Words by Smiley Team
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The Yawanawá are an indigenous community who have lived in the heart of the Amazon rainforest for hundreds of years. The forest provides them with medicine, shelter and the resources to live.
To support them, the Together Band has partnered with the community of the Yawa to launch a crowdfunding project for ‘Yawa Bands’. They will be a symbol of hope for the forest.
Together Band is part of the British sustainable brand BOTTLETOP, co-founded by Cameron Saul and Oliver Wayman, and driven by COO Jon Lee. Jon, 41, from east London, tells Smiley News: “The Yawa Together project aims to create long term artisanal employment for the Yawanawá community at the heart of the Amazon rainforest and in doing so, support the community in their continued stewardship of 250,000 hectares of Brazilian rainforest."
“The Yawa band is made from the seeds left over after the açai fruit is juiced for the community to consume,” says Jon. “The seeds are washed, drilled, sanded to shape, dyed, and then threaded onto a stretch rope that we’ve developed with Parley for the Ocean (recovering and recycling ocean plastic).
“We add a single seed that is cast from Humanium metal that is made from illegal firearms removed from communities in Central America.”
He explains this particular collaboration that is seeking funding through Kickstarter was sparked by a chance meeting that led to his business partner travelling to meet the community. He brought back Yawanawa crafts and raw materials that their team reviewed and designed a base range of products to work with the community on.
“It’s vitally important that we support indigenous communities, especially now as many are threatened across the world as governments and business try to remove their rights and exploit their ancestral lands for their natural resources – resources that these communities have preserved for the benefit of all people for generations,” explains Jon.
“Currently in Brazil there's a bill that is being debated that could remove the rights of indigenous communities to their lands and further devastate the natural world by logging and ranching on these lands. We hope our project will protect the cultural heritage of the Yawanawá people while providing sustainable artisan employment for the community.”
Jon hopes the collaboration establishes a template for cooperation that they can share with other communities and engage the public with to share their stories and mobilise people to stand beside indigenous peoples in their defence.
Support the crowdfunder project here.
Could you make this happen in your community? Be part of the change. Or, if you, or someone you know, has launched a crowdfunding social enterprise project, email [email protected].
