by Kianda Mala
from the book The Edge of Extinction by
from the book The Edge of Extinction by
Kristen Stone
Hello, my name is Kianda
Mala. I am leader of Chachinka people in the Amazon jungle. I sorry if my
Ingerlish no very good, I only learn a little time ago.
My people have always lived in jungle. They
knew of no other people. We were happy, life was simple, hunting for meat to
eat, picking things that grow in jungle. My good friend, Hannah, say we are
hunter/gatherers.
Then the river that gives us fish and water
turned bad. Hannah call it pollution. All fish die. Many people die. Our
children and old people die. Worst of all, new born babies die. It was I,
Kianda Mala, who went to find out why.
The people look to me for all things. They
think I am a jungle god because I have a tail. I tell them this is not so but
they no listen to me. They want to believe.
I leave our village and search the jungle
to find why river has turned bad. What I find is a strange thing called a mine.
It is putting bad things in the river. Hannah say we must move the people to a
new village.
Hannah tells me there are many people in the
world. People who do care about what is happening. She tells me I must tell
everyone what has happened to my people. She says I should use something called
‘the internet’ to ‘blog’ about what has happened.
I no sure I understand what she means. There
are many things I no understand but Hannah says it doesn’t matter. Not
understanding does not make me stupid, it is just that I have not grown up with
these things. Not having these things does not mean we should not be allowed to
live the way we have always lived.
Why should people from other parts of the
world come and make my river bad? Would they let other people do the same to
their homes? Can talking about these
things on this strange internet make things better. Do other people really read
what I say? Will I truly have friends around the world, or am I only talking to
myself?
Hannah has great faith in the internet but I
not so sure. When I left jungle to look for help I saw the internet, but I
could not see the people who are
supposed to be there.
All I want is for my people to be safe and
happy. To live in the jungle the way we have always lived. We do not need
magical things like electricity, computers and televisions. All we need can be
found in the jungle if it is left alone.
Here my words are no very good. I have
written them myself. But Hannah has taken my words and made them good in the
story of my fight to protect my people from the people who would rape the land
without care or thought for the people who live in it.
My story is here in The Edge of Extinction.
Edge of Extinction
 |
| Amazon.UK Amazon.com |
Feel the heat of the jungle, the joy of life and the despair
that death brings to the indigenous people of the Amazon when a mine pollutes
the river on which they depend.
The Chachinka people have never met anyone from
outside the jungle. To them there is no ‘outside the jungle.’ They are led by
Kinda Mala, a golden-haired, amber-eyed foundling who MUST be a god because he
has a prehensile tail. When things start to go wrong it is to him the people
look.
Ms Stone takes the reader on a journey through Kianda’s
eyes, out of the Rainforest and into a world that is beyond his comprehension.
A world where his people are deemed worthless and profit rules.
This beautifully written story touches on some
thought provoking issues without ever preaching about what should be done.
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