It’s almost too good to be true—two days of sunshine in a row! But it’s supposed to rain tomorrow – the warm steamy rain of a summer coming a little too early. It’s funny how the temperature affects us when it rains. It wasn’t that long ago when we ere bundling up against the rain. Now it will just be steamy.
Not as steamy as in Ecuadorian rainforests, although the temperature may not be that different, where a group of women work to preserve their community from the pollution that has destroyed so many other communities. Calling themselves Yuturi Warmi, or fighting female ants, they monitor the water and attempted incursions into Serena, a small community where they live.
Canadian and American mining companies are affiliated with Chinese operations, and they pollute the water and destroy the environment. But the Ecuadorian government, so strapped by the lack of funds to care for its people –much of the new immigrant influx is from Ecuador – grants permits by the bucket load. And the corruption is rampant. There must be a better way.
Prayer for the Day
Driven by the desire for more of this or that,
We let companies exploit and destroy our planet;
Told that we need mineral riches taken from the earth,
We allow corporations to gain an unethical profit.
Grant, O Lord, that we intervene against corporate greed,
And move to protect what can never be replaced.
In the name of the One who calls us to save the future,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
For us indigenous peoples, nature is interconnected with us; we are one, and destroying nature means harming ourselves.
Rosaura Alvarado, Kichwa member of Yuturi Warmi
Satellite imagery captured in October 2023 showed that between 2015 and 2021, mining activities in the Ecuadorian Amazon increased by 21.7 sq miles (56 sq km). Napo province saw the biggest increase – 4.3 sq miles (11 sq km) had new mining activity during that time frame – an increase of 316%.
Ecociencia Foundation, nonprofit monitoring Amazon mining
The Lord God of hosts, the One who touches the earth and It melts…
Who builds the upper chambers in the heavens and founds the vault upon the earth;
Who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the earth,
The Lord is the name of God.
Amos 9: 5-6