KUNO

Let’s show the world what the Monero community truly stands for: grassroots action, protecting nature, and using freedom-respecting technology to heal society through the separation of money and state.

I am inviting you to help crowdfund a critical piece of equipment for a small Shipibo-run jungle center for natural medicines in the Peruvian Amazon: a motocar.

Tomás, together with his aunt and uncle Teolinda and Segundo, saved for years to open their own retreat center, Nai Rama (https://nairama.weebly.com), dedicated to traditional Shipibo plant medicine and rainforest wisdom. These are not entrepreneurs chasing profit - they are guardians of ancestral knowledge and of the forest itself. Teolinda and Segundo each carry over 30 years of experience with ayahuasca and plant medicines, and I can personally vouch for the integrity, respect, and care with which they treat every visitor.

Today their biggest obstacle is painfully simple: transportation. Tomás’ current motocar is ancient and breaks down constantly. A reliable replacement would change everything.

Here is how you can support them:

Visit them. Book a retreat at Nai Rama and experience first-hand the depth of Shipibo culture and care.
Or, if travel is not an option, join this crowdfunder and help us purchase a new motocar for Tomás.
This is not a luxury item. A decent motocar is a lifeline. It allows Tomás to provide taxi services when there are no guests at the center, ensuring steady income, helping the center survive, and enabling him to fund the education of his children.

Why does this matter for the Amazon?

Nai Rama is located on the edge of deep rainforest near Pucallpa. During my recent stay I personally witnessed how my financial contributions went directly into planting medicinal plants and trees. The Shipibo people consider themselves protectors of the forest, and history proves them right. Indigenous communities across the Amazon have consistently demonstrated that living with the forest, not exploiting it, is the most effective form of conservation (see references below).

The reality in Peru is grim: corruption is widespread, huge areas of rainforest are sold off to deforestation interests, and Indigenous activists who resist are often threatened or killed while criminal enterprises operate with impunity (see videos on X thread). When we fund Indigenous communities, we are not only sustaining livelihoods - we are strengthening the front line of rainforest protection and helping them access legal support in their fight to defend their land.

This is an opportunity for the Monero community to be seen not only as pioneers of financial freedom, but as people of conscience - generous, protective of nature, and willing to act where it truly matters.

If you believe in a world where technology empowers humanity rather than exploits it, please consider contributing.

Together, we can keep this forest standing and give Tomás and his family a future.

References:
https://rainforestfoundation.org/scientific-evidence-points-to-indigenous-peoples-forest-management-as-key-to-climate-change-mitigation "..Indigenous Peoples’ Forest Management as Key to Climate Change Mitigation"
https://iucn.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/es-2021-12625.pdf
"..environmental stewardship of Indigenous peoples and local communities represents the primary pathway to effective long-term conservation of biodiversity.."
https://www.wri.org/insights/indigenous-and-local-community-land-rights-protect-biodiversity "Indigenous Peoples and local communities hold or manage 54% of the world's remaining intact forests."
https://www.un-redd.org/post/indigenous-peoples-see-importance-protecting-forests-can-rest-world-follow "deforestation rates can fall by up to 66% when Indigenous land rights are secured"

Contact: https://x.com/JohnnyB98008228