Stewards of the Forest, New Generation

Luis is 23 months old, a child of the new generation of the Shipibo-Conibo tribe of Peru.  He lives in the community of Roya on the upper Ucayali river, in the Amazon Rainforest.  The Shipibo are one of the few tribes in the Amazon that are still strong in their traditional cultural practises, and have incredible knowledge of the rainforest and her wealth of natural medicines.  Unfortunately, Luis is now facing a modern medical problem that traditional plant medicines are unable to cure, and he needs our help!  His family is impoverished, the government hospitals are on strike and we need to raise the funds to send him to a private clinic for vital surgery to give him a chance at a better future!

Luis was born with two lipoma, benign tumors in his right armpit and it came to the attention of Alianza Arkana's Community Based Solutions director, on a recent trip to introduce a weaving project to the community. For most of his short life Luis has carried on with little concern for the two tumours, however he had fallen out of a hammock while playing with his older sister and the tumour on the right side of his chest quickly swelled up larger than a golf ball and has been very painful. His parents are invaluable members of this community, his mother being the chairlady of the community arts and crafts collective carrying on the rich Shipibo tradition, and his dad, an excellent provider of fish and other food for the family. Regardless, even travel expenses are too much for this family to cover.

The nearest hospital is in the city of Pucallpa, a 13-hour boat ride downriver, and his parents have not been able to afford to take him there and pay for the tests or operations he needs.  We brought Luis and his parents to Pucallpa at the end of August for tests on the tumour and this revealed further complications when it was discovered that he has a congenital heart condition called Atrial Septal Defect, which may be connected to his tumours.

As a member of the Shipibo-Conibo tribe, Luis's health care is covered under the national System for Intergrated Health, but it does not cover transport, food and lodging, and various surgical tools and medicines he will need for the surgeries.

Right now we are looking for funds to send him and his family to Lima, where he will get the surgery and care that he needs in order to continue with his young life.

On top of all of that, the local doctor union in Peru is on strike and they are currently not attending new cases in the Children's Hospital in Lima! If we are able to raise enough money quickly Luis will be able to go to a private clinic in Lima for his surgeries and avoid waiting for politicians to decide for him.

Thank you all in anticpation of your help, be it simply sharing this link, sending it to friends, or best of all, donating!