The Children of the Amazon Project
en français
Mitú, Colombia
January 26, 2011
Mission accomplished! My canoe expedition down the Vaupes River in the Colombian Amazon was a success (I survived!). As you can imagine, it was quite an adventure with venomous snakes, armed guerrilla rebels, deadly waterfalls, anti-personnel mines, creepy tarantulas, man-eating jaguars, ants more poisonous than scorpions, tropical diseases, plants with razor-sharp leaves, extreme heat, and I could go on. It all started when a dilapidated cargo plane left me standing in the middle of a military dirt airstrip in the heart of the Amazon jungle, where I was welcomed in the crosshairs of a battery of automatic rifles. Explanations were obviously needed on my part and my answers were taken with skepticism. An hour later, on the banks of the Vaupes River, the colonel was having me sign a discharge that they would not be responsible for my life once I left the military base. The soldiers who had come to shake my hand then climbed back up to take position in their bunkers. And it is under their looks of disbelief that I pushed my overloaded canoe away from the shore and jumped in, as the current starting taking me into the depth of this legendary “man-eating” jungle. I was afraid. It lasted about 15 minutes. As the camouflaged helmets and rifles barrels disappeared behind me with the first bend of the river, I felt, all of a sudden, completely comfortable, free, in my element, alone in the world and ready to face whatever was coming my way. The next two weeks on the river, which took me all the way to the border with Brazil, consisted of a series of breathtaking landscapes, profoundly human encounters, poignant moments of exchange, divine times of solitude, treacherous dangers, critical decisions and tremendous luck.
A huge THANK YOU to all those who supported the hammocks and mosquito net project. After arriving at my destination, Audrey Gagnon-Mc Mahon and I went to deliver the hammocks and nets you bought to the school in the community of Bocas del Yi. I cannot explain, through words or even pictures, to what degree your donation has made a difference for the local children and communities. It is difficult to accept the reality of extreme poverty and harsh living conditions that we witnessed in these indigenous communities. We remain modest as to the actual change that we made over here, when we know that many of these children go entire days without eating. But we can assure you of the positive change your support made. It is through small changes like these that we can make a big difference. And it is thanks to the support from people like you that we can create these small changes. So, thank you.
-Yannick Daoudi
