Evelin Gerda Lindner, Medical Doctor, Clinical and Social Psychologist, Ph.D. (Dr. med.), Ph.D. (Dr. psychol.), Organiser of the HumanDHS Conferences, Supporting the Local Conveners

See the videos made in Brasil when Evelin spent time there in June 2012. See also See also still pictures. Evelin Lindner's 2012 Digniventure reflections.

Evelin Gerda Lindner is the Founding President of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) network and initiator of the World Dignity University initiative. She is a transdisciplinary social scientist and humanist who holds two Ph.D.s, one in medicine and one in psychology. In 1996, she designed a research project on the concept of humiliation and its role in genocide and war. German history served as starting point. She is the recipient of the 2006 SBAP Award, the 2009 "Prisoner’s Testament" Peace Award, the 2014 HumanDHS Lifetime Award, and she has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015, 2016, and 2017. She is affiliated with the University of Oslo, Norway, with its Centre for Gender Research, and with its Department of Psychology (folk.uio.no/evelinl/), furthermore, with the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN), which was superseded, in 2009, by the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4) at Columbia University, New York. She is also affiliated with the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme in Paris. Lindner is teaching globally, including in South East Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Africa, and other places globally. [read more]
Please see:
• Interview with Evelin Lindner - Challenges of our Time; Learning to Connect, December 8, 2016
• Mini-Documentary of the Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict "The Globalization of Dignity," December 8 - 9, 2016

Linda Hartling, Ph.D., Social Psychologist, Organiser of the HumanDHS Conferences, Supporting the Local Conveners

Dr. Linda M. Hartling is the Director of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS). She is also a Member of the HumanDHS Global Advisory Board, HumanDHS Global Core Team, HumanDHS Global Coordinating Team, HumanDHS Research Team, and HumanDHS Education Team. She is the Editor of the Journal of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (JHDHS).
Hartling is affiliated with the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMTI) at the Stone Center, which is part of the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Until November 2008, she was its Associate Director. Hartling is a member of the JBMTI theory-building group advancing the practice of the Relational-Cultural Theory, which is a new model of psychological development. In addition, Hartling coordinates and contributes to training programs, publications, and special projects for the JBMTI. She holds a doctoral degree in clinical/community psychology and has published papers on resilience, substance abuse prevention, shame and humiliation, relational practice in the workplace, and Relational-Cultural Theory. [read more]
Please see:
• Humiliation: Real Pain, A Pathway to Violence, the draft of Linda's paper for Round Table 2 of our 2005 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict, Columbia University, New York.
• Humiliation: Assessing the Impact of Derision, Degradation, and Debasement, first published in The Journal of Primary Prevention, 19(4): 259-278, co-authored with T. Luchetta, 1999.
• Shame and Humiliation: From Isolation to Relational Transformation, the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute (JBMIT), Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College No. 88, Wellesley, MA 02481, co-authored with Wendy Rosen, Maureen Walker, Judith V. Jordan, 2000.
• Humiliation and Assistance: Telling the Truth About Power, Telling a New Story, paper prepared for the 5th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies 'Beyond Humiliation: Encouraging Human Dignity in the Lives and Work of All People', in Berlin, 15th -17th September, 2005.
• Mini-Documentary of the Annual Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict "The Globalization of Dignity," December 8 - 9, 2016

Gabriela Rodrigues Saab Riva, Organiser, and Convener

Gaby was the host of the WhatsApp Group for the conference.
She is a member of the HumanDHS Research Team and the HumanDHS Education Team.
Gaby has earned her PhD from the University of São Paulo. She holds two Masters in Public International Law and Human Rights. Her studies focus on human rights, environmental protection, and armed conflicts. She graduated from University of São Paulo with a Bachelor's Degree in Law and has completed the Sciences Po International Program in Paris, where she studied sustainable development policies. [read more]

Daniel Baron, Host, Organiser, and Convener

Daniel Baron is a community-based arts-educator and cultural activist, presently living and working in Marabá, in the Amazonian State of Pará, northern Brasil. He studied English Literature at Oxford University where he did doctoral research into theatre as popular education. After a decade of community theatre and mural collaborations dedicated to conflict transformation and social justice with excluded communities in Manchester (Northern England) and Derry (North of Ireland), in 1994 Dan accepted a permanent post in theatre and popular education at the University of Glamorgan, in Wales. He left Wales in 1998 to collaborate as a Visiting Professor at the State University of Santa Catarina and has been collaborating with communities within the Landless, Indigenous, Trade Union and University movements of Brasil ever since. His Pedagogy of Transformance emerged through these collaborations and dialogues with other cultural movements in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Two national awards in 2008 and 2010 from the Ministry of Culture and a national UNICEF award in 2011 allowed Dan to accept an invitation to live and collaborate with the Afro-Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco ('dry hair'), founding community of the city of Marabá, in the quest to develop sustainable communities through living popular culture.
Between 2004-10 Dan was the President of IDEA (International Drama/Theatre and Education Association), and Coordinator of the World Alliance for Arts Education between 2006-2010. He is a member of the World Council of the World Social Forum.
10th January 2018: Good Living Amazon is an alternative paradigm project. It is seeded in the small Afro- Indigenous community of Cabelo Seco, first settlement of Marabá City, between the threatened Itacaiúnas and Tocantins Rivers, Pará State. This region of the Brazilian Amazon has the greatest biodiversity and concentration of iron ore and drinking water in the world. But it also has the world’s highest statistic for murdered activists and contains the most violent cities (genocide of black youth and extreme abuse of women), with the worst high school education in Brasil. [read more]

Dan kindly sent us this in 2018 and 2019:
• Letter from Marabá 1: Toxic promises
• Letter from Marabá 2: Storms and fury
• Letter from Marabá 3: Democracy in prison
• Letter from Marabá 4: Our time will return
• Letter from Marabá 5: University of good living
• Letter from Marabá 6: Touched by the future
• Open Diary 'Everything that no-one wants (in the shadows of dictatorship)', 7th September 2018
• Atlas of the Future: Brasil’s rivers of creativity: Future League Rios de Encontro, 2019
• Rios de Encontro: Towards a Good Living Amazon (Flying River Tour), August 2019

Francisco Cardoso Gomes de Matos, Peace Linguist, Linguista da Paz, Inspirer, Inspirador

Professor Francisco Gomes de Matos is the co-founder of ABA GLOBAL EDUCATION in Recife, Brasil, and the author of DIGNITY: A Multidimensional View (Dignity Press, 2013). He has taught linguistics and languages at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) in Recife, northeastern Brasil till his retirement in 2003. He holds degrees in languages and law from UFPE and in linguistics from the University of Michigan and the Catholic University of São Paulo. [read more]

O que falta ao Brasil? What's Missing in Brasil?
by Francisco Gomes de Matos, a peace linguist, professor emeritus of Linguistics, Federal University of Pernambuco, and president of the Board, ABA Global Education, Recife, Brasil, 13th December 2017 (Pdf).
In ENEM, the Brazilian National Examination for College Entrance, taken by high school seniors, a written essay in Portuguese is required of examinees. If the topic of year 2017 had been 'What's missing in Brasil?' a resulting huge sample would be provided of how Brazilian pre-university students would perceive and describe gaps in the country's systems of education, pulic health, security, economy, agriculture, industry, media, technology, arts, sciences, inter-government power relations. The universe of essays would enable us to organize many lists, such as a list on what should be done to overcome hunger/poverty/absolute misery and to provide low-cost housing for the poor. Another list would be focused on core values which Brazilians would be short of, such as respect, honesty, integrity, spirituality. In the data bank of essays, we would find examples of Imaginative Citizenship (political parties which would prioritize public health, environmental co-rersponsibility. Imagine, for instance, a political party devoted to environmental dignity). The insights and reflections found in the essays would help adults exercise their critical thinking in a humbling manner, by welcoming young people's suggestions, especially those recommendations aimed at implementing a veritable Brazilianhood.
Dear reader, what do you think is missing in Brasil ? Make a list of such gaps as challenging problems and suggest solutions which would help TRANSform Brazilian positively. What's missing in Brasil so it can go beyond the national motto ORDER AND PROGRES? PluriDIGNITY, DIGNEducation, DIGNIpolitics, DIGNIcommunity living.
Dear reader, please probe the multidimensionality of DIGNITY in the current Brazilian context.

Professor Francisco Gomes de Matos, kindly gifted the following reflections to this conference:

Línguas Indígenas | O Direito à Água | The Right to Water
23rd April 2019

Amazon(i) a(s): um ecoreflexao
30th August 2019

Amazonia, uma vasta e variada regiao.
Da Ame'rica do Sul , ambiental coracao.
No Brasil,grande parte da Amazonia e' o portentoso Amazonas estado
Por um majestoso,navega'vel rio banhado
Amazonia, mais que uma extraordina'ria
riqueza natural
e' uma macrorealidade ecolo'gica que
requer sustentabilidade local, regional e universal

On sustainability
29th August 2019

Sustainability is deeply embedded in Nature
It is a life--long commitment by Humanity
to treat the environment with all Dignity
and to ensure people's right to Serenity

On the Dignity of the Amazonian region:
A global plea
26th August 2019

Among  Life-supporting Universals
Inherently yours and mine, one stands out: Dignity
Human Dignity we could view more comprehensively
by applying to Nature that uniQUALITY.
In such spirit, in this Conference context
let's speak of the Dignity o Nature and
inquire:
1- What is known about Amzonian ecological reality? Why?
2- Is the Amazonian region being treated dignifyingly? Why?
3- Are Amazonian indigenous communities protected by the local/federal government? Why?
4- Are Amazonian flora/fauna treated with respect?
5- How can the concept of Environmental Dignity of Amazonia be described / discussed economicalky,
educationally, politically, legally, sccientifically, technologically?
6- What Statement on the environmental Dignity of Amazonia could be drafted by the Conference participants in Portuguese, English and a local indigenous language as a Plea to be globally addressed by HumanDHS ?

Amazonicamente falando
Por sua DIGNIDADE pleiteando
7 de ago de 2019

A Dignidade da Amazonica regiao?
Esta' no respeito, no cuidado, no Amor
a sua flora, sua fauna, sua populacao

Humildade na Amazonica regiao?
De quem vive longe das grandes cidades
das florestas no coracao
nas margens ribeirinhas
onde sobrevivem criancinhas

Brasilidade na Amazonica regiao?
O Portugues e as Linguas que os indigenas falam
Culturas mantidas na diversa Nacao

A Regiao Amazonica ,como dignificar?
Para a EcoDignidade as novas geracoes educar

A Regiao Amazonica como proteger, preservar, fazer prosperar?
'A nossa Identidade Brasileira uma co-Identidade Amazonica aprendamos a acrescentar e cultivar

On Dignity: A Challenging Checklist
For the Marabá DIGNEVENT
25th April 2019
Dignity is a way of living
Dignity is a way of giving
Dignity is a way of forgiving
Dignity is a way of character-enhancing
Dignity is a way of humility-advancing
Dignity calls for everyday peaceful Communication
Dignity calls for everyday respectful Cooperation
Dignity calls for everyday economic Egalisation

On Amazonian Dignity: An Ecolinguistic View
For the Marabá DIGNEVENT
6th February 2019
Amazonian Dignity above us lies
Look at all the birds in its vast skies!
Amazonian Dignity below us is found
Listen! The fish make their own sound!
Amazonian Dignity its forests and all around
In its splendor, fauna and flora abound
Amazonian Dignity its legends and traditions thrive
Through indigenous languages its history is alive
Amazonian Dignity is the core of local Nature's Rights
Illuminating Amazonians' villages and cities with dignifying environmental lights

The DIGNalphabet
'In my humble DIGNalphabet, I am spiritually present in the Maraba Conference!'
15th April 2019
Altruism | Benevolence | Character-elevating | Decency | Empathy | Friendship | Goodness | Human Rights awareness | Integrity | Justice | Kindness | Law | Mercy | Nonviolence/Nonkilling | Open-mindedness | Peace | Questioning | Respect | Spirituality | Tenderness | Understanding | Virtue-valuing | World-Citizenship nurturing | Youth-inspiring

The Dignity Tree
(Portuguese)
4th May 2019
If DIGNITY was a tree
What would we see?
Among its branches, inspiringly there would be three:
Character-elevation | Behavior-amelioration | Life-quality transformation
Among the fruit Dignity would bear, what would you and me share?
Dignicharacter formation | Dignilogue cultivation | Digneconegalization | DigniNature preservation | DigniHumanity education
Please add to this imaginative piece!

Inspired by the words of Professor Francisco Gomes de Matos, these murals were painted by the pupils of Redjane Andrade, a teacher of English at a public school in Recife, in August 2019. It was made into a T-shirt that even Professor Francisco can wear!


Redjane Andrade kindly explained (18th September 2019): This Dignity Tree was painted on the wall in a event in my city Recife on 8th September 2019 by a graffitti artist. The women who painted the tree is my sister, she knows my work and project with students in public school. She lost her son in 2015, and he was a graffitti artist. She decided to join a group to help young people in socially vulnerable situations.

Francisco Gomes de Matos and Redjane Andrade (2019)
Dignity Studies Here!
Recife, Brazil, 17th October 2019.

Day One, Wednesday, 28th August 2019, Marabá, Pará

The Câmara Municipal de Marabá, Prefeitura de Marabá, the City Hall of Marabá or the Marabá City Council

On the morning of Wednesday, 28th August 2019, at the opening of the ordinary session of the Câmara Municipal de Marabá, the City Hall of Marabá, the Marabá City Council welcomed the members of Mano’s and Dan’s Rivers of Encounter Project, as they were scheduled to leave for a tour of four European countries: Austria, Poland, Germany, and Belgium, on 2nd September. Six young people from the Cabelo Seco Community were on their way to defend the Amazon in Europe, showing the strength of culture and what they are doing to help preserve it.

The Câmara Municipal de Marabá, Prefeitura de Marabá, the City Hall of Marabá or the Marabá City Council, is made up of twenty-one seats since 2013 (until 2012 there were thirteen), when, by determination of the Superior Electoral Court, the municipalities got a number of councilors equivalent to their population. The old City Hall building was called Palacete Augusto Dias. The current City Hall building was opened on 23rd December 2010.

These are pictures of the Câmara Municipal de Marabá taken from the internet.


Still photos and videos of Day One:
• Please click here to see more pictures of the event. On the photo on the left, Manoela Souza is speaking to the City Hall. On the photo of the right: One of the speakers in the general event, Pedrinho Correa Lima (Abaetetuba, 28.10.1964–) Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro (PTB), one of the councilmen.
See an article in the local newspaper Correio: 'Jovens vão à Europa defender a Amazônia' (Pdf)
See the link on the maraba.pa.leg.br website: The Camera receives project rivers of meeting


See videos of Day One:
• See the video of the entire session (cell phone version) that was recorded by the City Hall and posted on their Facebook page

• See the video of the relevant section edited out by Evelin Lindner from Facebook. See also Rios de Encontro: Towards a Good Living Amazon (Flying River Tour)

• See the video recording of Evelin Lindner's message on her own camera. Dan Baron translated from English to Portuguese.

In December 2019, in Marabá City Council, Dan Baron and Manoela Souza defend Amazonia as the center of the world and advocate Good Living Marabá (and Amazonia), through medicinal plants, community allotments, education for sustainability, as a global paradigm project. Multi-party consensus, and paradigmatic message for COP 25. See more photos sent to us by Dan Baron in December 2019 here.


This is the AfroRaiz Collective (African Roots Collective) that left for a tour of Europe (Austria, Poland, Germany, and Belgium) on 2nd September 2019. On the picture on the left, they thank the participants of the national mental health day on 18th May 2019. On the right side, they celebrate their annual kite festival in their community Cabelo Seco (dry hair) in August 2019. They do so in the midst of the destruction of the Amazon.
• Please click on the pictures to see them larger. We thank Dan Baron for sharing them with us.


This was the situation in the Amazon, seen from Europe in July 2019: 'Brasil Continues to Destroy the Rainforest – But Resistance Is Growing' (Pdf) is an article that was published in Germany in July 2019, explaining how the forest is cut and telling the story of a small indigenous group who vows to resist. It does not mention European drivers of this destruction, such as the EU-Mercosur agreement. The article misleads the European reader to believe that the problem can be solved within Brasil. The European reader remains unaware that European interests work as an amplifier of the problem. Indeed, the problem did not get smaller after July, on the contrary, it got much worse, as fires were started everywhere on 10th August.


We ended the day at a restaurant on the banks of the river Tocantins.
From left: Gabriela Saab, Dan Baron, Manoela Soua, Evelin Lindner.
• Please click here to see more photos.

End of Day One

Day Two: Thursday, 29th August 2019, Marabá, Pará

House of Rivers, Cabelo Seco, Marabá, Pará

•  Welcome from the AfroRaiz Collective of young artists, cultural and pedagogical leaders from Cabelo Seco

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of this morning session

•  Welcome from the hosts of this Dignity Caravan, Dan Baron and Manoela Souza, Directors of the Transformance Institute Culture & Education and its Community University of the Rivers

•  Welcome from the conference convener, Gabriela Rodrigues Saab Riva, Human Rights Law and Environmental Law (USP), Specialist in the Right to Water as a Human Right, Researcher of HumanDHS

•  Introduction to the Amazonian frame, Claudelice Santos, Sustainable Extractivist and Law of the Land undergraduate (University of South and South East Pará), sister of assassinated forest protector Zé Cláudio dos Santos

•  Introduction to the international frame: Who We Are: Our Global Dignity Family, Evelin Lindner, founder-president of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) network and World Dignity University Initiative

•  12.30 Skype meeting with Johan Galtung and Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa on the emergency in the Amazon

Johan Galtung is the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies, and he kindly agreed to offer his advice to the people in the Amazon who are in deep distress. He gifted one hour of his time to speak on Skype from his home in Spain. Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa was so kind as to accompany Johan. Johan's main advice was to use all resources available, political, technical, scientific. He suggested to follow six steps (a mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches). As to bottom-up, his suggestion was to concentrate on raising those who are down, raising the poor, and to do that by forming collectives, cooperatives. His recommendation was to focus on clean water and organic food first, followed by energy, health and education. Work with the widows of people who lost their lives because of social and environment problems, he suggested, and make the stories of the victims known to a wider public. Finally, as for top-down solutions, he urged to go to the United Nations, maybe ask for the intervention of the peace keeping forces. Talk directly to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, was his proposal, not only because of his position and moral obligations, but also because of the proximity between an influential Portuguese national and the Brazilian environmental and social problems.

• Please click on the photo above or here to see it larger
• See also a little video sequence selected from the hour long conversation

	Johan Galtung, born 1930, is the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies. See also 'Johan Galtung, a Pioneer: Conceptualizing Peace Journalism', by Antonio C. S. Rosa, M.A., Editor - TRANSCEND Media Service Peace Journalism, 22nd October 2018.
	Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa, born 1946, is a pioneer in Peace Journalism. He is the founder-editor of the pioneering Peace Journalism website, TRANSCEND Media Service-TMS (from 2008), an assistant to Prof. Johan Galtung, Secretary of the International Board of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment. Please see this conference being mentioned on the TRANSCEND Member site.

• Session at the Escola Irmã Theodora, a public school in Marabá

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of this afternoon session

Please see this letter from a group of young pupils from the Irmã Theoroda school about the destruction of the Amazon:

Carta da escola Irmã Theodora: •  Portuguese original •  English translation •  German translation •  French translation •  Norwegian translation (translations by Evelin Lindner) • 'How Long Do We Have to Limit the Climate Crisis: 18 Months or 11 Years?', by Anca Rusu, Ethical Net, 22nd August 2019.

• 3pm – 4pm Introduction by Gabriela Saab and dialogue session with students and teachers of the Law of the Land at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA) in Marabá about restorative justice, and ecocide law

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of this evening session

This is a letter to the International Criminal Court and to the UN Secretary-General from the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences and the World Council of Anthropological Associations on 30th August 2019, denouncing the Brazilian government for ecocide.

See also some background material:
• Ecocide law: 'The Whanganui River in New Zealand is a legal person. A nearby forest is too. Soon, the government will grant a mountain legal personhood as well. Here's how it happened, and what it may mean', by Kennedy Warne, National Geographic, April 2019.
• Social media: General Data Protection Regulation
• Healing and resilience: 'Territories of Life' Indigenous and Community Conserved Area (ICCA), Great Transition Initiative, Transition Towns, Human Rights Cities, Ecovillages, Urban agriculture, Boston Food Forest Coalition (BFFC)

• 4pm – 5pm Introduction by Evelin Lindner and dialogue session with students and teachers of the Law of the Land at the Federal University of Southern and Southeastern Pará (UNIFESSPA) about healing pedagogies and practices, resilience studies, social media for dignity

Evelin had been asked to touch upon healing pedagogies and practices, resilience studies, social media for dignity. After Gaby's talk she therefore briefly shared with the audience that dignity basically cannot be defined theoretically, that it is embodied. One way to make it visible is by two people holding hands in the way the infinity symbol is formed.

Equal dignity in solidarity is manifested when both partners stay connected while looking into each other's eyes as equals. In this way, they demonstrate unity in diversity (this represents the philosophical notion of non-dualism). Loving solidarity is the strongest force there is.

When we look at societies around the world, however, we can observe two main toxic 'degradations' of this setup:
1. There is the sociocide – the destruction of the social fabric – that occurs in contexts of oppressive hierarchies and it can be demonstrated by one partner standing above the other. Oppressive hierarchies are kept in place by superiors humiliating inferiors, for example, men humiliate women and everything perceived as ‘female’, 'industrial/breadwinner masculinities' dominate, exploit, and mistreat also 'mother' nature. In this situation, many subordinates close their eyes in apathetic resignation, or they look up, either in subservient admiration or in fearful disgust. Some live in the hope or in the illusion that reaching out to superiors and offering them to kiss their hands will make them more caring, while others refuse to reach out to uncaring superordinates and others even contemplate mutiny and revolt. The result is a society characterised by:
1a. apathetic obedience,
1b. the 'Stockholm syndrome', or the identification with the oppressor,
1c. solidarity among those who unite in hatred against oppressors, often in blind obedience to messiah-like anti-leaders.
Conclusion: Noone exits from the top-down frame.

2. Then there is the sociocide inflicted by excessive individualism in Western societies. This can be showcased by both partners remaining equal, that is, both standing upright with their heads at the same height, yet, no longer holding hands but keeping a certain distance from each other or even raising their hands in hostility. Some clasp their hands in front of their chests in self-righteous solipsism, despising and humiliating everyone as lazy who can't buy goods and services with money, in other words, a sophisticated form of the 'Stockholm syndrome' with money as seemingly neutral confirmation of the legitimacy of the principle that only money-based contracts count, while nature or future generations represent insignificant externalities. Others throw their hands up in the air in despair and indignation at the lack of social connectivity and care in society, while yet others use their hands to lash out against scapegoats. The result is a society characterised by:
2a. anomie, isolation, loneliness,
2b. callousness,
2c. hatred.
Conclusion: Noone exits from the illusion of equality in a top-down frame.

Evelin shared some more reflections with Gabriela Saab at the end of this day:
First, when one is being humiliated, it is important to actually feel it (rather than bypass it or suppress it), while, at the same time, extending deep compassionate care to one's violated sense of self. The aim must be to avoid accepting humiliation, to avoid weakening oneself by turning humiliation into shame. Only then is one able to gauge the situation calmly, only then can one read the situation properly and duly prepare for what to do next.
Second: Lets not run from the bullets but also not into the bullets! The Jews of Vienna were being systematically humiliated by their Nazi abusers (old men were forced to go down on their knees and brush the streets of Vienna, even with toothbrushes). This humiliation was basically the first step on the path to a death sentence. Many of the Jews who were thus 'prepared' had no strength left when they faced death camps. Jews from Greece, in contrast, still had strength left when they arrived in Auschwitz on the train from Greece, and they openly revolted. As a result, they were shot on the spot by the SS men. In other words, both groups did not have a chance to achieve some kind of valid resistance: the first groupd had no strength left, the second no time.
Conclusion: Preserve your dignified sense of self and your strength, even in the face of humiliation, stay calm, so that you can form collectives, hide in solidarity, and plan appropriately. Use the strongest force there is as much as possible: loving solidarity. Nurture this solidarity within the group, avoid building in-group solidarity on out-group hatred, otherwise, you can never turn your 'enemies' into friends.

End of Day Two

Day Three: Friday for the Future, 30th August 2019, Marabá, Pará

• 10am – 12am Sandro Campos and Célia Campos interviewed Dan Baron, Evelin Lindner, and Gabriela Saab in Radio Correio 92.1

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of this radio session, and listen to the interview!

• In the House of Rivers in Cabelo Seco: Manoela Souza invited Gaby, Evelin, and Dan to a delicious dinner

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of this evening.
• On the left side, you see the famous radio bycicle donated by a Dutch anthropologist, after he had visited. See it in action in Rios de Encontro: Towards a Good Living Amazon (Flying River Tour).
• In the middle you see a unique library, a library whose aim it is to be empty: its books are given to the community!
• On the right side you see the amazing dinner that Mano had prepared!

• 7pm – 9.30pm House of Rivers in Cabelo Seco: Performance of Flying Rivers by AfroRaiz Collective, with songs by local poets, followed by Roundtable with social movements and community activists

• 9.30pm Circle of Love Gifts (Video)

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 35 photos of this 'Circle of Love Gifts' session
• See also a little video

Evelin lives globally, and whenever she receives a gift in one part of the world, she takes it to another part of the world and looks for a worthy recipient for that gift. The concept is called 'circle of love gifts'. When she has found a worthy recipient, she tries to take a picture of the recipient and sends it to the giver of the gift (the photos you see above will therefore be sent to the givers of the gifts). In that way, not only is her global life a bridge-building endeavour, also the gifts that she carries help build more bridges. It is also a 'footprint' of her path through the world. Her suitcase is therefore always full of gifts, and she rather wears the clothes of her hosts. Here you see her in Mano’s and Dan’s House of Rivers in Cabelo Seco, in this case, with gifts from Egypt, Norway, Germany, New York, and India.

Here is AfroRaiz in December 2019, celebrating the gift from China, received from Evelin in August. See more photos sent to us by Dan Baron in December 2019 here.

End of Day Three

Day Four: Saturday, 31st August 2019, two hours by car and boat from the city of Marabá

This was an all-day excursion to two fishing communities – the Vila Praia Alta community on the island Ilha Praia Alta in the river Tocantins, and to the Tauiry community on the shores of the river Tocantins – hosted and mentored by biologist and fishing monitor Cristiane (Cris) Vieira da Cunha

The Amazon is threatened not just by logging, not just by arson to clear land for cattle and soya production, it is also threatened by mining, the building of dams, and the blasting of rocks – in this case, the rocks of the Pedral de Lourenção on the way to Ilha Praia Alta – and to turn natural rivers into industrial highways or 'hydrovias'. See 'Brazil Could Dynamite Amazon Dolphin, Turtle Habitat for Industrial Waterway', by Tiffany Higgins, Mongabay, 2nd July 2020.


• Gabriela Saab and Evelin Lindner had the privilege to have UNIFESSPA professor and researcher Cristiane Vieira da Cunha as host and mentor. In this video, she explains how the Participatory Monitoring Project helps riverside communities understand more about their own activities.

Cristiane explains (29th January 2021): As comunidades do entorno do Pedral do Lourenção, localizadas as margens do rio Tocantins, no Pará, Brasil, vem lutando pela defesa de seus territórios. Na região está planejada a passagem de uma hidrovia, que poderá destruir os pedrais da região. Os únicos remanescentes na bacia Araguaia - Tocantins, que já foi impactado por várias hidroelétricas. Em outubro de 2020, mesmo diante da pandemia, estão construindo protocolo de consulta das comunidades e este documento, organizado por eles, registra este processo e faz um resgate dos momentos de luta das comunidades.
English (via Google Translator): The communities surrounding Pedral do Lourenção, located on the banks of the Tocantins River, in Pará, Brazil, have been fighting to defend their territories. The passage of a waterway is planned in the region, which could destroy the rocks of the region. The only remaining ones in the Araguaia - Tocantins basin, which has already been impacted by several hydroelectric plants. In October 2020, even in the face of the pandemic, community consultation protocols are being built and this document, organized by them, records this process and rescues the communities' moments of struggle.


The map shows where the various quilombos sit along the Tocantins River, as well as other traditional communities.
(Map produced by João Silva Barbosa Jr. and organized by Edir Augusto Dias Pereira and Manuel Maria Pinto da Rocha Ramos)
'Peoples of the Water: Saving a River and the Amazon from Industry', by Tiffany Higgins (text), and Paola Saliby (photos), Atmos, 20th December 2021.

Dan Baron kindly sent us this picture on 7th September 2017, and he wrote: 'I attach three photos of our intervention on the 43k of rocks threatened to be destroyed to make way for huge cargo ships, from the final day of the forum, and three clips (from many) in solidarity with the Amazon. Feel free to use them as you wish'.

• Alerta popular pela proteção do bem viver no Pedral do Lourenção, 7th September 2017, photos sent by Dan Baron
• On the right side: O canto de jovens ribeirinhos em defesa do Pedral do Lourenção (Pará), 16 de outubro de 2019

• See on the left photo the Pedral do Lourenção rocks are part of the Central Brazilian Plateau, an upland area formed one billion years ago of hard crystalline old rocks. See 'Pedral do Lourenção: Para IBAMA, ainda é preciso complementar estudos ambientais', por Redação, Correio de Carajas, 17 de setembro de 2019
• See on the left photo a larger poster on the wall in the Tauiry fishing village

Gabriela Saab shared this with the WhatsApp group on 31st August 2019:
Dear Dignifriends, tonight I would like to introduce you to a fishing community called Tauiry, in Pará! There we had the opportunity to understand better and learn with these amazingly humble people. They are extremely dependent on the Tocantins River, which already have a big Dam an there is a project of a Waterway to export non-sustainable extractivism products! The project will not only affect more than 70% of their income but will also make some islands (like the one in the pictures below) completely disappear. All this without any sort of previous compensation so they can restart their lives somewhere else. And they received us with so many smiles and hugs we will NEVER forget! It is like we brought them hope just by listenning to them, but funny enough is their sustainable way of life and the way they are organizing themselves for their rights and the rights of the river what brought Us hope! As Evelin said, the world has to come to those places to learn with these people. They should not change! They are the hope!

International Rivers website: On the Tocantins river, five large dams have already been constructed (Tucurui, Estreito, Serra da Mesa, Cana Brava and Lajeado) and two new large dams (Serra Quebrada and Marabá) are planned. ... Another major threat to the rivers and people ot the Araguaia-Tocantins basin are plans to channelize and blast rock outcroppings along 1,782 km of the Araguaia and the Rio das Mortes, as well as sections of the Tocantins to construct an industrial waterway, or hidrovia, to lower the cost of transporting soybeans for export.

Wikipedia: The Tucuruí Dam (Tucuruí means "grasshopper's water", translated from Tupí language; Portuguese: Tucuruí) is a concrete gravity dam on the Tocantins River located on the Tucuruí County in the State of Pará, Brasil... The dam was built primarily as a source of hydroelectricity and second for navigation between the upper and lower Tocantins River... Impact: The Tucuruí Dam brought power to 13 million people and 60% of the power is transferred to industries which create just under 2,000 jobs. Between 25,000 and 35,000 people were removed from the future reservoir zone in the early 1980s. 14,000 people were relocated by the government. 3,750 of these people moved to new islands created by the reservoir which lack adequate infrastructure. Construction of the dam attracted migrants which, along with the reservoir, significantly increased malaria and AIDS cases. The completion of Phase I in 1984 led to a large amount of unemployment among its 20,000 employees and subsequent migration from the area. The flooded area is in the Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranhão moist forests ecoregion, the most degraded in the Amazon region. The overall large influx of people to the area has led to deforestation and negative impacts from increased cattle-raising. The increases of population have also strained existing infrastructure or lack thereof.

Fishes from the depths of Tocantins
26th January 2020
During a scientific expedition on the Tocantins River, some very interesting fish species were recorded in the dives and are included in this video. They are mainly fish that live in current areas (reophilic) and associated with the rocky substrate. The rapids are unique and each river has a specialized fish community to live there (and almost always with endemic species, that is, that only occur in that place). Knowing the biodiversity of places like this is the first step to propose appropriate ways of conservation. The rapids environments are among the most impacted of the aquatic ecosystems and with each change we make (by dams or waterways), many species cease to exist in the place.
Project name: “Amazon Reophilic Fish Fauna: Threatened and Unknown Natural Heritage”
Principal Investigator: Dr. Alberto Akama
Project Tocantins River Expedition Dates: 4 to 15/November/2019
Visited Localities: Comunidade Tauyri Itupiranga Marabá Pedral do Lourenço São João do Araguaia

We started in Marabá at 5 o'clock in the morning, first by car and then by boat. On the way, we made a breakfast break. Then we took pictures from the car of one of the insidious problems that plagues the Amazon: the destruction of the Rainforest so that cows can graze, so that people can eat more meat (see the EU-Mercosur agreement), and the few landowners can amass more power... The problem are not small farmers. When Evelin Lindner was in Brasil in 2012, she inquired (see 2012 Digniventure reflections) and found the MIT Project Amazonia website showing that 0.8% of landlords possess 43% of the land, 53% of landowners (small peasants) own 2.7% of the land, while Multinationals own 36 million hectares of Brazilian territory. Pará is the size of several Western European countries combined, and it is normal for a land owner to own half a million cattle. Pará has a sad reputation for its hired gunmen. See als: 'Revealed: Rampant Deforestation of Amazon Driven by Global Greed for Meat', by Dom Phillips and Daniel Camargos in São Félix do Xingu, Andre Campos in São Paulo, and Andrew Wasley and Alexandra Heal in London, The Guardian, 2nd July 2019: 'Investigation exposes how Brasil’s huge beef sector continues to threaten health of world’s largest Rainforest: "We must not barter the Amazon Rainforest for burgers and steaks" ... 'Because of the high volume of Brazilian beef shipped to China and Hong Kong, these markets are associated with the highest amount of deforestation in total – between 17,400 and 26,400 hectares per year – according to the analysis. The EU also imports more than $600m worth of beef from Brasil each year. And that will increase if the EU and member states approve a new trade deal with Brasil, Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay to gradually let 99,000 tonnes of low-tariff South American beef into Europe every year'. See, furthermore: 'Revealed: How the Global Beef Trade Is Destroying the Amazon', by Andrew Wasley, Alexandra Heal, Dom Phillips, Daniel Camargos, Mie Lainio, André Campos, Diego Junqueira, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 2nd July 2019.

• Please click on the photos above on the left or here to see all 38 photos of our journey to the fishing community on the island in the Tocantins river. We could not see the Pedral do Lourenção rocks, because the water level of the river is now artificially controlled and the rocks are submerged. We saw only one little peak looking out from the water.
• Please cick on the photo on the right or here to see a short video of our return journey in the afternoon, first on the river and later on the road.

Upon arrival by car, we continued by boat to a fishing community on the Praia Alta island in the middle of the river Tocantins, passing the famous Pedral do Lourenção rocks (which we could not see, due to the artificially high water levels). Evelin Lindner's report: We learned that the water of the river is already so polluted that the people living on its shores can no longer drink it: they have to fetch it from another village which still has clean water. We saw a big installation in the river, and we were told that it is to extract diamonds – the local population, however, does not in any way benefit from this extraction – yet, this is only a small source of the pollution of the river. A hydro-electric dam has already been built in the north of Marabá, the Tucuruí dam, against the resistance of many people, and now the next step of this mega-project is being scheduled, namely, to turn the river into a navigable waterway for big ships – a hydrovia – to transport cattle, GM soya, and aluminium. Boulders that are a billion years old, in other words, billion years of eco-infrastructure, shall be removed to industrialise the river. The local population will no longer be able to use their small boats to go the city and to sell their own sustainable products. The water level is already now artificially controlled, so that the fishermen, whose calendar normally depends on the moon and who respect the periods in which fish is reproducing, now have their areas of reproduction and the level of the river dictated by this new 'hydrovia'.

Vila Praia Alta on the Ilha de Praia Alta, an island in the river Tocantins two hours by car and boat Marabá in the Amazonian State of Pará, the first community we had the privilege of meeting this day

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 90 photos of the time Gaby and Evelin had the privilege of being welcomed in Vila Praia Alta to listen and learn.

These were the vides we made in Vila Praia Alta:
08 The Babaçu Palm and Its Beetle Larva Gongo in Vila Praia Alta on Ilha do Praia Alta in the river Tocantins near Marabá in the Amazonian State of Pará, Brasil
09 Tapioca in Vila Praia Alta
10 Urucum in Vila Praia Alta
10+42 Urucum Vila Praia Alta + Ver-o-peso
11 The World Dignity University Initiative in Vila Praia Alta
12 Manoel de Deus Gomes da Silva in Vila Praia Alta
13 Leaving Praia Alta island by boat and at the end of the day back to Marabá by car

Gaby and Evelin were deeply impressed by the sustainability of the ways of living we encountered here. We saw almost no plastic, almost no waste, everything was used. Here, animals have a life, rather than being 'produced'. A rooster crows in the morning, indicating that animals are allowed to have a family, to have a social life in their own right, rather than being reduced to servants of human needs – being used as pets at best (to help placate the loneliness and disconnection in societies of excessive individualism), or consumed as food. The kitchen is outside of the house under an umbrella! And the shell of the babaçu nuts serve as charcoal!

Tauiry, a fishing community on the shores of the river Tocantins, the second community we had the privilege of meeting this day

These were the vides we made in Tauiry:
14 Rafael Cabral in Tauiry
15 Cristiane (Cris) Vieira da Cunha in Tauiry
16 Ronaldo Macena do Tauiry in Tauiry

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 32 photos of the time Gaby and Evelin had the privilege of being welcomed in Tauiry to listen and learn.

These were the reflections Evelin tried to share with the fishermen that Gaby and I met near Marabá. They clearly had been told – and they felt guilty accordingly – for ‘standing in the way of progress’ because they wish to hold on to their familiar lifestyle, remain on their land and not be evicted by industrialisation. I tried to explain to them that THEY represent progress in its true form, and that it is rather the rest of the world that stands in the way of progress. The rest of the world ought to come to THEM and learn from THEM how to live as part of nature, instead of continuing with the illusion that humanity can be nature’s master. I tried to explain that they are the stark opposite of, for instance, coal miners, who actually do stand in the way of progress if they force coal mines to stay open with the argument that they wish to hold on to their familiar lifestyle...

End of Day Four

Day Five: Sunday, 1st September 2019, Nova Ipixuna, two hours from Marabá, Pará

This was an all-day excursion under the mentorship of Claudelice dos Santos to the Assentamento (settlement) de Nova Ipixuna, site of murder of Zé Cláudio and Maria Silva, two forest activists and their living project

• Please meet Claudelice dos Santos! She is a sustainable extractivist and Law of the Land undergraduate (University of South and South East Pará), and sister of assassinated forest protector Zé Cláudio dos Santos

These were the videos we made on this day:
17 The cross for Claudio and Maria
18 Evandra Vilacoert on fire containment
19 How Evandra Vilacoert's fire brigade contained fires
20 Michelliny Bentes on sustainable technologies to traditional communities
21 Daniel Mangas on sustainable technologies to traditional communities
22 Daniel Santiago and Anderson Schwamke on sustainable honey production
23 Chicken life in the Amazon
23.1 Claudelice dos Santos and Her Forest School Project (only accessible upon request)

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 39 photos of our journey to the Assentamento (Settlement) de Nova Ipixuna, ca. one and a half hours by car north of Marabá. Gabriela Saab and Evelin Lindner were privileged to have Claudelice dos Santos as our host, mediator, and mentor.
• Photo on the left: The first interesting sight we encountered was the unending train wagons transporting the riches of the Amazon out of it. We learned that this train was built for that purpose, not for transporting people.
• Photos on the right: The next surprise were the deep grooves in the asphalt of the road. The explanation: Big trucks cause them when they drive out from the Amazon heavily loaded (the trucks return empty). The road is almost unusable for normal cars, it seemed, and required very good driving skills. Evelin took these snapshots out of the car.


• Please click on the photo above on the left side to see a brief video that Gaby made of the place where Claudelice's brother Claudio and his wife Maria were assassinated by gun men in 2011 for speaking up against forest degradation. When Evelin was in Marabá in 2012, this was still fresh, and Claudelice was in deep grief and shock.
• See Claudio and Maria on the photo on the right, and see also 'The Death of Zé Cláudio and Maria: The Scene Is Like Something out of a Sergio Leone Movie. Zé Cláudio and His Wife, Maria, Enter a Small Wooden Bar Off a Dirt Road', by Felipe Milanez, Vice Media, 7th November 2011. See also Wikipedia: 'José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva (January 22, 1957 – May 24, 2011) was a Brazilian conservationist and environmentalist who campaigned against logging and clearcutting of trees in the Amazon Rainforest'.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 29 photos of our wonderful learning and listening time in Nova Ipixuna. After a delicious lunch, Gaby and Evelin had the privilege of being invited to be part in yet another profoundly dignified and dignifying community gathering.

Gaby and Evelin were hugely impressed by the profoundly dignified and dignifying format of the community gatherings we had the privilege of being invited to. In a highly skilled and sophisticated way, everyone was given the floor to speak, all participants laid out their impressions, reflections, and conclusions, one after the other. Clearly, the talking stick format was used (without an actual stick), the well-known 'instrument of aboriginal democracy used by many tribes', a method that ensures that everyone is given space to speak.

• We admired their cosmetic products – soap, oil, insect repellent, lotion – from Andiroba. Andiroba is native to the Amazon and is widely used by the indigenous populations of the northern region of Brasil.

The pictures above were shared by Dan Baron in 2012 as examples of how the exploitation of the Amazon is being 'sanitised' and depicted as being 'good for the people and the environment', in advertisements by the big corporations. This is the text: 'Belo Monte Dam Banco da Amazônia – Movimentando a Amazônia: E a sua vida: FNO: crédito para transformar a sua vida e a Amazônia. Banco da Amazônia' ('Moving Amazon: And your life: FNO (Fundo Constitucional de Financiamento do Norte/Constitutional Financing Fund of the North: credit to transform your life and the Amazon').

Indeed, life has been transformed in the Amazon. We saw the signs of 'destruction for the sake of modernity' everywhere: hydro dams for the production of electricity that does not support sustainable living but feeds an exploitative industrialisation, and forest degradation for the sake of cows for the hunger for meat and profit for a privileged few.
• Please click here to see all 42 photos of our way back from Nova Ipixuna to Marabá.

• The day ended with an interview with Claudelice dos Santos in the park back in Marabá.

End of Day Five

Day Six: Monday, 2nd September 2019, Marabá, Pará

This happened in Belém while Gabriela and Evelin still were in Marabá preparing to travel from Marabá to Belém next day:
Brasil's president Jair Bolsonaro ordered his ministers to meet with the governors of the Amazonian states on 2nd September 2019 in Belém and send a package of new measures to Congress. In that meeting, five Amazon governors and ministers met. Among those attending were Minister of Agriculture Tereza Cristina (a ruralist with large agricultural holdings) and Minister of Defense Fernando Azevedo.

See State Governors Support Bolsonaro’s Amazon Mining, Agribusiness Plans', by Jenny Gonzales, Mongabay, 9th September 2019.
Mongabay is a U.S.-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform.

A wonderful meeting with Cristiane Vieira da Cunha in Marabá

• Please click here to see all 14 photos of this day in Marabá. We have a wonderful morning with Cris, Cristiane Vieira da Cunha!

Waving good-bye good-bye to the AfroRaiz group

• Please click here to see all 14 photos of this day in Marabá. Here, we are waving good-bye to Dan, Mano and the AfroRaiz group, who is leaving for their two months long tour of Europe (Austria, Poland, Germany, Belgium)

Here is AfroRaiz in November and December 2019, celebrating their Europe tour with acai (left) and certificates (right). See more photos sent to us by Dan Baron in December 2019 here. Dan writes on 17th December 2019: 'A toast to you all, let's keep the flame of good life alight, for the next decade!'

One of the riches of the Amazon: Açaí!


• Please click here to see all 14 photos of this day in Marabá. Here you see Gaby and Evelin with blue tongues from too much Açaí icecream!

Sending a thank-you to South Africa

• Please click here to see all 14 photos of this day in Marabá. Here Evelin is sending thanks to Catherine Odora Hoppers, who gave her this special T-shirt in Pretoria in 2013! Thank you, dear Catherine!

End of Day Six

Day Seven part 1: Tuesday, 3rd September 2019, Marabá, Pará

A wonderful meeting with Claudelice dos Santos

• Please click on the photo above or here to see it larger.

Leaving for Belém

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 57 photos of the flight from Marabá to Belém. Gaby and Evelin attempt to take the overland bus whenever possible and try to avoid flying as much as possible. On this flight, several other human behaviours were visible that are destructive for the environment: 1. clean 'bio-water' is being served, however, in plastic that is not 'clean', 2. from the air it is very visible how the degradation of the Rainforest starts with roads and small patches that are cleared for agribusiness.

End of the Marabá part of the conference

Day Seven part 2: Tuesday, 3rd September 2019, Belém, Pará

Arrival in Belém: Gateway to the riches of the Amazon

Our dear Gaby had to leave us here, she had to proceed to São Paulo. Thank you, dear Gaby! What would we have done without YOU!!! We are in deep gratitude!

• Please click on the photo above or here to see all photos of the little shop in the airport of Belém that gave a good overview over the riches of the Amazon.
You see Gaby on the picture above in front of a variety of 'bombons' (fruit in chocolate). These are the different fruits:

Belém: Gateway to the riches of the Amazon

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of the little shop in the airport of Belém that gives a good overview over the riches of the Amazon. Fortunately, not everything is in plastic bottles, there are also some glass containers, for example, with Jambu, and with Pimenta de cheiro:

Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet

Sandro met us in the Belem Soft Hotel where we co-created the programme for the next days (612 Braz de Aguiar Boulevard, Centro, Nazaré, Belém, PA, 66.035-000).

• Please click on the photo above to see it larger. Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet was brought to us by Dan Baron, and he became our wonderful host and mentor in Belém. On the website of his Instituto Humana there is a description of the values that guide his work: 'The values that inspire us ... are dedication and enthusiasm at work, organisation, transparency, care, and rational use in the treatment of available human and material resources'. See also a film about his work that Sandro shared with us.

Kamolrat Intaratat and her colleague Piyachat came all the way from Thailand to the Amazon

• Please click on the photo above to see it larger. Our dear Kjell Skyllstad brought Kamolrat Intaratat to us. She travelled for 42 hours, together with her colleagues Piyachat, all the way from Bangkok to the Amazon. They would have liked to come for the first part of the conference in Marabá, but due to limitations from their university, they could only come from the 3rd until the 7th of September. Kamolrat is the director and founder of the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management (CCDKM) at the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) in Nonthaburi, in the northern outskirts of Bangkok in Thailand. She is also the Chair of the Communication Arts for ASEAN International Program (Master Degree Program).

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 10 photos of our first meeting in the Belém part of our conference. You see Kamolrat, Sandro, Gaby (soon to leave us), Piyachat and Evelin. In the lobby of the hotel, where we met, there was a big cow...

• Please click on the photos above to see them larger. Sandro brought us to the famous Cathedral of Belém, Our Lady of Grace Cathedral. On the second Sunday in October, Pará celebrates the largest religious event in Brasil: the procession of the Círio of Nazaré (picture in the middle): 'This tradition started when a farmer and lumberman called Plácido José de Souza found an image of the Virgin and Child on the edge of the Murucutu creek, where the Basilica of Our Lady of Nazareth of Exile stands today. He decided to take the image home. However, the image would mysteriously go back to the place where it was initially found every time he took it home. So Plácido decided to build a small chapel on the edge of the creek. This episode was regarded as miraculous throughout the region. It attracted hundreds of believers to see the image and pay homage to it'. The picture on the right side shows a poster displayed in the church, proof that the Catholic Church uses the latest environmentally friendly technology. We learned that the Catholic Church is well organised (in contrast to many evangelical communities).


• Please click on the photos of the Forte do Castelo de Belém above to see them larger. Wikipedia: 'In 1615, Portuguese captain-general Francisco Caldeira Castelo Branco of the captaincy of Bahia commanded a military expedition sent by the Governor General of Brasil to check the trading excursions of foreigners (French, Dutch, English) up the river (Amazon) from the Cabo do Norte in Grão Pará. On January 12, 1616, he anchored in what is now known as Guajará Bay, formed by the confluence of the Para and Guama Rivers, called by the Tupinambás, Guaçu Paraná'. ... He built a wooden fort, covered with straw, which he called 'Presépio' (nativity scene), now known as 'Forte do Castelo'. The colony formed by the fort was given the name Feliz Lusitânia, 'Happy Lusitania'. It was the embryo of the future city of Belém. The fort failed to suppress Dutch and French trading, but did ward off colonization'.

End of Day Seven

Day Eight: Wedesday, 4th September 2019, Belém, Pará

We started the day at the Universidade Federal do Pará, UFPA

The Federal University of Pará (Portuguese: Universidade Federal do Pará, UFPA) is one of the three public universities maintained by the Brazilian federal government in the Amazonian State of Pará. ... The university has over 40,000 students enrolled in its courses, which are offered across its many campuses in the cities of Belém, Abaetetuba, Altamira, Ananindeua, Bragança, Castanhal, Cametá, Capanema, Breves, Tucuruí and Soure. Among UFPA research teams, there are many nationally recognized groups, particularly in the fields of genetics, parasitology, tropical diseases and geosciences. The Federal University of Pará is the largest university in the North region of Brasil by enrollment and is a reference in the areas of Biomedical Sciences and Biology research, this last one mainly because of the Amazon Rainforest.



• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 20 photos of our visit to the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). Briefly, we dropped in at the 42º Congresso Brasileiro de Ciências da Comunicação 'Fluxos comunicacionais e crise da democracia' / 42nd Brazilian Congress of Communication Sciences 'Communication flows and crisis of democracy'. We were very impressed by the posters a group of young students had created (among them Tatiana Araujo!). The book tabe was astonishing: Rosa Luxemburg, Hegel...

On our way to Ilha Mosqueira with Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 95 photos of our journey to the Instituto Humana on Mosqueiro Island. We witnessed a strike of motocycle taxi drivers (see the photo on the left side). We saw one of the beaches (see the photo on the right side), and many shops advertising açaí. Evelin Lindner's reflections on the houses alongside the road: 'How sad that houses look exactly alike all around the globe now: Boxes of concrete columns filled with bricks. If I had a magic wand, I would replace all these buildings over night with local architecture...'.

Visit to an organic farm, with Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 7 photos of the organic farm, Sandro brought us to.

The Instituto Humana of Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet

Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet, Directeur général at Humana Comunicação & Tradução, and Director at HUMANA COM & TRAD, Ilha de Mosqueiro, Belém, Pará, Amazon, Brasil

Have a look at two videos:
24 Instituto Humana, film by Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet
25 Encontre e conecte!Please Meet and Connect! Evelin Lindner's contribution

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 12 photos offered to us by Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet to introduce his Instituto Humana to us. Please see the wonderful film that Sandro created about his work.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 29 photos of the wonderful time Kamolrat, Piyachat, and Evelin had in the Instituto Humana of Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet. Plese see the video-recording of Evelin Lindner's contribution to this conference, titled 'Encontre e conecte!Please Meet and Connect!', and Kamolrat Intaratat's contribution (recorded on 7th September).

Thank you, dear Sandro and Marlucia, for welcoming us in your paradise in the Amazon Rainforest, surrounded by wonderful vegetation, by monkeys, iguanas, birds, tucanos, parrots, and many other animals. As Marlucia, Sandro's wife, said (paraphrased): 'What makes this place a paradise is exactly what those people don't want to have who destroy it and burn it...'

Iguana is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Toucans are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often-colorful bills.

End of Day Eight

Day Nine: Thursday, 5th September 2019, Amazon Day, Belém, Pará

These are the videos recorded on this day:
27 The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi in Belém
28 The Kayapo people presented in the Museu Goeldi
29 The Amazon Day conference at the Museu Goeldi: Ima Celia Guimaraes Vieira
30 The Amazon Day conference at the Museu Goeldi: Marlucia Bonifácio Martins
31 The Amazon Day conference at the Museu Goeldi: Denny Moore
32 The Amazon Day conference at the Museu Goeldi: Closing dialogues
33 Interview with Marlucia Martins on the Amazon Day 2019
34 The Amazon Day at the Parliament of Pará State in Belém: Deputado Dirceu Ten Caten invited Evelin Lindner

The Instituto Humana of Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet in the Recanto da Preguiça / Lazy Sloth Corner

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 7 photos of the wonderful time Kamolrat, Piyachat, and Evelin had in the Instituto Humana of Sandro Ruggeri Dulcet. The institute is located in the Recanto da Preguiça / Lazy Sloth Corner, the home of Sandro and his amazing wife Marlucia.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 4 photos of our journey to Belém in the early morning to avoid the rush hour. Evelin Lindner's reflections: If I had a magic wand, I would make all those ‘modern cities’ disappear over night and replace them with something more locally appriopriate. To me, this global style of high rise boxes is horrendously ugly and inhumane, its uniformity destroys the world’s diversity of traditional materials and styles, it rapes local landscapes, and it is unfeasible for most local climates. This global obsession with imitating the supposedy ‘wealthy’ parts of the world, to me, is one of the many expressions of systemic humiliation, of systemic ecocide and sociocide. Where is our local pride, I want to ask all those people who plan for such buildings. Please, forget about notions such as ‘developed world’, I want to beg everyone, because it is a short-sighted development built on unsustainable exploitation. The Amazon Rainforest is such a miraculously complex system, and people who know how to live within it sustainably, THEY are the ones who are truly developed...

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 3 photos of Marlucia's breakfast in Belém. Brazilian tapioca is even better here in Belém than in Marabá! And the shy woman who came with her cooling bag to sell 'bombons', had something to offer that would make first class chefs around the world envious: her home-made bombons were much better than even those the fancy shop at Belém airport had to offer...

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 13 photos of the streets of Belém. Evelin Lindner's reflections: 'Again, as everywhere else in the world, also here I see this global uniformity, high rise buildings that are supposed to impress with their "modernity" but elicit sadness and resignation. As everywhere else, they usually are already dilapidated when new, and the ubiquitous "cable salad" laughs at them. Where is the city I hope for? Where is the city that is truly future-oriented, that expresses dignified and dignifying unity in diversity, where is the city that nourishes, rather than be exploitative? The refugees from Venezuela standing at the side of the streets in Belém, with large hand-painted signs made from card-board saying "I am Venezuelan", they can speak to the horror, fear, and despair that befalls even the richest city in a matter of a few days when three things fail, when (1) electricity and (2) water are cut and (3) the shops are looted. This is what happened in the once 'wealthy' oil town of Maracaibo in March 2019'.

The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi in Belém

• Please click on the photos above to see them larger. You see the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, a Brazilian research institution and museum located in the city of Belém. The institution has the mission of researching, cataloging and analysing the biological and sociocultural diversity of the Amazon Basin, contributing to its cultural memory and its regional development. It has also the aim of increasing public awareness of science in the Amazon by means of its museums, its botanical garden, its zoological park, etc. The Museum maintains a scientific research station in the high Amazon forest (Estação Científica Ferreira Penna), which was inaugurated in 1993, with 330 square kilometres (130 sq mi) in the Caxiuanã National Forest, municipality of Melgaço, Pará.
On the picture on the right above, you see Alexandre B. Bonaldo, head of the Department of Coordenação de Zoologia of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, the 'boss' of ecologist Marlucia Bonifácio Martins.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 25 photos of the Museu Goeldi's efforts to make the significance of the Amazon Rainforest visible. You see an overview over the degradation of the forest, as well as over the deforestation, and you understand that it is impossible to replant the original forest, as it does not simply consist of trees, but is a complex system of plants and animals. On the picture on the right, you see the human-made plastic pollution exhibited.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 12 photos of the Kayapo exhibition in the Museu Goeldi. See also the video recording of the great explanations of our guide. The Kayapo people are indigenous peoples in Brasil who inhabit a vast area spreading across the states of Pará and Mato Grosso, south of the Amazon Basin and along Rio Xingu and its tributaries... They are one of the various subgroups of the great Mebêngôkre nation (people from the water’s source). The term "Kayapo" is used by neighbouring groups rather than the Kayapo themselves. They refer to outsiders as "Poanjos".

See this little video, where the wonderful guide in the Museu Goeldi explained that wasps and bees were very important for the Kayapo. Long time ago, there was a war between the humans and the insects. But the humans could not overcome the insects because the king beetle was too smart. (The king beetle is the Actaeon beetle, see it on the picture on the right above, one of the largest of all beetles, whose males can grow to be 131/2 centimeters long by 4 centimeters thick). Humans were finally victorious when they learned from the bees to organise a society, and from the wasps and their sting how to get weaponised: in this way, they could overcome the king beetle!
Then the guide explained the Kayapo theory of diseases: They perceive two kinds, first, diseases caused by spirits, which are not curable, and, second, simple discomforts, such as stomach ache, which can be cured by plants. They even had contraceptives!

See also 'The Munduruku and Kayapo Are Fighting to Protect Their Past and Future', by Ana Paula Vargas and Angela Martínez, Amazon Watch, 14th July 2020: In response to the government's malign neglect in the Brazilian Amazon during the pandemic, our Amazon Defenders Fund, in partnership with allies, delivers oxygen concentrators and crucial health equipment.

Dia da Amazônia, mesa redonda 'Amazônia em chamas. Quais as consequências?'

• Please click above on the poster of the mesa redonda / round table on the Dia da Amazônia / the Amazon Day, titled 'Amazônia em chamas. Quais as consequências?' / 'The Amazon in flames. What are the consequences?' with Dra. Ima Vieira, Dr. Denny Moore, and Dra. Martins. Venue: Rocinha, in the Parque Zoobotânico of the Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi.

This was a spontaneously called conference, due to the emergency in the Amazon, with the following three speakers:

Interview with Marlucia Bonifácio Martins

After the conference, Marlucia Martins was interviewed in the park of the museum, see the video:

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all photos of the interview with Marlucia Martins, and click here to see the video. On the photos on the right side, you see her produly sitting in front of the funders of the Museu Goeldi: Ernst Lohse, Andreas Goeldi, Rodolpho Rodrigues, Jacques Huber, Oscar Martins, Emília Snethlage, Abigayl Mattos, Emil Göldi, Anna Carreira.

Lunch in the Resto do Parque

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 13 photos of one of the best restaurants of Belém, Resto do Parque, and its surroundings. Thank you, dear Sandro and Marlucia, for bringing Kamolrat, Piyachat and Evelin to this lovely place!

On our way to the Palaco Cabanagem

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 17 photos of our way through the streets of Belém to the Palaco Cabanagem, seat of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Pará (Portuguese: Assembleia Legislativa do Estado do Pará), the unicameral legislature of Pará State in Brasil. It has 41 state deputies elected by proportional representation. The first legislature began in 13th March 1885 in a palace where today is the Square Dom Pedro II (destroyed by a fire in 1959), and it was moved in 1960 to the Teatro da Paz and in 1970 to the current headquarters, the Palácio Cabanagem.

The Amazon Day with Deputado Dirceu Ten Caten

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 13 photos of the Dia da Amazônia event with Deputado Dirceu Ten Caten. Dirceu Ten Caten kindly invited Evelin Lindner to speak, and Sandro Ruggeri translated. Congratulations, dear Dirceu, for your future-oriented vision, where you bring together concern for the environment with concern for the weak in society!

In the evening, through the centre of Belém

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 5 photos of the centre of Belém

End of Day Nine

Day Ten: Friday, 6th September 2019, Combú, Pará

This was an all-day excursion to the island of Combú across the river Guarná from Belém

These were the videos we made on this day:
35 On the way to Combú island
36 Flavia of the Saldosa Maloca restaurant on Combú island
37 Aline Voos on Combú island explaining Andiroba
38 Evelin Lindner on Combú island
39 Vitor Nascimento explains the 'Street River' graffiti project

Ilha do Combú, the island of Combú, leaving Belém behind!

• Please click here to see the pictures above larger. Combú island is 15 minutes by boat across the Guamá river from Belém. It was almost unreal for us to keep in mind that the Amazon Rainforest was burning further southwest while we enjoyed the unbelievable beauty and richness of the Amazon Rainforest here. Our sadness increased at the fact that there are people out there who strive to destroy these riches so that a few can increase their profit margin.

Vitor Nascimento was our wonderful host and mentor

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 93 photos of the boat journey to the island of Combú that Kamolrat Intaratat and Piyachat from Thailand undertook together with Evelin Lindner, under the guidance and mentorship of Vitor Nascimento. Please see also the small video we made of our journey.

Vitor is 29 years old and knows everyone on Combú island. He apologised that he is not a professional tourist guide, and we whole-heartedly thanked him for not being a professional guide. We told him that some members of our network had just been in Alaska and had been disgusted by the fakeness of the tourist guides there, how they faked authenticity with the aim to entertain the tourists. We told Vitor about the toxic ‘touristification’ of many places of beauty around the world. We told him that we do not believe in the kind of tourism where privileged people treat locals like in a zoo and nature like a leisure park. We told him that we believe in equal dignity of all people and how honoured and privileged we feel to meet him. We told him that we want to be with him as a fellow human being and friend, rather than treat him as a provider of services to customers. The last thing we want is to be ‘customers’, ‘clients’, or ‘tourists’, the last thing we want is to ‘consume’ his kindness as if it were a thing. This, for us, would be utter humiliation, humiliation of him and of us.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 21 photos of the chocolate atelier on the island of Combú, where we were impressed by the many signs of ecological awareness. What a great architecture! Why do not all new housing projects in Belém take their inspiration here?

The Saldosa Maloca restaurant

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 38 photos of the Saldosa Maloca restaurant on the island of Combú.

Evelins shared her reflections: Look at its architecture: local material is being used, and the result is immensely beautiful, in contrast to the concrete blocks in Belém. I hear sceptics counter: ‘But, with these local materials you cannot build high rise buildings!’ I know this debate only too well from my time in Egypt, a country that was blessed with a genial architect, Hassan Fathy, who had re-introduced the pharaonic architecture with lime stone and mudbrick. Sanaa in Yemen shows that this kind of architecture can create buildings that have several floors. Yet, this architecture is not what we see being realised. What we see, instead, are investors seeking opportunities, they get a piece of land, and a building with more floors will render more profit than a building with less floors. The investor will hire an architect who has some prototypes in the drawer of his office, which he will then multiply, so as to deliver a mass produced building or a mass-produced composite of buildings, so ugly and impersonal that not the investor himself nor the architect would ever voluntarily want to live in them themselves.

After admiring the beautiful architecture, the organic herb garden, the biogas plant, and the lovely baskets for the separation of waste, please see also the small videos we made:

The 'Street River' graffiti project

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 10 photos of the 'Street River' graffiti project on the island of Combú.

End of Day Ten

Day Eleven: Saturday, 7th September 2019, Belém, Pará

Kamolrat Intaratat explained her work

• Please click on the photo or here to see the video where Kamolrat Intaratat explains her work with the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management. Our dear Kjell Skyllstad brought Kamolrat Intaratat to us. She travelled for 42 hours, together with her colleagues Piyachat, all the way from Bangkok to the Amazon. Kamolrat is the director and founder of the Research Center of Communication and Development Knowledge Management (CCDKM) at the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) in Nonthaburi, in the northern outskirts of Bangkok in Thailand. She is also the Chair of the Communication Arts for ASEAN International Program (Master Degree Program).

End of Day Eleven

Post-conference experiences and reflections by Evelin Lindner

These were the two videos that Evelin Lindner made after the conference:
41 Praça da República in Belém
42 Mercado Ver-o-peso in Belém
See also Roteiro Geo-Turístico da UFPA - Ver-o-Peso / Centro Histórico, 9th November 2019, Del Lagre Roteiros Geo-Turísticos da UFPA, Roteiro Geo-Turístico da UFPA dentro da programação do III Seminário Internacional de Turismo, Patrimônio e Politicas Públicas - Diversidade e perspectivas da pesquisa franco-brasileira - NAEA / UFPA. Parada na Praça do Pescador. Resultado de um esforço em conjunto, cooperativo e colaborativo.

Circle of Love Gifts

Evelin Lindner explains the 'Circle of Love Gifts: In our global dignity network, we create ‘circles of love gifts’. It means that people on one continent give small gifts for other members of our global fellowship on another continent. I carry these gifts with me, take a picture of the giver and the receiver and connect them by email, so that not just my life is a bridge-building life, also these gifts become bridge-building gifts. When time is too short, I sometimes also buy gifts – small unexpensive light-weight gifts – and, of course, I avoid high-flying souvernir shops, as in touristic places, many of the items sold are now mass-produced in China anyway. So, I look for people who make things themselves, and I look for household items that might be considered ‘normal’ on one continent but may be highly educational for people on another continent. I never just buy things, rather, I attempt to forge relationships with people, and I try to understand the source and the use of particular items in the lives of local people.
Each gift has a story, and thus these gift collections also serve to give tangible substance to my global living project.
Usually, I live with a family and avoid the social-psychological distance that is created by staying in hotels. Rather than filling my suitcase with my clothes, I fill it with gifts and wear the clothes of the people I live with. In this way, it is as if I get into the skin of my new home, it is also a way to express respect for my hosts, and by doing so I become a humble family member.

This was the reason why I went to the Praça da República on the 8th of September, and the Ver-o-peso market on the 9th September. Of course, I asked for permission to take pictures or make little videos.

Praça da República

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 18 photos of the Praça da República in Belém. You can also see a brief video. On the left side you see the kind woman who gave me all her creative hair clips. In the middle you see Cheiro do Pará. On the right side you see a lovely woman with a feather hair dress. I was very happy to find some of the jewellery made of golden grass or capim dourado (Syngonanthus nitens) and buriti fibers (from the Moriche Palm) again, as signs of love from the Amazon for our network members in Europe and America. See the picture on the right from my time in the Amazon in 2012.

About the Praça da República, translated from the Portuguese Wikipedia site: 'At first it was Largo da Campina, a huge open land that was between the Campina neighborhood and the road that led to the chapel of Nossa Senhora de Nazaré. Then, in the eighteenth century, there was built a huge warehouse to store gunpowder, tracing its name to Largo da Póvora. A gallows has been erected, but there is no record of any hanging. What is known is that the space was used to bury, in a shallow grave, slaves and the poor... Today Praça da República becomes the ideal stage for major celebrations such as the Círio de Nazaré, Race Day and the September 7 parade. The other 362 days of the year make it the ideal place for family outings, evangelism, meeting friends or dating'.

The Ver-o-peso market in Belém, 9th September 2019

• Please click on the photos above to see it larger.

Wikipedia: Ver-o-peso market is a market hall in Belém, Brasil located at Guajará Bay riverside. It is called "Ver-o-Peso" following a colonial era tradition, since the tax collector's main post was located there, which was called "Casa do Haver-o-peso" ("Have-the-Weight House"). It was in the "Haver-o-peso house" that the taxes over goods brought from the Amazon forests, rivers and countryside should be paid to the Portuguese crown, but only after their weight was measured, hence the name, which later suffered a contraction. Nowadays, the Ver-o-peso complex contains the Açaí Fair, a free open market where açaí berry merchants sell the fruit in natura for açaí juice shops, the Clock Square, with an iron-cast clock tower brought from England, the Ver-o-peso docks, where native fishes from Amazon are unloaded from boats and sold fresh, the Iron Market, a gothic prefab structure where fish is sold, the Solar da Beira space, a colonial building where art expositions often take place, and the neoclassical Meat Market, across the street, with iron-cast stairs and cubicles. There's also the free market, where craftsmanship, natural essence parfums, typical food and native fruits are sold.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 42 photos of the Ver-o-peso market in Belém on 9th September. See also the video. There you see how this kind woman explains that cheiro do Pará is a mixture of Priprioca and Patchouli.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 42 photos of the Ver-o-peso market in Belém on 9th September. See also the video. There you see how this kind man explains the kinds of woods he uses for his handicraft, for instance, he uses the raiz (root) of the Cumarú tree in front of which we stand in this picture. He writes the following list on a piece of paper for Evelin: Cortiça, Embauba, Cumarú, Miriji (?), Taboca:

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 42 photos of the Ver-o-peso market in Belém on 9th September. See also the video. There you meet Josema and can listen to his explanations of his work with the Pará nuts.

• Please click on the photos above or here to see all 42 photos of the Ver-o-peso market in Belém on 9th September. See also the video. There you meet Miriam and you can listen to her explanations of the products of the Amazon.
Evelin was advised by locals that robbery even at gunpoint can happen also during day-time, and anywhere in the city, and she therefore exercised approprate caution. At the end of this video, you met Miriam, who kindly got Evelin an Uber (widely used both in Marabá and Belém) and waited with Evelin for the car to arrive in a safe place in front of a little police stand.

Evelin Lindner's reflections on 5th September 2019: 'Brasil Continues to Destroy the Rainforest – But Resistance Is Growing' is the title of an article that was published in Germany in July 2019. The title explains how the forest is cut and then tells the story of a small indigenous group who vows to resist. The title gives European readers the impression that they can lean back in the hope that the problem with the Amazon will be solved within Brasil. The European reader remains unaware that, for example, the EU-Mercosur agreement as it stands now works as an amplifier of the problem. In other words, first, we have the European Union aggravating a problem by incentivising exploitation, and when the damage of this exploitation becomes apparent, the same people hope that the exploited themselves will solve the problem. In my eyes, this represents 'double humiliation'. As we know, the problem did not get solved after the above-mentioned article appeared in July, on the contrary, the problem got much worse when massive fires were started on 10th August.

Evelin Lindner's reflections on 20th September 2019, upon returning to Germany to take care of her aged father: Germany is a culture shock for me now. Today, I went past a tourist shop called 'holiday-land'. I thought: Here, the 'world house' is on fire, and every hand is needed to contain the fire even though some rooms in the house – such as Germany – are still relatively unaffected. The people in that room are hard-working people, however, they seem oblivious of the fact that many of their 'jobs' contribute to the fire (the production of arms, pesticides, plastic, just to name some), and that their 'normal' lives depend on exploiting others (statistically, every German citizen holds 60 slaves in the rest of the world). When asked to contribute to the containment of the fire, those hard-working people say: 'Sorry, but I am too exhausted from my job... sorry, but I need a holiday in "holiday-land"' (which is another room in the burning house that is still relatively unaffected)... My question: How can we liberate everyone from this systemic dilemma situation that almost automatically leads us all into systemic humiliation? My answer has been to dedicate my entire life to this predicament. In 2012, my answer was to write the book A Dignity Economy, yet, all this is too weak...

Evelin Lindner's reflections on 6th October 2019: International attention to the fires in the Amazon clearly had an impact. In a meeting with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro on 27th August 2019, Mato Grosso Governor Mauro Mendes spoke about the fires and on behalf of agribusiness expansion: 'Brasil’s image is extremely important to our relations with most of our clients [in the] outside world. Sixty percent of the state’s GDP comes from exports. So when we have a problem [like the one] that happened a few days ago [with the Amazon fires] and took undesirable [international criticism], I got very worried'.
See 'State Governors Support Bolsonaro’s Amazon Mining, Agribusiness Plans', by Jenny Gonzales, Mongabay, 9th September 2019. His worries may be warranted, as 'People Are Seriously Talking About Invading Brasil to Save the Planet', by Aaron Gell, Medium, 24th September 2019.
Evelin Lindner's thoughts: What about 'invading' the Amazon with the world's students? Why not declaring the Rainforest the world's most important 'analogue university' and elevating all those people who know how to live sustainably within a complex system such as the Rainforest to be 'world dignity professors'? This is the idea of the World Dignity University initiative!
More and more students are now sceptical of brick-and-mortar universities, what about reality as university? What about the reality of the Amazon as university? The knowledge held in the Amazon is a form of wealth that so-called 'developed' countries have lost...
‘Yes, "reality as university", dearest Evelin!’ This was the reaction from our dear Linda Hartling when I shared these thoughts on our conference’s WhatsApp group. Linda continued: ‘The Amazon as university! The Earth as university!’
Our wish is for all the dignifiers of this world to hold hands! We welcome everyone who might be interested to contribute to our particular share in this effort. The website for our World Dignity University initiative was built by our esteemed Uli Spalthoff. We need a full time successor for him now! Also our Dignity Press needs new a person who can hold the threads together and nurture it full time. All what we do is entirely a labour of love, which means that we work on a shoestring budget, that nobody receives a salary, and there are no offices. For our full time positions, we would like to reach out to people with the necessary expertise who are dignifiers, who are just retired with a pension and would like to donate a number of years as a gift to humanity!
A LOVING WELCOME TO ALL!

Evelin Lindner's reflections on 9th October 2019: What shocked me most in the Amazon, is how the concept of dignity is the main battle-field also here. As everywhere in the world, I hear the adherents of industrialisation say that 'true dignity' is linked to what they deem the only 'true 'work', namely, work that is part of the world of money – for example, extracting minerals, or cutting trees for sales, as this can make the GDP go up. (You see the same argument also in this documentary: Who is Protecting our Forests?, Arte, 2018).
What is overlooked is that the GDP does not measure dignity. The GDP can go up also when dignity is being destroyed. True dignity, and true 'work', to me, is what people do when they live in dialogue with the Rainforest, rather than destroying it for short-term profit. We all know that saying: ‘When the Last Tree Is Cut Down, the Last Fish Eaten, and the Last Stream Poisoned, You Will Realize That You Cannot Eat Money’.

A Summary of Evelin Lindner's impressions during the 2019 Dignity Conference in the Amazon, 10th October 2019
In this video, Evelin Lindner tries to summarise her impressions and reflections in the Amazonian State of Pará from 26th August to 10th September 2019. She created this video after the 33rd Annual Dignity Conference had ended, of which she was one of the conveners. The conference took place in Marabá and Belém from 29th August to 7th September 2019, and was accompanied by a global WhatsApp group. Please be aware that this video has been brought together using very basic software. It is kept 'unlisted' to protect the privacy of the people who are included.

This is a film shared by biologist Cristiane da Cunha with our WhatsApp group

Encontro das Águas, is a film published on 9th October 2019 and sent to us by biologist Cristiane da Cunha.
This is the Portuguese text:
Socializar informações e estudos referentes aos empreendimentos em construção, operação ou previstos para os rios Juruena, Teles Pires e Tapajós, e construir uma pauta comum de resistência à esses grandes projetos. Esses foram os objetivos do Encontro das Águas que aconteceu de 14 a 16 de junho, no Centro de Formação Emaús, em Santarém, oeste do Pará. Durante três dias, cerca de 140 participantes destacaram os impactos sociais e ambientais provocados pelos projetos, além da resistência feita por lideranças de movimentos, indígenas e moradores locais contra hidrelétricas, portos, hidrovias, ferrovias, exploração mineral, e tantos outros. O encontro contou ainda com a participação de lideranças dos rios Xingu e Madeira, que relataram os problemas sociais e ambientais provocados pela construção das hidrelétricas de Belo Monte (Xingu), Madeira e Jirau (Rondônia). Segundo eles, tais empreendimento provocaram o aumento da pobreza e da violência nas regiões impactadas.
"Socialise information and studies regarding the projects under construction, operation or planned for the Juruena, Teles Pires and Tapajós rivers, and build a common agenda of resistance to these major projects. These were the objectives of the Water Meeting that took place from 14 to 16 June at the Emmaus Training Center in Santarém, western Pará.
Over three days, about 140 participants highlighted the social and environmental impacts of the projects, as well as resistance from movement leaders, indigenous and local residents against hydroelectric dams, ports, waterways, railroads, mineral exploration, and so on.
The meeting was also attended by leaders of the Xingu and Madeira rivers, who reported the social and environmental problems caused by the construction of the Belo Monte (Xingu), Madeira and Jirau (Rondônia) hydroelectric dams. According to them, such endeavors have led to increased poverty and violence in the impacted regions.

These are two films shared by ecologist Marlucia Martins in our WhatsApp group

1. Maravilhosa Amazônia / Wonderful Amazon 2019
2. Defensores da Amazônia / Defenders of the Amazon by Human Rights Watch 2019
Thank you for sharing, dear Marlucia!