Impressions from Bolivia and the People's World Conference for Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

On the last night of the People's World Conference for Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth a group of us sat together in a circle singing, dancing and reflecting on the successes of the last few days.  The fact that the People's World Conference for Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth ended on Earth Day was lost on none of us.  Was the conference successful?  Did it accomplish its goals?

I think that the answers to both of those questions will depend on the metrics that we are using to measure its success.

If we go back to the purpose with which the delegation came, I think we have succeeded.  Here are the expectations with which we came-

I'd like to be a part of resurrecting the ideas and stories of the past, passed down from our ancestors regarding how to live. 

We are here to further the education and connectivity to Latinos and to bring more awareness to our communities on how to benefit mother earth.

After Haiti, after Chile, after China we are in a state of emergency. We all have to work under urgent organizational co-ordination to save our earth.

We come together as one people to share, strategize, walk away with sustainable realistic approach 2address humanity's mst sever crisis yet.

We are here to inspire hope for the next seven generations "si se puede!" 

We are here to find a viable solution to the mass extinction of everything on this planet. 

We are here to make connections with each other and mother earth that will transform. 

We are here to support the cause because Climate Change is something we are all feeling on earth.  We need to protect mother earth. 

Have we met the expectations that we declared above?  I think we did.  Did we move the conversation forward?  In some ways I think we did, in others we have not.

The conference was a first on many fronts.  It was a conference which included a focus on the indigenous and on the community.  The focus was distinct in that it centered around conversations about Pachamama. People of color were involved in record numbers.  Moreover, it was undeniably Latin American led.  The conference was far from perfect.  As amazing as it was, there were many opportunities.  My next blog post on this topic will discuss where we go from here.  For many of us, this conference is only the beginning.  We had to start somewhere and on many levels for many of us, this was a mighty fine start positioning us in a powerful way for the next conversation in Cancun.