Nemonte Nenquimo: Love and battle in the Ecuadorian Amazon
After Nemonte Nenquimo saw the destruction the oil industry was bringing to the Amazon, she fought back and won a landmark legal victory protecting 500,000 acres of rainforest.
Nemonte Nenquimo's childhood was influenced by her Waorani culture and also by the Christian missionaries who had come to live in her village. The missionaries wanted Nemonte to strive for their way of life and, for a while, she felt conflicted. But all uncertainty left her when she witnessed the damage the oil industry was having on on her rainforest home.
She met an American called Mitch Anderson who was working to protect the rainforest and their love for each other, and their shared mission, propelled Nemonte on to achieve a landmark legal victory on behalf of her indigenous community against the Ecuadorian government. Nemonte and Mitch have written a book together called We Will Not Be Saved: A Memoir of Hope and Resistance in the Amazon Rainforest.
Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: May Cameron
Voice over: Cecilia Cruz
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo carries her people's lawsuit in her hands. Credit: Amazon Frontlines)
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