WEBVTT

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We’re in a very,
very serious situation,

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where resources
are increasingly running out,

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and where the direction
that society continues to take

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is towards the edge,
and of falling.

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Why do we need so much wealth?

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Why do we have to extract
so many minerals from the ground?

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Producing so much electricity
isn’t necessary to live well.

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As industrial societies grew,

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and the concept of mass society expanded,

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small communities
lost their presence.

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Living a life of dignity means
fighting for the things

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that are worthwhile so that
future generations can survive.

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We see the need to take care
of the environment as a whole.

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The rivers, the forest;
that’s where we get everything we need.

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It\'s going back to the roots,
to the very basics.

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Welcome to paradise.

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Existing forty years, struggling,
celebrating and fighting.

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Community.

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People of all ages and languages.

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Nahuatls, Lencas, Mayans

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Chorotegas, Bribris, Cabecars.

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Teribes, Borucas, Mulhviertler,
Basler, Appenzeller.

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Our paradise has many hidden places.

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Tall rocks, deep waters,
mighty trees.

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Chiricano, Namaste, Ceibo,

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Guyacán, Guanacaste.

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We’re in southern Costa Rica,
140 kms. south of the capital, San José.

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And we’re in an area
of evergreen forest,

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where very few trees
lose their leaves.

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Well, my name is
Roland Spendlingwimmer,

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I’m Austrian by birth.

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I’ve participated in a project…
for almost…

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Well, most of my life story.

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The Longo Mai cooperatives
started in Europe,

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as a result of the 1968 movement.

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It was a group of young people
from various countries,

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France, Austria, Switzerland,
mainly, and Germany,

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who wanted to choose
a different way of life,

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autonomous, independent...

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And so,

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we started with agricultural cooperatives
in various regions of Europe,

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especially in regions that
had been abandoned, in the mountains,

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by the traditional peasants,
because they had left for cities.

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The idea was also to act in solidarity

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with other vulnerable groups,
that were having problems,

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and that’s how, one day,
we heard about the war in Nicaragua,

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and we tried to do
something to help.

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And it turns out that in \'78,

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we were visited,
in the cooperatives,

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by representatives of Nicaragua’s
Sandinista National Liberation Front.

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Then, they had the idea,

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that with so many Nicaraguan refugees
arriving in Costa Rica,

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why not start a similar project
with these refugees.

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And then, we left
and came here, to Costa Rica,

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to try to help.

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Here are the photos of the very beginning
of this Longo Mai project in Costa Rica.

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You see tents,
where people used to stay,

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because we didn\'t have anything,
there wasn’t even a house, nothing.

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The women
cooked for everyone.

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There were very large pots.

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We all ate together
in that tent.

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The idea was that the refugees
could cultivate their own sustenance.

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At the time,
that was a very original idea.

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Because we also thought that...

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the refugee problem
wasn’t solved with camps,

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where they’re condemned
to do nothing,

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it’s not a life of dignity,
especially when it lasts a long time.

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That was between \'78 and \'79,

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until the victory of
the Sandinista Front in Nicaragua,

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when the majority of refugees
returned to Nicaragua,

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to recover their homes,
their land.

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Then came the war in El Salvador,

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and a wave of
Salvadoran refugees came,

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they were more rural,

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and knew more about
working the land, cultivating.

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My name is Pedro,
I\'m Salvadoran,

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I’m 76 years old.

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I came from El Salvador
because of the war.

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Fourteen years in the war,
it wasn’t easy.

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I lost eight family members.

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My dad and seven siblings.

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War is not a pleasant thing.

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But there are moments
that just happen.

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But without losing sight of what we say,
“clean politics”, which is God.

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I believe in God,
in the Virgin Mary,

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and in an organized people.
That’s my politics.

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Well, I stayed here eleven years,

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during which
I learned many things,

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many good things
for the project.

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I’m still here,
in Longo Mai, happy.

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To be a country man, for me,

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is the most beautiful thing.

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I get up at 4 AM,

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go out, graze the cows,

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come back, do the cleaning,

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from there I go
to give manure to the worms.

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And then I take the rest to the pasture.

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At 7:30 I come back,
make myself some coffee,

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because I’m alone,
since my wife died,

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I drink it.

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At 8, a prayer.

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I’ve already started
making the biodigester,

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and the vermiculture system.

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So the soil is totally different now.

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I’ve had this land
for twenty years, working it.

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And the grass gives the soil energy,
you wouldn’t believe how much.

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And I give it organic matter,
and it gives me grass to graze.

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So, that’s already a change, right?

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That\'s why I\'m convinced

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that if the earth can change,
why can’t I.

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I can too, right?

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My name is Rosa,
but everyone here knows me as Mera.

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I came here in the 80\'s,
more or less.

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I arrived here with my ex-husband,

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he came looking for work,
because it was very scarce where we lived.

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And one year after we moved here,
we separated.

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He left and I stayed here,
and I\'m not leaving.

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Here I live, and here I’ll stay,
to see what God wants of me.

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And I began to work hard,

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so that my kids could go to school,

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and to put food on the table.

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We all have
a patch of land, with crops.

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Here we planted lettuce,
tomato, cilantro, chile.

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We plant cabbage, cauliflower,
we grow all of that here,

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in order to not buy poison.

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I call the market vegetables
“poison”,

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because all of them
are very poisoned.

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I had to start learning to work,

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learn to use knives,
to work in whatever was available.

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I went to clear the land,
to plant things, and that\'s how I learned.

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And now I’ll do everything
that’s asked of me,

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I’ll go to clear the coffee plantations,
weed, prune, harvest,

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fertilize the cane plantations.

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I’ll do any and all work.

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Was that one no good?

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Didn\'t you see it had
no seeds?

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That one\'s out of reach.

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I\'d need a stick.

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Let\'s go.

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You\'re serious.

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My name is Yendry Martínez.

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I came to Longo Mai
months old,

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with my siblings,
we’re five girls and one boy.

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And we settled here
with my mother.

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Mom had to play the man’s role
to get us ahead.

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She was a woman with five children,
and getting us all ahead...

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We walk a lot in the forest,

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so we spend a lot of time together,

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everything we might have lacked,
as children or young people,

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we\'re getting it now.

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So for me, Mom is an example
of a strong woman,

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an empowered woman...

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who wanted to get her children ahead
while always doing the right thing.

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And being as honest
as we can be in life.

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How about that one?

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Dog hospital?

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I always liked
fighting for environmental causes.

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When I was very young, at school
I attended talks on environmental education,

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on medicinal gardens,
or organic gardens,

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I also really liked
working in solid waste collection,

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in recycling.

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We consider the river
to be part of us,

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not an isolated thing,
but something that’s ours.

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And since I was a child,
the fun we always had

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was going to the river.

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So, in summer,
for all the children of the community

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it was the place where
we could have a good time.

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So that’s where
the desire to fight emerges from,

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to keep the river free,
not privatized.

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The fifteen main rivers
of the southern zone,

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they wanted to dam them,

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to use 90% of their currents
to generate electricity,

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including the two rivers
that run through the wildlife refuge here,

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which are called
Convento and Sonador.

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Rivers that come from the mountains,
from heights of 3,000 meters,

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beautiful, crystalline rivers
from the mountains.

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And they wanted to put,
on this slope of the mountain range,

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twenty-seven
hydroelectric companies.

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And a defense organization
was created here in Longo Mai,

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the Living Rivers Committee,

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and all the projects
were stopped thanks to the campaign.

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My name is
Jiri Spendlingwimmer,

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I’ve lived in Costa Rica
for 40 years.

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I arrived at two years old,

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with my parents, who are members
of the Longo Mai cooperatives.

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I got involved in it too.

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And I liked the part of
protecting the forest.

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I have an administrative role
in the community,

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representing the
Longo Mai cooperatives.

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I participate in some organized groups
in the community,

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mainly those that have to do
with the environment.

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And perhaps the main job,
to which I dedicate the most time,

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is taking care of the forest area,

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which is an official wildlife refuge.

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And here we are
in the high part of Longo Mai,

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in the primary forest,
or the mature forest,

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which is a natural treasure
we have here.

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And this is the most remote zone,
let’s say,

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where the forest is most intact.

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When Longo Mai
acquired this estate in 1979,

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it was being used
mainly for livestock.

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Then, Longo Mai acquired it
for agricultural use,

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and also another part
for protection and conservation.

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If Longo Mai hadn’t
acquired and kept this estate,

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it probably would have been bought
for pineapple production.

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Here in the southern zone,
around that same time,

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a transnational company
was established,

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for pineapple production.

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As far as we know, the company
came from Hawaii to Costa Rica.

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It established itself in this area
because the climate, the amount of sunlight,

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was perfect for them.

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Subsequently, they developed
a genetically modified variety,

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that adapts perfectly to this zone,

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and it makes the pineapple
sweeter, more uniform,

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with a more attractive color.

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The company had planted
in the lower part of the valley,

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but at one point
the pineapple was selling so well,

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and it was
such a profitable business,

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that they began to expand
towards the mountains.

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So by doing that,

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the tilt of the earth
and the high precipitation

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cause a huge runoff
of materials, waste,

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and a lot of erosion
and sedimentation in the winter,

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and agrochemical contamination.

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Later, in the summer,
the problem is the opposite:

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water is heavily extracted
from the rivers

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to irrigate the pineapples.

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So the rivers dry up a lot.

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Why can the company
take out so much water?

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It has 98%
of concessioned water.

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Why were they allowed
to plant pineapples

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in the high, very steep lands,

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if this would affect
the region tremendously?

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There’s been silence.

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It’s been very difficult.

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Because they also create
3,000 direct jobs, and more.

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It’s about economics.

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If there’s silence, it’s because
there hasn’t been any response.

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And Longo Mai
is attempting to respond:

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progress is more about
a simpler life.

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We’ve been raising
very fundamental questions for 30 years,

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and trying, along with
members of the movements,

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to promote a just transition.

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Here where the night is crickets singing

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And the stones sing my destiny to the river

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It\'s a bend in that river
Standing on a stone on the path

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Now I\'m cleaning the shores

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Of this river that, expanding in the mist,

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Already knows the sea of its retreat

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The fury of its waves
And how ethereal its foam

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Even without having reached
its destination

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I step on it twice

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The river I dream of
Or this same river flows

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Mossy and different

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Stepping on my blood
Washing the wound of life

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Leaving my dreams sharp

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My name is Guadalupe Urbina.

00:19:25.998 --> 00:19:29.042
I’ve dedicated my whole life
to working in the arts.

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Writing, composing, singing, painting.

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I’ve lived in Longo Mai
for ten years now.

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Ten years ago,
I decided to leave the city,

00:19:45.017 --> 00:19:48.520
because I had lost
my ability to connect

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with so many things
that seemed superficial to me.

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I had come from living
many years in Europe.

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And for me,
I\'d had enough of cities.

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Enough of that lifestyle
and consumption.

00:20:02.492 --> 00:20:06.538
I was overwhelmed by the idea
that you are what you buy.

00:20:06.830 --> 00:20:09.708
And working
just to earn money and pay bills.

00:20:10.417 --> 00:20:11.752
That\'s how I got here.

00:20:19.134 --> 00:20:22.429
I think there’s an older teacher here,
which is the Jungle.

00:20:22.554 --> 00:20:25.682
And she teaches us,
through all her different ecosystems.

00:20:27.392 --> 00:20:30.479
It’s an ecosystem of abundance.

00:20:30.771 --> 00:20:32.898
It’s an ecosystem of beauty.

00:20:33.065 --> 00:20:34.733
Here you understand eternity.

00:20:34.858 --> 00:20:40.530
It’s an eternity of a cycle of reconstruction,
of constant regeneration.

00:20:40.656 --> 00:20:45.035
Trees are born, they fall, they feed
the living beings below, mushrooms come,

00:20:45.160 --> 00:20:48.997
all that, the meaning of that for me,
is truly eternity.

00:20:49.081 --> 00:20:54.544
It’s a dynamic eternity,
not a fixed thing up in the sky.

00:20:54.670 --> 00:20:56.296
It\'s here.

00:20:57.756 --> 00:21:00.926
Here... you won\'t die of thirst.

00:21:01.385 --> 00:21:07.182
There are mango, lemons,
bananas, cacao, coffee.

00:21:07.307 --> 00:21:11.687
There’s abundance here,
and that’s a privilege that we’ve earned,

00:21:11.770 --> 00:21:13.146
by resisting,

00:21:13.272 --> 00:21:17.067
by not having a lot of the privileges
out there, lots of things.

00:21:17.109 --> 00:21:18.819
Here we don\'t have things,

00:21:18.860 --> 00:21:22.322
but we have this wonder,
we have clean air.

00:21:35.961 --> 00:21:39.506
I’ve always said
that Longo Mai is an island.

00:21:39.631 --> 00:21:43.677
Even the weather here,
it rains more, everything is cooler.

00:21:43.760 --> 00:21:47.764
We don\'t have much pollution,
the forest itself protects us.

00:21:48.557 --> 00:21:50.058
Because here I feel calm,

00:21:50.100 --> 00:21:52.144
I plant anything here,
and I eat it,

00:21:52.185 --> 00:21:55.188
and I share with the neighbors,
with whoever comes or is here.

00:21:55.314 --> 00:21:58.066
I feel like this was mine,
I feel that...

00:21:58.150 --> 00:22:01.820
a document, a paper,
is actually useless.

00:22:03.196 --> 00:22:05.490
Longo Mai is a beehive.

00:22:05.657 --> 00:22:07.326
Let’s take care of it wisely.

00:22:07.743 --> 00:22:10.954
Because the bees
live in the same hive

00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:13.498
and they work,
they’re all organized,

00:22:13.623 --> 00:22:16.168
they defend each other,
and live happily.

00:22:16.918 --> 00:22:21.048
It’s helped a lot to have
people from very difficult paths here

00:22:21.173 --> 00:22:23.258
that serve as guides.

00:22:23.342 --> 00:22:25.344
They remind us

00:22:25.427 --> 00:22:28.847
the importance of discussing,
of addressing disagreements,

00:22:28.889 --> 00:22:30.640
but in a spirit of compassion.

00:22:30.682 --> 00:22:34.561
Longo Mai, then,
is like an actual, physical place,

00:22:34.603 --> 00:22:37.064
but also a spiritual place.

00:22:38.148 --> 00:22:40.776
And the community,
as it exists today,

00:22:41.026 --> 00:22:44.279
is the example
that’s playing a role

00:22:44.363 --> 00:22:48.617
in so many social conflicts
that we have in Costa Rica,

00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:51.536
on the environmental
and social front.

00:22:51.995 --> 00:22:53.747
And I think that, in this sense,

00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:58.377
it’s an alternative that we should
think of developing elsewhere,

00:22:58.418 --> 00:23:00.462
and that we defend.

00:23:02.631 --> 00:23:04.216
Yes to communities.

00:23:04.758 --> 00:23:06.676
Yes to their creative ability.

00:23:06.802 --> 00:23:09.679
Yes to people
who dare to leave the cities

00:23:09.763 --> 00:23:11.765
and make a life change.

00:23:11.848 --> 00:23:14.226
To invent a new world.

00:23:14.810 --> 00:23:19.815
Longo Mai, long life, or \"pure life\",
as Costa Ricans say.