I stumbled upon this blog this morning. The Source Project is described on the site as "a self-funded venture looking to create media that positively connect and communicate some of the most important issues being faced by our environment and as a result by our societies and cultures". The focus is particularly on agriculture and its centrality to life in general. The blog looks at the links and webs created between agriculture, environment, health, resources, culture, work and security, and has incredible photographs of farmers from India to Uganda.
One of the thing I really noticed when we were travelling, is that political activism is so ingrained in many cultures, in comparison to in Australia. People were so upfront about issues of farming and access to resources. When we first arrived in Chile last October, there were two protests within our first three days, one was the continuing protest about privatisation of education in Chile, the other initially to do with "Columbus Day" which is the equivalent to "Invasion Day" (Or Australia Day), where the Indigenous Mupache staged a huge rally bringing attention to their status in Chilean society. Unfortunately both of these deteriorated very quickly, with cannons of tear gas blasting the crowds. We wandered around in the aftermath later in the day, as we stayed on a street in Santiago that had a number of multinational banks that were targeted. Locals were half joking that it was a great time to be in the window business- as the whole street had piles of shattered glass all along the footpaths and gutters, but also seemed bemused and angry at yet another protest that had gotten quickly out of control.
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| Photo by Rick Randjelovic |
When we were in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, these issues were also highly apparent, as the farmers held a number of protests while we were travelling through the area- highlighting the Brazilian government's plans to sell off more of the Amazon for roads, mining and agribusiness. The flow-on effects are immense and affect so many people in the area.
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