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AREA STUDIES
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Maryknoll takes you to Ecuador, land of tropical jungles, snow-capped mountains, and oil-rich rain forests. Here, the indigenous peoples—about 30% to 40% of the 12.5 million population—are becoming a political force in search of their rights.
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 The prelate at the mike is Archbishop Alberto Luna Tobar, the retired bishop of Cuenca (KWEN-kah), who was not retired when he gave leadership to the indigenous march on Quito (KEE-toh) that unseated President Mahuad in January 2000.
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 Indigenous protesters blocked the entrance to Ecuador’s congressional building in Quito last January, bringing the government to a standstill and forcing the president to step down. |
 The indigenous people around Lago Agrio have hardly profited from the discovery of oil in their region. But they have inherited lots of pollution and accompanying health problems. |
 The young man in native dress belongs to the Tsáchila (TSA-chee-lah) indigenous people of Ecuador (one of the minority Amerindian groups—the majority of the indigenous in Ecuador are Quechua [KETCH-wah]). The Tsáchila people live in the semi-tropic region around the city of Santo Domingo in northwestern Ecuador. The men make a red paste from a special nut and apply it to their hair. |
 Maryknoll Sisters Laura Glynn, left, from Hartford, Connecticut, and Elsie Monge, a native Ecuadorian, have been helping to organize Ecuador’s Amerindian people since 1975, when they helped found an ecumenical group to defend human rights. |
 La Mitad del Mundo (the Middle of the World) monument marks the equator, about 15 miles north of Quito. Tourists come here to take photos of themselves in both hemispheres. |
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