Grupo Osanimi /
The Osa Foundation
June, 2002
A letter from the director
Dear Friends,
 The
years 2001 and 2002 have been a healthy challenge indeed for us
and for many all over the world. Much work is underway and many
kinds of changes are in store. In our little tiny reality, we
are proud to say that, thanks to what we would believe to be a
great stoke of good fortune coupled with a heavy load of responsibility,
we have purchased an amazing little rainforest beach property
in Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula. The place is pristine and
beautiful and very wild, full of wildlife, just North of the Corcovado
National Park. Here we have undertaken the construction of the
Guaria
de Osa Retreat Centre.
We hope and aspire that this centre will serve many people to
reawaken a love for Nature, and that it be a place to let Nature
do her healing work. In this time and age, we believe that to
retreat into Nature is of crucial importance for the human spirit
and for our very own health. For these reasons and many more we
have created Guaria de Osa. We aspire simultaneously that it will
be a profitable venture and that we will be able to donate healthy
percentage, after recovering from some debts, to our non profit
work among indigenous and rainforest communities in Central and
South America.
We have finally legalized a non-profit organization here in
Costa Rica, in the name of Fundación OSA or Grupo Osanimi.
OSA stands for "Organización Social y Ambiental" –
translated to "Social and Environmental Organization." So, in
a sense, we are shifting from the name Group Osanimi to Grupo
Osanimi.
We still have great ideas on how to put into play an intact
social and political infrastructure which we have established
from our experiences over the past decade, working in megadiverse,
remote, and forgotten wilderness areas - territories much talked
about, yet at ground level for indigenous ethnic minorities, quite
forgotten. We do need volunteer grant writer(s) and researchers
to help us receive funds for our projects, so please step forth,
adventuresome and tireless grant writer(s), and join us in these
adventures.
On another note, we share more good news. Thanks to our friends
and colleagues in Ecuador for their ground-level work, and to
the generous donations made from private individuals and the Tropical
Rainforest Coalition in the United States, Group Osanimi was able
to assist the Amazanga Community and their foundation, the Huanduk
Yachai Foundation. In Pastaza Province of the Ecuadorian Amazon,
another 125 acre parcel bordering Sangay National Park in the
pristine Llushin River Valley was purchased for the purpose of
conservation.
For us, this is a great victory and for the Amazanga Community
as well because they have been struggling for decades now to strengthen
their peoples' traditional ways and respect for Nature.
Funds have also been secured and sent to Ecuador to administer
among the Secoya People so that they may continue the work in
the Ethnobotanical Gardens in the village of San Pablo with Alfredo
Payaguaje. A workshop is being planned to bring together the elders
and the youth to create a forum where traditional knowledge can
be transferred from one generation to the next.
Well, these are just a few of the adventures we've been up to
in our neck of the woods. In this time and age, it is a true challenge
to create alternatives to the dominant paradigm; and to seek ways
to protect Nature and assist in the transmission of vital cultures
is even more challenging. This task is even greater in the remote
and forgotten regions we work in.
We wholeheartedly extend our utmost appreciation to the people
who have supported our work, and to those who are, in their own
unique ways, working towards the necessary transformation needed
to awaken humanity to a vision of respect and sincerity in harmony
with Nature and with our fellow human beings. Let us cherish these
moments as we live on this Earth and make the most of our vitality.
Thank you again for your interest in our work, and may the flight
of the birds not be detained.
Sincerely,
Jonathon M. Weisberger
Ethnobotanist
Director, Grupo Osanimi
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