I saw this in the paper while having lunch. Very cool story about a young boy from deep within the Ecuadorian jungle who came to Seattle when he was young for an education. He's about to graduate high school, at which time he'll return to his village (reachable only by an 8 hour river trip on a motorized canoe following a 9 hour bus ride from the capital) and prepare to lead his tribe in a class-action suit against Chevron over oil slicks and other pollution.
In his village, the family home is built on stilts because of river flooding. His bedroom there is simple — some shelving, a bed, a mosquito net.
At village gatherings, Lucitante wears a traditional midthigh-length robe, a bandana and a necklace made of wild boar or jaguar teeth, and he paints his face red with the seed of a native plant.
The words "culture shock" just don't seem adequate.
Read the article at the Seattle Times site here.
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