2020 EarthAction Report
A Brief Overview of EarthAction’s Projects & Campaigns
2020 Action
Every month, 2020 Action and the 2020 Action Education Fund, both projects of EarthAction, educate and mobilize thousands of US citizens encouraging them to communicate with US policymakers on critically important peace and environmental issues. Each month, 2020 produces a timely Action Alert with meaningful actions for citizens to take to protect our environment and security—usually to contact a policymaker facing a critical decision. For details, read 2020’s 2020 Action Report at 2020Action.org. This is 2020 Action’s 35th year!
Support for Indigenous Peoples—Save Our Spirits Fund
In 2020, we expanded our collaboration with the Save Our Spirits (SOS) Fund to provide increased support for indigenous and ancestral communities around the world to help them preserve, strengthen, and pass on the spiritual practices and ceremonies and the wisdom of their elders.
This year, EarthAction made SOS grants to support the work of the following groups:
The Elders Project (TEP) in Colombia: We continued to work with and provide assistance to the traditional authorities (Mamos) of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta (SNSM) in Colombia. Rick Harlow, the Project Director, made trips to Colombia to work directly with the traditional authorities to help strengthen their spiritual and traditional practices.
Indigenous Peoples Healing Fire at Assonet in Massachusetts was held on Saturday, November 28th. It was organized by members of the Wampanoag Tribe. We hope this will help to lay the foundation for a permanent Indigenous Healing Ceremony Circle in the greater Boston area.
The Lalakea Foundation for their Nā Wāhine ʻĀpapalani, Hawaiian women cultural practitioners who have been conducting ritual and ceremony on Maunakea for many years and who are dedicated to honoring the sacred Piko O Wākea through prayer, chant and ceremony that acknowledge Nā Kānaka o ka Mauna, Deities of the Mountain, and form connectivity with the sacred through space and time. This project will extend into 2021.
Several Villages in the Hopi Community for their COVID-19 Emergency Response: Hopi Contact Tracing Project. This project will extend into 2021 and train people within the community to carry out contact tracing in a number of Hopi villages that are being hard-hit by the pandemic.
The Cordillera Peoples Alliance, Philippines to assist them with their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the distribution of food relief consisting of rice, sugar, salt and cooking oil to a total of 500 families of indigenous people among the Ayangan tribe in the province of Ifugao. They also shared information on COVID-19 and held discussions on food security during the relief distribution in communities and conducted psycho-social sessions among vulnerable groups such as farmers, elders, youth, and informal workers.
Grass-Roots Organization for Women (GROW) in Ghana, for support of their project: Community-based Initiatives to Address the Impact of Corona-19 Virus Pandemic in Rural Indigenous and Local Communities. They are strengthening outreach to prevent the spread of infection and addressing emerging public health issues that impact vulnerable populations in rural areas who lack access to essential services.
Kitanglad Integrated NGOs Inc. (KIN), in Philippines for support of their program: Indigenous Womens Relief Against COVID-19 by Nurturing Culture and Nature. From May through August, KIN provided food and other support to community members, especially women, mothers and youths and their families belonging to the Daraghuyan-Bukidnon Tribe of Dalwangan in Malaybalay City, and the Talaandig Tribe of Songco, Lantapan, and Mt. Nebo, Valencia City. These tribal beneficiaries are partners in forest protection, biodiversity conservation and cultural survival of the tribes of Mts. Kitanglad Range Natural Park and the Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park.
Samdhana Institute, Philippines to assist with a response to the COVID pandemic to provide food relief to Erumanen ne Menuvu tribe (Manobo) in Southern Bukidnon, Philippines. Four hundred selected Menuvu families received food relief, to help them survive through the difficult period of the pandemic until they are able to plant for their own food.
Other Campaigns
Throughout the year, EarthAction engaged in many global campaigns for peace, justice and protection of the environment through our website and social media. For example, working with others, we helped to end the construction of hundreds of dangerous dams in Bosnia & Herzegovina, thus protecting Europe’s last remaining wild rivers! For details visit: www.earthaction.org.
Thank You
EarthAction thanks all our Partner Organizations, individual members, donors and Board members for their ongoing participation and support. Special thanks to the Thomas D. Hormel Trust, the Stewart R. Mott Foundation, and the Save Our Spirits Fund.
