Arley in the Amazon

“Arley…brings big hope to his people and to the future of the greater world.”

In January 2023, a small group of international travelers joins Itzhak Beery for a healing apprenticeship in Ecuador, staying with the family of don Basilio Payaguaje of the Seiko Paai tribe in the Amazon River Basin. Basilio invites his grandson, 24-year-old Arley Payaguaje, a farmer and visionary, to share his amazing projects protecting and reforesting their tribal lands—lands that are deeply intertwined with their ancestral knowledge, foods, spiritual practices such as drinking yaje, medicines, handcrafts, and sense of who they are. They are part of the forest just as the forest is part of them. However, palm plantations decimate enormously vast swaths of jungle, and the pressure is high from the palm companies to steal the tribe's ability to self-sustain by tricking them into debts they can never repay and turning them into servants on their own land.

Arley, however, returned from college and went right to work, guided by the wisdom of his grandfather, Basilio, and the yaje they have been drink ingtogether since he was a young boy. He began to protect and restore the land by teaching his community—and neighboring tribes—to once again grow their traditional plants, preserve what has not been lost, and forge a new future together fueled by the infinite wisdom of the jungle itself.

Arley's incredible dedication to his work—alongside his profoundly gentle heart ignites in us a sense of hope. The possibility of a future in which humans can thrive as part of a healthy planet just might be within reach if we listen to the deep wisdom of the earth and work together to make it happen.

This podcast is translated between Spanish and English with some Pāai koka in an informal presentation style as we gather 'round the kitchen table and lean in to hear what Arley has to say. Transcriptions are available at jennylepage.com along with more information about Arley's amazing work. Leave a comment or send a message on the contact page to join the conversation! If you would like to support his projects, choose the "Food Forests Project" donation option at yakum.org.

p.s. Try not to buy any products at all with palm oil, no matter the source!

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Find transcriptions, photos, and more at jennylepage.com