My Organic Market’s ER

In 1999 a friend of mine introduced me to a man named John. For 10 years previous to my meeting him, he had been traveling through the Amazon River Basin. John would purchase artifacts and interesting items like pottery and fabric, bring them back to the US to sell and finance his next trip.

On one occasion several years ago, he awoke in a grass hut, literally, deathly ill with malaria. He thought, “This is it, I’m going to die in this village.”

Luckily for him, he was in a small Shipibo village. The Shipibo tribe consists of around 35,000 people living in over three hundred villages in the Pucallpa region of Peru. The Shipibo people maintain a strong tribal identity and retain many of their ancient traditions and beliefs.

They began to nurse him back to health using traditional herbal teas and various indigenous plants to treat the malaria. In 10 days, John was on his feet and recovered enough to travel again.

John decided to learn more about the healing powers of these herbs and plants. His relationship with this village of 45 people blossomed and their combined efforts have resulted in the preservation of thousands of acres of land surrounding the village and a small sustainable business selling herbal remedies that support the tribe financially.

During one visit, John was inducted as an honorary member of the Shipibo people. At the ensuing celebration that evening, the members of the tribe wanted to know about the United States.

Imagine in your minds eye, this small group of people, in a remote area of the Amazon asking questions about Americans. “What do they hunt?” asked one person. “Well, some Americans hunt but not the way you might think,” said John. “What kind of fish do they catch?” asked another. “Um, they fish, but they don’t fish the way you do,” said John.

“Then what do they do?’ another person asked. “They work” John said. “But why,” was the next question. John thought for a second and replied, “They have bills to pay, credit cards, houses to pay for.”

At that point, the eldest member of the village stood up and asked, ”How can we help them?”

There is a moral here. These people do not look at what they do each day as work. It is just how they live. I have tried to feel the same way ever since I heard this story. I am living to create a better place for future generations. That is what ER is to me. It is not work, it’s just how I live. More people should adopt this attitude. That is how the Shipibo can help us!

This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2005 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Anecdotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.