Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change - Decade of Change

01

Ecuadorian Amazonia, in the opinion of many, hosts more diverse species than anywhere else on Earth.  Sarayaku is an Amazonian Kichwa community on the Río Bobonaza coast.  There are no road connections to the rest of Ecuador, no electricity and no telephone network.

02

A faded banner protesting against oil extraction.

03

Abi, 21, is a youth leader.  In 2019 she traveled from the jungle to Madrid to represent Sarayaku in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2019.

04

Isidro, president of the community in 1993–1994, boasts the nickname El Tigre (‘the tiger’).  He wears a necklace made of snake backbones and jaguar teeth.

05

A little boy returns shortly after dawn from the overnight jungle hunt.

06

Eloisa, a 100 year-old woman.  In 1992 she walked on foot along with about 500 other indigenous inhabitants, for 13 days around 400km, from Puyo, Amazonia to the Ecuadorian capital Quito, to claim the title deeds to the community on the primitive lands they inhabit.

07

The inhabitants make roofs with woven palm leaves, because of their beautiful appearance, to keep alive traditional skills, and because the leaves do a good job of insulating the interiors from outdoor sounds. The government has offered to supply them with metal roofs, but they prefer their traditional roofs. The high school is one of the few buildings which has a metal roof.

08

Α little girl sings lullabies to her little brother next to the community’s runway.

09

Domna Narcisa preparing chicha from mandioca (also called yuca).  Women chew the washed and peeled yuca and spit the juice into a bowl.  Yuca root is very starchy, and therefore the enzymes in the women’s saliva rapidly convert the starch into simple sugar, which is further converted by wild yeast or bacteria into alcohol.  After the juice has fermented in the bowl for a few days, the chicha is ready.  Chicha is the main source of liquids and carbohydrates.  People drink it every day.

10

A do-it-yourself speargun made by a boy for fishing in the river.

Address
Yasumoto International Academic Park 8/F
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
Phone
3943 9632
Mail
mocc@cuhk.edu.hk
Opening hours
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday to Saturday: 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday, Sunday, Public Holidays and University Holidays
(24th and 31st December, and Lunar New Year Eve): Closed