What Makes Us Different?
In both our work and our personal lives, we embrace the values of the original people, respecting the natural world and our interconnection with all living beings. This is expressed in how we choose to live, the ethical standards by which we govern our charity, and how we care for our staff, our charity partners, our donors, the guardians of the Amazon, the rainforest and our planet.
As understood by the original people, the people of the modern world have become disconnected from their relationship with each other and the living world. As a result, they are able to harm and exploit people and planet, ultimately to the cost of all living beings. Our mission is to uphold the sovereignty and wellbeing of original people, so that they can become a respected voice in healing all our relations. We make our commitment to their wisdom by valuing it in every aspect of our lives.
Origins
The Kurikindi foundation was established in 2020, through the vision of Kurikindi, an original man from the Ecuadorian rainforest. Kurikindi was born in the Amazon rainforest and now resides in the United Kingdom. Since then he has dedicated himself to sharing his knowledge and wisdom of the Amazon, which has led to the creation of the foundation, with an aim of supporting original communities into the future modern world.
Meet The Team
Kurikindi (Patricio Hualinga)
Kurikindi is our chairperson and a master shaman of the Kichwa people of Ecuador. Born into an ancient lineage of shamans, he brings forward many generations of ancestral knowledge so much needed in such crucial times, alongside his lived experience of the threats original people face from environmental exploitation and political corruption. As both a teacher and healer, Kurikindi shares his wisdom with people across the world. The foundations of his teachings are based in love, compassion, acceptance and forgiveness, offering us an opportunity to reconnect with the wisdom in our hearts, and find a deep unified wholeness and healing within ourselves, others and nature — it bringing peace and harmony to all our relations and the world.
Kurikindi’s heritage and faith radiate the essence of Sumak Kawsay: a way of bringing the beautiful fulfilment of harmony, balance and dignity to all existence.
Simon Izod
Simon is our treasurer and a CIMA certified Management Accountant. He has 15 years of experience working in the Financial Services sector and seven years in the third sector where he has led several Finance teams. He has a love of nature and wishes to be of service in this time of great transition.
Shaun Higgins
Shaun is our secretary. He is a student of Kurikindi and has lived and worked in community amongst the forest people of Ecuador, learning from their friendship, culture and wisdom, as well as from the Amazon rainforest itself. He brings more than 25 years of experience in the social and environmental justice sector, specialising in education programme design, and was previously a charity co-director. He is committed to enabling all original people to hold sovereignty over their lands, culture and wisdom, and play their crucial part in healing both people and planet for the sake of all life and all our futures.
Floree Zama Neagra
Floree has been a student of Kurikindi for many years, spending extended periods in the Ecuadorian rainforest in close relationship with the medicines, the land and the original peoples of the Amazon. Alongside this, she works with purpose-led organisations and foundations on participatory approaches that centre lived experience and youth leadership. As a Churchill Fellow, she is researching forest gardens as regenerative responses to food poverty and climate change. As a Trustee, Floree is devoted to walking in reciprocity with the original peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon and to supporting the shared mission of protecting the planet and bringing light to the heart of humanity.
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Kurikindi Foundation © Charity Reg. No. 1192677