In this first half of the year, the personalized mentoring sessions led by REIBA have been taking place in a deeply motivating and hopeful spirit. This motivation stems primarily from the teachers and community leaders themselves, who have found in this space valuable training support in methodologies, strategies, group dynamics, and ways of sharing knowledge that fully respect their own traditional knowledge.
REIBA continues to foster the spirit of learning from external sources as well—not to elevate them above local knowledge, but to recognize that both forms of knowledge are equally important and can complement one another for the well-being of communities and future generations. This journey is lived out through pastoral care, daily sharing, visits to communities, close accompaniment, and day-to-day work with families, children, youth, and community leaders.
This process is having a significant impact on the children and youth who benefit from the training their teachers and leaders receive. Little by little, many of them are reconnecting with their identity, their roots, their language, and their origins—aspects that, in some cases, had ceased to be shared within families for various reasons over the years. Today, learning about who they are and where they come from is once again awakening pride, interest, and hope.
Likewise, REIBA’s advisors and central commission recognize that new technologies are a powerful ally in the processes of cultural revitalization, restoration, and preservation. In this vein, Pope Leo XIV has reminded us that artificial intelligence must always be at the service of human dignity, promoting the common good and strengthening what unites peoples.
Technology, used responsibly and with a human touch, can help preserve indigenous languages, strengthen the memory of peoples, and show the world the spiritual, cultural, and natural wealth of the Amazon. Because the Amazon must be respected not only for its immense diversity of flora and fauna, but also for its fundamental role in caring for life, in the fight against global warming, and for its invaluable knowledge of natural medicine, accessible to all.
To speak of the Amazon is to speak of everything from that small community where barely three families live, to the great metropolitan cities. All of us, from wherever we are, can contribute to building a true integral ecology, based on respect, cultural appreciation, and care for our Common Home.
With hope, we continue walking, learning, and sharing, convinced that when a people recovers its memory, it also strengthens its future.