SUPPORT YOUTH SPORTS AGAINST PLASTIC POLLUTION IN BUENAVENTURA, COLOMBIA!!!

WHO I AM:

My name is mark! Lopez and I am a Member and Community Organizer with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice in East Los Angeles, Southeast LA (SELA), and the South Bay (Long Beach, Carson, Wilmington). Through the Moving Forward Network , a national network of frontline communities and allies fighting the impacts of goods movement (ports, railyards, warehouses, etc), we have begun connecting with frontline communities in other parts of the world to build a global movement. One of the communities is in Buenaventura, Colombia.

WHO WE ARE SUPPORTING:

Asogesampa (Asociación de Gestores Ambientales del Pacifico/Environmental Managers Association of the Pacific), founded by the powerful María Teresa Sinisterra, focuses on fighting plastic pollution that threatens the health of the mangroves that sustain the environment and the people on the frontlines of goods movement impacts in Buenaventura, home to one of the largest ports in South America. They implement innovative programs to generate community based solutions and support the most marginalized Afro-Colombian communities there.

WHAT WE ARE SPECIFICALLY SUPPORTING:

ECOGOL! The Ecogol youth football (soccer) tournament requires teams to collect plastic waste that has washed into their communities and submit it as their entry fee. The teams receive jerseys and equipment in exchange. In the past some teams have submitted over a ton of plastic waste each! In addition to removing the plastics poising the waters and ocean life that sustains the Afro-Colombian communities of Buenaventura, supporting community based youth sports as a way to keep youth from getting caught up in cartel violence is a goal.

WHY I’M MAKING THIS ASK:

When my grandparents would talk about some of their earliest advocacy in the East LA community of Boyle Heights, they shared how my grandpa gathered the kids in the neighborhood around El Hoyo and started the first youth sports activities. Along with their advocacy turning El Hoyo into what is now the Boyle Heights Sports Center & Park, the community built served as part of the foundation for starting the Mothers of East LA Santa Isabel, a foundational group for what is now called the environmental justice movement.

When I got to visit and build with María Teresa and the Asogesampa members, the heart and passion they put into their community, including the youth sports programming, reminded me of my grandparents. Unfortunately, Ecogol has been on pause because of a lack of funding.

As we approach the 1 year anniversary of my grandma Juana Beatriz Gutierrez passing away, please help me in honoring my grandparents and supporting the communities of Buenaventura by donating generously to the Ecogol program!