Greetings ,
Our friends in Belize and Venezuela appreciate all of the prayers and notes of concern during their recent crises.
While the hurricane that was headed for southern Belize did significant damage in Nicaragua, its path across land caused it to quickly decrease in strength. Ultimately, it missed Punta Gorda.
We have not received further urgent news about the food situation in Coshilowäteli, VZ. They seem to be dealing with it as best they can given their general lack of access to emergency supplies. Please keep them in your prayers. The expulsion (in early 2006) of the organizations that provided emergency aid continues to have a serious impact on the communities in Amazonas. The government has not come up with long-term solutions to replace most of the services that were lost. Promises were made, but as is typical in those regions, they are soon forgotten--except by the indigenous communities. The Yanomamö communities are still mostly self-sufficient as they always have been, but they do resent being isolated from the benefits of things like emergency medical care. Many people are dying now who would not be if the government had not stepped in to "protect" the Yanomamö.
As the film comes closer to completion, it is our hope that this story will gain a wider hearing and that people everywhere can hear what the Yanomamö have to say about decisions that are made for their future.
Thank you for helping us to help them tell their story.
Tom Khazoyan
Producer, Yai Wanonabälewä: The Enemy God
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The Beginning of Something Big
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 Recently, in a town along the Amazon river in Peru, a group of indigenous leaders gathered for the first time. They represented 25 tribal nations from across the Amazon Basin from seven countries. They gathered to consider joining hands across the region in an indigenous-led network to reach out and serve other tribes of the Amazon.
The photos you see are of a group of men who were trained in basic dentistry--filling and pulling teeth--using an innovative dental chair and tools that can be carried into remote areas in two backpacks. It is a very low-cost, sustainable model for meeting this need. The training and these tools are one example of the ways the indigenous groups are becoming empowered to take the lead in meeting the needs of their people.
 10X is part of a network that helped to facilitate this event. However, it was entirely run by the delegates from various tribes. The event represented a real milestone for these leaders. Typically, foreigners come in with ideas and try to run the show. This time, the foreigners took a back seat and let the gifts and experiences of the indigenous leaders set the course. We saw expressions of repentance and reconciliation between non-tribal delegates and indigenous people who have experienced centuries of repression. And we saw the start of a very determined effort to build a network that will enable everyone to learn from and support each other. Very exciting stuff!
The delegates saw portions of our film. They were encouraged to see a film that told an indigenous story, from an indigenous perspective, starring indigenous actors! In the future, we plan to make the film available to these tribes to be translated into their languages. Spanish and Portuguese versions will also be created for use across the region.
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