Rosa's Story - Coady International Institute - St. Francis Xavier ...

Riobamba, was a leader in
this movement.
Throughout the 1960s-
1980s, he was instrumental
in turning over large portions
of Church land to
peasant communities and
ensuring that the poor had
access to low-interest credit
to buy hacienda land. He
offered free legal advice and
became a vocal advocate
for the rights of indigenous
peoples at the national
level.
By the 1980s, national
efforts were shifting
towards capitalist land
reform, through which
peasants could purchase
plots of land. Forceful land
appropriations by indigenous
groups also became
more frequent, as did violent
confrontations. As
indigenous movements
throughout Ecuador
strengthened, many of
them became part of a
national movement known
as the Confederation of
Indigenous Nationalities of
Ecuador (CONAIE). The
CONAIE first got involved
in national politics in 1988,
but its most significant act
came two years later when
versation. Nelson Martinez, a lay follower of
Bishop Proaño, later offered small stipends to
Rosa’s two colleagues to continue promoting
medicinal plants. He also provided the use of an
attic in an old church building to dry and store the
plants.
With minimal support, Rosa and her colleagues
organized many groups of women over the next
year to collect medicinal plants and bring them to
the church. With a small UNDP grant, Josée was
able to purchase plants from the groups.
Purchases were made each Saturday, since cash
on delivery was an incentive for the plant gatherers.
Josée also found a reliable buyer in Aromas
Tungurahua, a tea company in the city of Ambato.
As a result, the plant gatherers who began by harvesting
five to ten kilograms of plants each week
now started bringing up to 100 kilograms of fresh
plants to the church each weekend.
As the attic filled up with drying plants, Rosa and
Josée saw the potential for these women to
process the plants into a variety of medicinal
products. As Josée recalls, it was significant that
the women had begun to rediscover the traditional
medicines of their ancestors:
What I saw was women gaining confidence.
They started coming to the courses we
offered… We would pay older people to come
in and show the women how to make traditional
medicines or shampoo and soaps. I can
remember some of them remarking: “Oh my
grandmother used to do this.” Then they would
take this re-discovered knowledge back to their
communities. It was an exciting time (J.
Lagarde, personal communication, October 31,
2004).
By mid-1999, Josée’s placement ended and CECI
agreed to hire another cooperant, Manon Henrie,
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