Livewire - Amnesty International blogging for human rights

Below, some of the reactions of two representatives of the Indigenous Community of Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa. They participated in a workshop organized by Amnesty International and Civicus and told their story to participants.

Albino Gomez, Yakye Axa:

“What I liked most today was the participation of many people in the workshops and I am really happy with their interest in our case. They have also signed a petition to the Government of Paraguay requesting our ancestral lands back.

“This is the first time I have been in such a big event and I am extremely happy to see so many people around. This is the first thing I will tell my community when I am back. We also had the opportunity to meet people from other Indigenous People’s communities.

“We participated in an activity with many people and everyone told their story and about their struggle and many of them have similar problems. We identified with them. I believe we will get a lot from our participation here; the solidarity will help us a lot. The only thing I don’t like is the rain – it rains every day!”

Gladys Benites, a member of the community of Sawhoyamaxa:

“I feel very happy to be here, so many people came to listen to our case at today’s workshops. I felt comfortable when I had to give testimony and tell them about our case because the people who spoke before me explained their work on poverty very well.

“What they explained is what we are experiencing. What I liked most was the many crafts from indigenous peoples that are here, I am a craftswoman myself but I don’t have the resources and the opportunity to develop my products, so I am very happy here where I can get inspired.

“I like it a lot that there are so many indigenous people here and enjoy the diversity of their cultures. It was really nice to see their cultures and their dances. Honestly, I cannot point to anything that I didn’t like here, I am very happy here.

“The first thing I will tell my community when I get home will be that many men and women from all parts of the world participated in activities where we had the opportunity to tell our case and about our struggles, and they all supported us.”