Fundación Casa Palabra y Pueblo

We are located in the beautiful Intag region of Ecuador, an area of incredible natural beauty and diversity. However, this cloud forest ecosystem and its strong agricultural communities face threats from international development projects, especially a projected open-pit copper mine. Here at Casa Palabra y Pueblo, we work to promote local communities and organizations by supporting education, communication, and access to information in Íntag.

Our Radio Revista, a weekly radio program, is the region's only source of local news, while our infocenter, Jatun Yachay Wasy, offers the area's only public lending library. For eleven years we ran a community newspaper (since replaced by our Radio Revista), and the archives now serve as a history of the Intag region and its struggle against extractive projects - http://intagnewspaper.org/.

We run several programs for children, including Mundo Magico, a radio show by and for the children of Intag. Depending on the season, we also offer Reading Circles, theater activities, and our ludoteca, a space where children can play productively while their parents learn about early childhood development and related topics. We support all kinds of creative and alternative education.

In the future, we plan to create a cafe and cultural center, where people can enjoy a cup of organic Intag coffee and discuss books or films. We also plan to have a research center with a complete collection of books, articles, documentaries, and other materials about the region.