When we were invited by the tribal leader Almir Surui to do a concert in Cacoal Rondonia, Brazil to raise awareness in the local logging communities, we had no idea what the out come would be. The situation is very tense there and as the Surui activists still fear for their lives, they were very concerned that we too could become targets as we got involved in this conflict (which is why in some of the photos you can the see the armed guards that we had with us while we were in Cacoal).
However for the time that we were there, what we experienced was different. The tribal leaders, the activists, the local politicians, and the local illegal logging community, all came together for perhaps one of the first times in a long time, looking at their situation differently. We were filled with hope that these people, polititians and loggers were begining to see that these forests and their people were something precious, to be protected.
I’m a very sensitive creature, I tend to pick up on peoples feelings and thoughts quite easily, and I have to say that it was amazing to me to experience the energetic shifts that were going on during this show process. To be part of something so much bigger than just a show about my personal story (which has its value too). This energy that was circulating was very different from other experiences I’ve had. It really brought home once again the tremendous power and importance of “working together to make change”.