7 - "A Journey of Interconnectedness: Andrew Soluna and Children of the Rainforest"

The Vision of Children of the Rainforest: We envision a world of thriving rainforests, clean water, and abundant biodiversity. Where ancestral ways of nurturing the Earth are honored and children learn from elders how to care for the planet for all future generations. We believe Indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest play a crucial role in protecting and nourishing biodiversity and they must be protected as their land and people are under threat of deforestation. We believe the most effective solution to protect the Amazon rainforest from deforestation and exploitation is to empower Indigenous communities to remain on their reserves and strengthen and expand the demarcation of Indigenous land rights. We believe Indigenous languages hold millenary wisdom and functional knowledge of the plants and biodiversity of the rainforest that cannot simply be translated. When an Indigenous language goes extinct the biodiversity and land suffers. We believe that language is the heart of culture. When an Indigenous culture loses its language, the culture is in danger of extinction. Without Indigenous communities thriving on their reserves, what will happen to the land, rivers, animals. Who will protect the Amazon rainforest?   This week we sat down with Andrew Soluna, a psychotherapist, director of Children of the Rainforest, and spokesperson and protector of the Yawanawá people of the Amazon rainforest. This episode is a powerful conversation about how to preserve ancestral wisdom cultures, why these traditions are so crucial for the flourishing of mankind, and what role each one of us can play in this guardianship.  Andrew humbly shares his own personal story, of how he came to be in the role he is today, working on the grass roots level to support his teacher and friend, Chief Iskukua Yawanawa of the New Hope Village, in his vision of preserving and protecting the Yawanawa people and their language. Andrew shares about the journey he took to bring him to where he is today in his work and service, and the many lessons he learned along the way about the power of relationships and the interconnectedness of humanity.    Children of the Rainforest is a beautiful organization, one that we at Four Visions back wholeheartedly, and it is a true pleasure to get to bring you this wonderful conversation today. In this episode, you will learn: About the important role thatIndigenous communities have in protecting and nurturing the biodiversity in the Amazon rainforest, and how vital this biodiversity is for the whole planet The impact of language on culture and how we can ensure that Indigenous languages are not lost. Lessons and wisdom we can all learn from traditional indigenous cultures and and how we can foster relationships with them from a place of awareness, humility, and respect   In This Episode: Andrew Soluna | @andrewsoluna | @childrenoftherainforest Mariah Gannessa | @mariahgannessa   This podcast is brought to you by Four Visions Website | fourvisions.com Instagram| @fourvisionstribe Facebook | Four Visions Youtube | Four Visions   Nominate a podcast guest! Intro Music created from music by Juan David Muñoz | @jdmusicesencia Subscribe to the FVM Podcast and leave us a review! iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts  This episode is sponsored by The Suma Causay Music Festival.