Isabela Curtin Final Ecuador Update

If you are reading this post then you know that it's the final one. I have done two in the past two semesters.The first one was just a beginning analyzation of the Ecuadorian Oil Crisis. I talked about how oil has a huge impact on the Economy. Then on my second post , I went even more in-depth about how much oil as actually spilled and added an interview from an Ecuadorian Native.

There have been many ways this Crisis is being helped. There was a documentary called Crudo. I have talked about what I have learned from it, but I never talked about the positive impact it had on raising awareness. During Crudo the lawyers that were trying to raise awareness and gain a following. Sting's wife was one of the main supporters of this movement. She even went to Ecuador and brought reporters to spread the word. After that Sing organized a huge concert that helped fund money for the lawyers back in Ecuador.I think that when you are able to engage a crowd and make it a fun way to raise support, more people will give to the cause.

Of course, you want the public support but you also need changes in laws and government officials. In Ecuador we are currently getting major changes in our government and people are actually speaking out and voting for change. I mentioned this before but in Yasuni park has been an important part of the fight on Oil.  6.1  million Ecuadorians voted to reduce exploitation in that area. The bill passed and exploitation is now in the works. Now that the public is fighting back we must make sure it stays that way.

                                           Me presenting my slide show to my advisory,

I wanted to make a change here in Philadelphia also. Thanks to this project I had an incentive to organize an event. I had two ideas for my agent of change my first one was to do a screening of Crudo followed by a discussion. I wanted to do this but I could get in contact with the Crudo Organization so I could send the donations. I then went to my back up plan which was to do a slideshow about this problem. To do this I had to make my presentation first, I then got in contact with my Advisors and set a date. Finally I presented to my Advisory. I thought that raising awareness and educating people about a topic that they probably didn’t know would exist would be a great start.I was very nervous because I'm not that confident during presentations. One I got into a rhythm though  did well.  I do believe that I was able to start a good conversation with my advisies.

I really enjoyed this project. The You and the World Project forced me to keep pushing for one end goal and not flake out. I am very thankfull that I was able to learn and teach out this topic so close to my heart. I do belive I could have push the CRUDO orgniatation to see if they needed donations. I think I summarized what we still need to do for change.  “This injustice of explosion isn’t just one thing happening in Ecuador. There are so many countries that are dealing with the same  issue that Ecuador is dealing with. There are big companies all over the world taking people's land and resources and not paying for it. What we have to do is open our eyes. We need to be look at all these problems and learn to not just ignore them. They may seem big and whatever you do is insignificant. It may sound cliche but no action is too small. Vote for someone you know will stand for the issues you care about, educate yourself about topics that are important in today's society so you are able to have a conversation about it. Find what you are passionate about and fight for it with every fiber of your body.”. Before you go here is the link to my bibliography.