My Experience During the 2019 Protests in Ecuador
I am doing a lot of reflecting as we ring in this New Year. A common theme I am seeing throughout South America is the ability for the people to unite against the government. I wrote this piece when the protests in Ecuador came to a close in mid-October. Here are some thoughts I took away from these protests and the difference we can make when we unite and come together.
The Protests in Ecuador Have Ended
The cattle are back in the pasture grazing, the people are in the fields working, the buses are running, and the streets are full of daily clatter, almost as if the protests and strikes never happened here in Ecuador. It is as if the last two weeks were figments of our imagination. The Indigenous have won. They have taken on the government and won.
The energy was so fierce that moments after the negations had ended last night I was drawn outside to the valley overlooking my little village. The sounds of car horns and cheering could be heard bouncing off the mountains. Music was blaring from cars and homes, singing a victory for ALL the people. I could not sleep from all the excitement. I am still processing the enormity of this, a true example of persistence and determination. A big win for the “little guys,” and a smack in the face to the corrupt and wealthy.
It’s not all celebrations today. As we drove through town, I witnessed a boy crying. I could feel his grief flood into the car, a reminder that there were some prices that were too costly. Some people will not be there to see the food shelves stocked at their local hacienda, or the trucks filled with propane roll in. They will not see the water jugs be offloaded from the truck that they helped fight so hard for. They will not witness the small ripple of hope they gave the people today.
The Protests End on Indigenous People’s Day
Today, my home state Wisconsin, for the first time will celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. This is a long over due nod to our Indigenous, our protectors of the lands, teller of stories, the ones whose roots are planted deep into the ground. The timing of this can’t be ignored in my mind. The significance of it all. We need their rituals and healing gifts more than ever as the world is being run by the greedy and selfish.
We have given power to the wrong things. Our government has tried to bury the Indigenous tradition’s by a genocide they will still not fully take responsibility for. They tried to make it better by shoving the falsity of paper in their faces, telling them it was real and that it was important. It will make you more, it will give you worth, it will define you. When there was still resistance, the government tried to “band-aid” their wrongdoings with less than desirable alternatives.
The thing is that their traditions and connectivity are still there. It is passed down from generation to generation, just like the color of your eyes, or the freckles on your nose.
A Ripple of Hope
I am seeing the hope of the people ripple from my tiny village, to the nearby cities, and throughout the whole country of Ecuador. My hope is the strength of this ripple will spread from Ecuador to all other nations and it will reach the people who need it the most, and the countries who need these reminders. The reminders of what we are and what is truly important. The power of the people is unstoppable and we can not ignore this.
Tiny fires are being lit, small victories being won, along this long path that can seem so dark. Each one gives me a little more hope for the future.
One day I would love to say, “I was there.” I was in Ecuador, when a tiny fire of hope sparked. I saw it grow into a roaring blaze that helped changed the world, and it was fueled by the Indigenous.
Here is an article about the end of the Ecuador protests and the power of the people.
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