Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora is a proponent of
non-violence who has fought for indigenous people's rights and worked
as a mediator in armed conflicts throughout South America. In 1999, she
founded the organization Ser Paz (Being Peace) specifically to work
with youth gangs in Ecuador's southern city of Guayaquil. Through her
work, many of Guayaquil's most dangerous gangs have disarmed, agreed to
abandon violence and are now working together to rebuild the community.
In Barrio de Paz (Peace Town), we meet gang youth who band together not to commit crimes, but to provide services to their struggling community. Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora initiated this non-violent youth movement in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and in this film explains how she helps youth channel their need for unity, structure, and love into the power to participate in society.
Youth worker Nelsa Libertad Curbelo Cora describes the inspiration behind Barrio de Paz (Peace Town), a non-violent youth movement in Guyaquil, Ecuador. Barrio de Paz brings together street gangs to provide services to the struggling community. Gang members band together out of a need for unity, structure, and love when their social fabric has been torn apart. Mirroring the society that marginalizes them, gangs use this unity for domination and aggression. Nelsa shows how this instinct toward oneness can be transformed into a power of service, life, and love.
(8 min 59 sec)
"Everything in society tells us to distrust others. I think it's the other way around. We need to profoundly trust in those around us, in their potential and in who they are."
Alberto Luna served as Archbishop of Cuenca from 1981
- 2000 during which time he attracted controversy among the church
establishment and ruling class for both his ideas and his work with the
poor and underprivileged. His personal journey into the mystical
dimension of religious life has inspired many around him to embrace a
more inclusive view of their faith. He continues to lead mass daily at
the Catedral de la Inmaculada in Cuenca, Ecuador.
In "The Heart of Religion", we are taken into the beautiful Catedral de la Immaculada in Cuenca, Ecuador, where Fr. Alberto Luna, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cuenca, describes a place deep in the heart where all religions meet, and where we find the strength needed to put "we" above "you" and "I".
(8 min 3 sec)
"Isn't one of the biggest crises of humanity that the value of the word 'we' has been lost?"
Don Alverto Taxo is a master Iachak of the Atis people
from the Cotopaxi region of Ecuador. During a gathering of Andean
Elders in 1989, he was given the responsibility of sharing the ancient
Andean wisdom with the United States and Europe. He has since traveled
to the US and Europe several times where he has taught and lectured. We
met with Don Alverto in the village of Membrilla in the high Andes
where he lives with his wife and children.
An ancient prophecy of the indigenous peoples of Quicha, Ecuador, speaks of a time when the eagle and the condor fly together - a time when western technological advancements, symbolized by the eagle, will support indigenous wisdom, symbolized by the condor. In this film, Don Alverto Taxo, a Quichua elder and Iachak (community leader/healer) tells us the time of this prophecy is upon us, and invites us all to bring what is in our hearts out into life.
What if the world embodied our highest potential? What would it look like? As the structures of modern society crumble, where do we find solutions that can help us build the future that serves us all?
This 25-minute Global Oneness Project film retrospective asks us to reflect on the state of the world and ourselves, and to listen more closely to what is being asked of us at this time of unprecedented global transformation.
Don Alverto Taxo, a Quichua elder and Iachak (community leader/healer), shares his indigenous Andean perspective on the crises and potential of the current pachacuti (thousand-year cycle). Recalling the ancient prophecy of the eagle and the condor, Don Alverto outlines a vision of a new society based on harmony, the honoring of diversity, and a shared evolution toward wisdom and the "subtleness of life." He also describes Pacha Mama, Her relationship to God, the earth and humanity, as well as the serious consequences of disrupting Her natural equilibrium.
(24 min 17 sec)
"We are part of the cosmos, and the cosmos is part of us."
Freddy Ehlers is one of the most well known and
respected figures in Ecuador. He is a journalist, television producer
and has been an active figure in politics for the past ten years. He
was formerly a member of the Andean parliament and was recently
appointed as the General Secretary of Andean Nations made up by
Ecuador, Columbia, Bolivia, Peru and Chile.
Freddy Ehlers, general secretary of the Andean Nations, shares that, in his experience, most politicians have an authentic desire, beneath the surface, to see positive change.
Freddy Ehlers, general secretary of the Andean Nations, talks about the surprising personal tenderness between public figures who externally play roles of opposition and conflict. Which is more real?
Freddy Ehlers, general secretary of the Andean Nations, explains why marketing is a tragic waste of human creativity. Mr. Ehlers asks, how can an external object really give lasting happiness?
Freddy Ehlers, general secretary of the Andean Nations, describes an experience of beauty in which all sense of duality collapsed. These experiences of oneness bring both peace and passion to life.
(2 min 1 sec)
"If one day I act with all my conscience, with happiness, with respect to everybody, it's enough."
