study grants for 15 married or particularly needy pupils at the secondary school
School meals for 50 pupils
Purchase of handicrafts, also beyond the end of the project
Procurement of seeds and farming equipment for a curriculum plantation next to the school
Equipping 2 training workshops for carpenters and mechanics

1985: Pupil grants and school meals continue until the end of the cooperation

Purchase of a power cable to connect the training workshops to a generator
Creation of a fund to enable families with many children to finance school uniforms, fees and learning materials for the start of the school year
Construction of the first community center in Zapallo Grande
Training of the first female teachers in the traditional art of Chachi weaving, which had almost been lost.
1986: All school projects continue
Equipment and seeds for educational plantations in another 4 centers
Start of general weaving courses: Two women from each village are trained in Zapallo Grande, who later teach in their own villages
Purchase of the first canoe with outboard motor for workshops and schools
For the first time, INDIO-HILFE’s projects are supported by funds from the BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development).

1987: The training workshops receive a teacher,

who teaches mechanics and carpentry work, the equipment with machines is expanded

The weaving courses continue until 1991
Establishment of a model plantation for 20 families in the center of Tsejpi (coffee, cocoa)
Support for further farming projects
3 canoes with outboard motors for other centers
Construction of further community houses in 4 villages

1988: INDIO-HILFE finances the drinking water project

All villages receive drinking water tanks with accessories for collecting rainwater
Three Chachi women begin training as nurses in Esmeraldas: monthly support from INDIO-HILFE for 2 years.
1989: INDIO-HILFE finances the land survey by the Ecuadorian state institute I.E.R.A.C., initially in the center of Hoja Blanca. The land survey is a prerequisite for the Chachi to receive title to their territory.
A further 7 community centers are built.

1990: In January, the nurses successfully complete their training

INDIO-HILFE achieves that they are employed by the Ecuadorian state and are allowed to work in the Chachi area
Procurement of instruments and other equipment for the Ecuadorian state surveying institute, which undertakes to quickly survey the Chachi region.

1991: The Hoja Blanca Center receives its land title

The weaving courses are completed, as all interested women can now weave
Construction of a further 5 community centers
In 6 Chachi centers, families interested in farming join together to form cooperatives. INDIO-HILFE supports them with seeds and equipment
Negotiations with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health for the construction of a hospital in Zapallo Grande.

1992: The hospital is built

INDIO-HILFE, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health and the Chachi work together to build the first large jungle hospital in the province. It will have an operating theater, a laboratory and a well-stocked pharmacy. A residential building for the nursing staff is also built
To preserve and spread the Chachi culture, lessons are given in traditional music: both the construction of instruments and their use with traditional tunes
Two cooperatives start pig farming
In the Tsejpi center, a cooperative is founded for the first time with only Chachi women. This group begins rice cultivation on a trial basis
Another 4 Chachi centers receive their land titles.

1993: The staple food rice is introduced

The „rice cultivation“ pilot project was a success, and rice is now grown in many centers
INDIO-HILFE supports 16 new arable farming projects
In order to achieve better prices on the market for rice and coffee, both products have to be husked
INDIO-HILFE finances husking machines
The Rampidal Center receives a carpentry workshop
Freddy Pianchiche from the Tsejpi Center is the first Chachi to study law in Quito. He is privately sponsored by several members of the association.

1994: The hospital is put into operation

9 new projects in agriculture and pig farming
Further women’s associations found agricultural cooperatives
An Ecuadorian agricultural engineer is hired for 3 years to teach the Chachi about improved farming methods, plant pests, natural fertilization and harvest care for marketing.

1995: Arable farming and small animal husbandry

The agricultural engineer living with the Chachi works with 24 villages at the same time

The cultivation of new vegetable and fruit varieties is tested
Cooking courses in several Chachi centers to explain the use of the new products to the women.

1996: Projects in arable farming and small animal husbandry continue

Land surveying is resumed: Due to changes of government in Ecuador, the surveying work had been interrupted by the state.
6 Chachi centers receive their land titles.

1997: Purchase of 8000 mandarin plants, which are grafted with other citrus varieties

Increased cultivation of sugar cane. 5 communities receive a sugar cane mill to produce and sell the various sugar products: Sugar cane juice, syrup, molasses and cane sugar
Women’s associations start keeping chickens
Socio-economic courses run by an Ecuadorian sociologist in the Chachi region to educate the Chachi about the rights and obligations arising from their land ownership.

1998: The agricultural engineer retires

His Chachi assistants, who were trained by him, take over the supervision of the projects

Start of the extensive 2nd health project in cooperation with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health. Initially employment of three doctors for the Chachi area and training of 10 paramedics.

1999: Reforestation with tagua palms

2000: Renovation of the hospital built in 1993

Construction of 9 new medical stations.

2001: Adult education through courses in the centers and establishment of health committees

First aid courses for school teachers (24 elementary school and one secondary school)
Equipping schools with small pharmacies/first aid kits
Setting up special funds for emergencies and particularly serious illnesses/surgeries and to prevent tuberculosis and malaria
Family planning and contraception courses.