By Michael Swan and Yone Simidzu, special to Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada
Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada has had a decades-long engagement with Brazil. Our support has helped our partners stand with, empower and accompany many Indigenous communities, especially in the Amazon region, who struggle to assert their rights to land, livelihoods and a healthy environment.
To help Canadians better understand the intricacies and complexities of the challenges that Indigenous communities face, the award-winning journalist couple Michael Swan and Yone Simidzu went on a mission to Brazil earlier this year. During his long stint as associate editor of The Catholic Register, Swan wrote extensively about our work. Simidzu, who is originally from Brazil, works as a Portuguese translator in Toronto.
The powerful testimonies and photos that Swan and Simidzu gathered in Brazil have appeared in the America magazine and been exhibited and presented across Ontario. This is the fourth and final instalment of their Notes from Brazil, the first of which was published here on August 9, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples; followed by the second, a week later; and the third, last Friday.
Editor’s note: Instead of an article, this instalment of Notes from Brazil features a narrated photo story and interviews with experts who have spent decades accompanying and serving the Yanomami and other Indigenous peoples in Brazil.
Will Yanomami survive in Brazil?
What some experts think
Editor’s note: The views expressed in these videos are those of the independent experts providing the testimonies. They are presented here solely to stimulate reflection and debate and inspire activism in favour of the Indigenous peoples of Brazil.
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