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'The Anaconda is the main inspiration of our designs because it is the central figure of our cosmology

The Anaconda also protects all the Amazonian inhabitants'- Ronin Vichi

The following document contains language that was directly translated from a proposal written in Castellano by the members of Ronin Vichi -Yarina Cocha, Peru

Summary
The changes in our population and social organization development during this last century have caused several ecological, cultural, and economic hazards.  The economical problem in the Shipibo communities can be alleviated by producing and selling traditional clothing and crafts.  We want to initiate a workshop where we can manufacture traditional clothing and fabric textiles in order to strengthen the local economy.   There is an annual loss of $10,000.00 from the local communities because school uniforms are purchased from foreign markets.
There are no solutions in effect in the present time and the government has not addressed or initiated any action towards social and economical progress in the Shipibo communities.  We can improve our economical situation with a productive and sustainable approach. Our solution should focus on our independence, confidence, and skills as a community.  This project should also be affordable, simple, and practical so that it could be started right away and be effective when carried out on a larger scale.

Objective Form a group of 35 Shipibo women that are skilled in basic and advanced sewing and tailoring. Produce articles of clothing and other items that are decorated with shipibos designs. Establish a tailoring and sewing low tech factory for the group of women in Ronin Vichi, to have a constant flow of production. Justification We see the Shipibos design used on clothing displayed in the city galleries which has motivated us to produce our own items with our original Shipibo designs and offer them to the public. Strategy To reunite this group of women that are organized in the Shipibo community of San Francisco of Yarinacocha.  Women that are interested in this art of tailoring that posses cultural skills are encouraged to creatively use and apply the Shipibos design on various items.

Project
The program will last three months.  Two of these months will concentrate on basic sewing and the last month will be an intensive on advanced sewing. Following this program will be production and sale of these items. This course will enroll 35 participants.  20 from pueblo of San Francisco, 10 of the of Nuevo Egipto, and 5 of Santa Clara, forming a total of 35 participants.
This course will be under the teachings of an expert of the same ethnicity, Shipibo-Konibo who guarantees 100% successful learning because everybody speaks the same language.

The workshop will evolve in a practical and theorical fashion.  In the beginning of this project the Shipibos women will be given basic fabrics and materials for the production of  Shipibos clothing. In the end of this course they will have the capacity to present 5000 articles of clothing annually to the internal and external economy. (Dresses, sweaters, and blouses) These women can then use the profit of the sales to innovate new ideas and continue to generate the production and economical divisions. The clothing factory will ensure that the profits will remain in the local community’s economy.  The native owned workshop will eliminate the purchases made to foreign markets.  This way the local profits won’t be dispersed into the external economy.  More opportunity will be provided to correct and polish up methods in the workshop while continuing production and enforcing their sustainability. After carefully studying the production and marketing costs of this project we concluded that it will cost the community S. 31,000 each year because of the lack of a developing social local economy.  This group of female Shipibos will have the opportunity to integrate embroidered fabrics with traditional designs into the finished products of shirts, pants, skirts, etc. to sell in the external market of the community and market to visiting tourists.
	Shipibo artisan doing traditional embroidery

The Shipibo Village The 32,000 shipibo citizens that live in the 120 communities which are found today along the Ucayali River its affluents and lakes are encountering economical problems.  The Shipibo people are the second largest ethnic group inhabiting the Peruvian Amazon.  The Anaconda is the main inspiration of our designs because it is the central figure of our cosmology.  The Anaconda also protects all the Amazonian inhabitants. Shipibo women use sacred geometry as their main formula in their artwork.  We use our imagination to paint and sculpt to inspire and heighten our spiritual consciousness.  Our culture strongly believes that the indigenous cosmology is found in our minds. It is in our minds where we connect our intelligence and our creations.

Organizations Responsible
The technical team of Redpal-Peru has agreed to form the administration of this proposed workshop until the Shipibo women are fully capable of running the administrative department on their own.  This economic process will be number one in the Shipibo-Konibo community.  The technical team of RED-PAL are the same group that participated in the construction of an agricultural system that demonstrates an agroforestry and educative model in teaching the community of New Egypt about environmental education. Amazon Medicinals founders Michael Sonn and Kathleen Maguire will be funding and marketing the project.

Plan for the Future
To organize and plan our departments into a systematic, productive,and independent economy that is run by the women Shipibos of Ucayali.  This project is fueled by the creative potential of the Shipibo communities.  We are proposing a connection between the females in our community to work together and create while maintaining a sustainable environment and economy.
We are striving to create a Central Indigenous commerce of the entire Peruvian Amazon.  Every village contributes in various departments such as agriculture, fishing, crafts, and other activities.  Their investments are lost in foreign industries because they need to buy medicine, clothing, tools, and food from industrial markets.

Finding an exporting market for clothing that have traditional designs that border and are painted on the clothing are in our future plans.  We want to carry out our project while protecting our ecology, the environment, and our culture.

Executive: Shipibo women´s Co-Operatives from pueblo San Francisco, & Yarina Cocha, Redpal-Peru and Amazon Medicinals
Purpose: Installation of low-tech Shipibo owned and operated production center
Contacts:Michael Sonn, Michael@AmazonMedicinals.com
Ethnic group: Shipibo-Konibo
Location:  Pueblo San Francisco & Yarina Cocha, Region of Ucayali Peru - California U.S.A.

Humanities Department:
Sofia Valles Loma: President of the organization of women called “Chono shobo” project “Ronin Vichi”
Candy Angulo Sanchez:  Designer of the Shipibo innovated designs
Kathleen Maguire: Treasurer, Design & Logistics
Limber Cabrera Gongora:  Logistics
Michael Sonn:  Administration, business agent and advisor

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Amazonmedicinals.com - Redpal-Peru - Elemental Medicine - Santa Teresita Shipibo Village

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