Profilen: Mariella Siña

At a recent meeting with the Amnesty International student group at the university, a girl took the initiative to hold a small presentation of a project she did last year. Her name was Mariella, and she had worked in the amazon rainforest helping native people who had their nature around them destroyed by an oil drilling company. We all were stunned by her story. She said she wanted "us to know what she knows" so that the situation of these people would be highlighted.

Who are you and how come you are studying in sweden?

My name is Mariella, I am a Peruvian chemical engineer, I am studying Environmental chemistry at the moment in a combined program

between Umeå University and Stockholm University.
I learnt about studies in Sweden through a very good friend of mine who is a PhD at Umea University. I met her at the place I was working before I came here, in the Amazon jungle in Perú.

what did you do in Peru?

I worked with a native organization from the Corrientes river located in the Peruvian Amazon. In the Corrientes River basin 35 indigenous communities are located belonging to the Achuar, Kichwa y Urarina people.
The area has been subject to irresponsible oil exploitation since 1971 when Occidental Petroleum Company started operations there. I provided technical support as staff from the native organization to carry out water monitoring, including superficial and drinking water, in cooperation to the Peruvian government’s environmental health department.
During many years the natives looked for solutions to their problems through the dialogue with the Peruvian government. When the oil company did their business a so called "produced water" leaked into the river which is very dangerous for the nature. The produced waters poured straight into the natural water resources, the frequent oil spills and the aggressive deforestation needed to carry out by this kind of production activity, have damaged the environment where the these people live. The consequences are sick forests, less animals, improductive land, and unhealthy people pushed to acquire occidental consumer habits.

Despite all the demands and evidence of the serious environmental damage the Peruvian government has ignored their rights, and the government has conceded 6 new blocks for oil exploitation on top of the Achuar territory, in other words its only getting worse.

What did you learn? any messages for the rest of the world?

The strength of the Achuar people inspired me to never give up, to listen to all my brothers and sisters as they called between themselves, and above all don’t fill up with resentment for that cannot let you live.
The Achuar, Kichwa and Urarina are setting up an example for their native neighbors; they are fighting to truly be heard, to preserve their land in harmony with the ecosystem.

What do you think regular people can do about situations like this?

I want to be straight forward in this matter; if you want to help you can click in the following link, inform yourself and sign up a letter

http://www.earthrights.org/blog/help-achuar-stop-oil-drilling-their-amazon-rainforest-home

This is a so called "Avatar-situation", maybe something to think about :)

/Linnéa