Why R.U.N.Amazon?

"runa"

In traditional Lamista beliefs, a runa is a living community. The community is not only outside of a person, but the runa himself is a community. It is believed that there does not exist an essence or unique substance that gives identity to humanity, instead only a tightly woven fabric of humans and their environment. We use this idea as a cornerstone of our work in supporting sustainable communities.

R.U.N.

One of our missions is to help bridge the gap between the Rural, Urban, and Natural areas on our planet. We believe that if we create a more cohesive unity between these three elements, the world will be a healthier place. Our programs work to connect grassroots organizations with the developed world, allowing an exchange of information and resources to occur, benefiting all parties involved.

Our Team

Rodrigo Ponce Otoya, Founder

B.A. Economics, Universidad del Pacifico, Lima, Peru
MSc Ecotourism, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru
Certified Permacultural Designer, Instituto Permacultural e Ecovilas do Cerrado, Ecocentro IPEC, Goiàs, Brazil
2012 Certified Rainwater Harvesting Practitioner, Watershed Management Group, Tuscon, Arizona
2012 Community Solutions Program Fellow

http://www.irex.org/project/community-solutions

Rodrigo has spent the last seven years living onsite in Amazonian rural villages participating in communal work, assemblies, cleanups, workshops, leading environmental activities, understanding the local natural medicine and tales, reforesting, and surveying possibilities for sustainable alternatives. He uses his background in economics and ecotourism to develop programs which work towards sustainable and eco-sensitive economies for local communities.

Olande Silva Pinedo is our representative working in Tarapoto, coordinating the implementation of the project by organizing logistics and communication between Tarapoto and the project site. Olande is interested mainly in possibilities for intercultural exchange in bilingual education. Our project allows Olande to experiment hands on with his studies and to advise optimal opportunities for interlinguistic exchange. A music aficionado, Olande is always ready to chat about American alternative rock, including some of his favorite bands like Interpol and The National.

A native San Roquino, Edgar Ochoa Vela comes from a long lineage of traditional farmers. In his studies, he focused on sustainable farming technical practices, and works as our main representative in the field, spending much of his time advising and learning from the farmers in the San Roque area. Edgar is currently working on the foundations of a project that works towards converting local farms into 100% organic and sustainable systems. Although his thick accent makes most of his words incomprehensible to even his close friends, Edgar is always the first to crack a joke and a big smile.

William Del Aguila Vela has dedicated the last 10 years of his like working with groups of youth in San Roque de Cumbaza, earning him the Hero Entrepeneur award in 2011. A local celebrity of sorts, William is known as an individual dedicated to positive change in the village, and his motives stem from a deep love and loyalty to the people of San Roque. He has worked particularly hard to listen to the needs of the community and to implement them in the structuring of our project. When he’s not working hard, you’ll often catch William singing along to his favorite tunes, from Andrei Bocelli to the latin pop star Carlos Vives.

Our Partners

We work to empower rural grassroots organizations in San Roque de Cumbaza, including these pertners:

Community Based Tourism Association of San Roque de Cumbaza
“Los Triunfadores”, Local Youth Association
Food and Beverage Committee
Beekeeping Farmers
San Roque de Cumbaza local school
“Las Campesinas” Women’s Group
“Kechwa-Lamas” Native Community of Chirikyacu