Connection #39

Nathalie Rodas

39. Nathalie Rodas

Ecuador, Nuevo Rocafuerte, 24 years old, religion: catholic
Gift received: January 14, 2008

Nathalie works in Coca in the tourism board and in Nueva Rocafuerte region on projects in indigeneous communities. Her dream is to realize an ecological tourism project with the aim to save the rich nature the region has to offer, and to make her town recover from the currently bad economical situation.

Gift: Keyholder made of a seed

Keyholder made of a seed

Gift given: January 16, 2008

The human is an essential part of the nature, which means that all human activity has an unchangable impact on it. That is the reason why you should strive for living in harmony with your surroundings.

I wish to pass on my love for nature. I live in a small, nearly ecological village, and the goals of my life are dedicated to its conservation. I feel responsible for my ancestros; I feel that it is my obligation to develope in people an environmental awareness.

Do not listen to people who claim: It does not help anything if you are the only person taking care about the nature! This is a big lie. If you do care about the environment it helps a lot to decrease the environmental problems of the world we encounter nowadays.

Do not be an indifferent person, look at your surroundings and take in account that each day we lose many natural resources, and with it great opportunities for creating a sustainable and stable future.

How we met Nathalie Rodas

Once in Cuenca we met two Catalan guys from Barcelona. They had done a voluntary project in the Coca region. When they heard of our dream to cross to Peru via the Rio Napo, they recommended us highly to contact Nathalie. She is living partly in Coca because of her work in tourism projects, but originally she is from Nuevo Rocafuerte. We called her before leaving Quito, asking for help concerning information about the region as well as a place to put our tent while in Nuevo Rocafuerte. Once we arrived, she and her family hosted us in their rice and corn shed.