Francisco Proner 

Iralda Iralda Zurita, 53, is in
stage 4 of breast cancer.

 

Her daughter, Yaraira Macias, says the tumor was discovered 8 months ago
because Iralda was in a lot of pain.
 

Unable to get treatment at the hospital in the region, the family went to Guayaquil in search of specialized treatments.
 In a few months the cancer evolved and contaminated other organs, forcing the family to go to Quito for treatment.

​

In an ultrasound, it was discovered that the cancer could already be in the liver.
Iralda and her family live on a small farm 10 kilometers from the city of San Carlos,
in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
 

Near their lands, there are extraction fields
and oil treatment facilities.

"I discovered my cancer 5 years ago, when I
was playing volleyball, I looked to the sky,
and I started to have seizures. 
 

I got surgery, did chemotherapy and r
adiotherapy. Today doctors think I am stable.
 

All oil exploration companies in this region
are responsible for contamination and
for the diseases of our people.
 

The contamination happens because n
o one has ever done anything to prevent it. "




Edgar Bravo, 33, patient
of cancer in the cerebellum.

"The same situation has
been going on for decades.
 

If it continues as it is, we will all die,
I am afraid for my children and for everyone who lives in the Amazon.
 

There is only one way to end this suffering: we need to end this exploitation. "

Edgar Bravo, 33, patient
of cancer in the cerebellum.

"In 2016 I discovered my cancer, the doctor told me that I was already
leaving stage 3 and entering the
stage 4. In 2018 I was operated 
and went back to surgery
the following year.

There is an oil well 400 meters from my house and many acquaintances say that the diseases we have come from the contamination of these structures.

At home I started to raise my own animals for consumption because I cannot eat food with hormones,
 due to my illness.
 

So I live, I survive on

my own things. "

Mery Ayala Lopez, 50, resident of
Sushufindi, Sucumbíos

“This jungle is natural, we have always been here living with animals in the forest, our territory was free, it was immense. These songs that we sing today are the same songs that our grandparents sang in our home territory. We sing to retake and conserve our territory. "







Weya Cahuiya, activist Waorani
from Ñuneno village

"We lived as we wanted, we took care
of our territory.
 

In the last spill, the river became dark and our animals died, dogs, tapirs, chickens and fish died. The plants, bananas, manioc, all dead.
 

We are not complaining about other
parts of the country, we are outraged at
what is happening in our home. "

 




Weya Cahuiya, activist Waorani
from Ñuneno village

“Jennifer had to amputate her leg after a domestic accident and was already suffering a lot from the pain of recovery.

A few months after the amputation, Jennifer did not improve, she was weak, she did not eat ... we took her to the doctor and we realized that the platelets were lowering in the blood and that
I needed to take her to an oncologist.

On February 4, 2019, we discovered her leukemia and spent 32 days with her in Quito. During treatment, we spent months together in the hospital "

Andrea Carolina Flores, 29, mother of
Jennifer Camila Flores,
12-year-old leukemia patient.

"It is very difficult to live near the pipes, in the region we have already had hundreds of leaks, more than ten pipes pass through my land.
To get down in my yard I have to go under the pipe.

The structures are very hot
during the day, when the rain falls
over the pipelines it gets evaporated by the heat. "

Nicola Chinkim, indigenous
Shuar ethnicity, lives with his
wife Maribbel Wanpotsar
and his daughter on the
edge of Via Auca.

 “I have lived in this region for 50 years and a few years, I worked at Texaco, I worked a year at Petroamazonas, from 2008 to 2010 I worked for Petroecuador and from 2012 to 2020 I returned to work with Petroamazonas.

I lost 3 children to different diseases.
My 32-year-old son died of tuberculosis and my two daughters, 12 and 24 years
old died of cancer.

The river that flows at the back of my land was pure oil. I did everything to
report what happened to me.

Last year I retired and started to receive
900 dollars a month, which is a
good remuneration for a peasant,
but at what price? "

José Mashumar, lives on the edge of
Via Auca, the road that connects Coca to
the interior of the Amazon.