Whether it’s family, friends, neighbors, teachers or church members, we all need a tribe. Read how my sponsors at PURE Energies recently took a trip to the Amazon Rainforest to meet the Kayapo People, and how their online journals inspired me to be a better “tribe member”.
Deep in the Amazon rainforest, lives the indigenous Kayapo people. This amazing tribe truly knows what it means to work together as a village. They work together to protect one of the largest regions of Amazon rainforest in the world. Their territory spans 10.5 million hectares which is almost bigger than 50% of all countries in the world. Since the 1950s, the Kayapo have successfully battled waves of squatters, loggers, miners,ranchers and government officials to maintain their land and way of life.
Very few outside people have been allowed to visit the inside culture of the Kayapo People, however I recently read “journey journals” from the CEO of PURE Energies who was allowed to embark on a 10 day journey to visit the Kayapo People while providing them with solar powered lighting for their homes. What I read from the journals, is that the Kayapo People live beautiful and inspiring lives, and that they truly understand what it means to work together as a tribe.
From reading this, and pondering on the Kayapo’s wonderful example of teamwork, sustainability and coming together for a greater cause, I reflected on my own life and the people that I consider to be in my “tribe”. These people are my extended family, my friends, people in my church congregation, neighbors, my kids’ teachers and sports coaches, children that I teach in preschool, and many others that I interact with regularly. While we may not have to guard our land from squatters and loggers as the Kayapo have done, we have issues that we face on a daily basis that we can’t tackle on our own. This is when we need to come together with our own little tribes to help one another succeed. Here are a few of the reasons that I am thankful for my “tribe”:
- To gain support for tough times
- To help others through their tough times
- To provide or receive a shoulder to cry on
- To feel the joy of celebrating in other people’s accomplishments
- To join together for common goals
- To work together to better our community
- To provide positive role models for my family
- To gain wisdom, advice and knowledge from those who have done it before me
- To have others who can help me in teaching my family positive values
The Kayapo People have inspired me to be a better “tribe” member. They have inspired me to be a better mother, daughter, neighbour, friend, and church and community member. They have inspired me to look outside of my own problems to find people who are struggling and look for ways to show support, love and service to them. If there is one main thing that I have learned from reading about the Kayapo People it is that the success of the individual depends on the success of the tribe, and that the success of the tribe depends on the success of the individual.
I encourage you to follow PURE Energies journey into the depths of the Amazon to watch some never-before seen footage of how these amazing people live.
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