Tales from the Island of Serendip 4 4

[Flex Mentallo]

Sting did not mention that The Rainforest Foundation was founded by himself, his girlfriend Trudie Styler, and a friend named Jean Pierre Dutilleux.

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

He subsequently went on a worldwide publicity tour accompanied by Raoni, chief of the Kayapo tribe.

 

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

Raoni’s message

 

“I came to tell you my concern about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. I told you about the fires, the burning sun, high winds that would blow if man continues to destroy the forest. You supported me and you gave me the means to demarcate our lands. It’s done. This is a huge area full of chase, flowers and fruits. This is the most beautiful forest. First of all, to all those who have donated money or help I want to say on behalf of my people Kayapo, thank you…nambikwa…meikumbre.

I come to you today because my concern is returned. I learned that you also now are worried. You know the fear that we know. I tell you, if man continues to destroy the earth, the winds will return with more force … not once … but several times … sooner or later.

 

"These winds will destroy us all. We all breathe one air, we all drink one water, we all live on one earth. We all need to protect it. Home invasions resumed. Loggers and miners do not meet the reserve. We do not have the means to protect this vast forest which we are custodians for you all.

 

I need your support before it is too late”.

 

[Flex Mentallo]

But then things began to go wrong.

 

 

A detailed investigation for ROLLING STONE magazine proved that, in fact, the land which The Rainforest Foundation claimed as the target of their protective 'demarcation' consisted of the Xingu National Park (of which Raoni’s nephew was the Director) and the adjacent territories of several indigenous indian tribes whose land was already legally protected under the terms of the Brazilian Constitution.

 

Under Brazilian law, the native indigenous inhabitants of the rainforest are 'wards of the state'. Outsiders are prohibited from contacting them

 

Outsiders are also legally prohibited from giving them money, gifts, and other influences.

 

Sting and Dutilleux told a Brazilian government official in charge of indian affairs they wanted to get Raoni a passport and needed the FUNAI official's approval so the chief could join the world tour. They explained that ”the Foundation needs a project that will capture people’s imagination. If we do that we can raise a lot of money, but we need the demarcation.”

 

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

To this day their web site states that:

 

"The Foundation's first major initiative was to campaign for the protection of the lands of the Kayapo Indians in Brazilian Amazonia. This resulted in 1993 in the legal recognition and demarcation of an area of more than 27,359 square kilometers."

 

It has been established that this initiative had already been previously ratified in law by the Brazilian Government and the land demarcated.

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

"Overall, on balance, he's actually not been helpful to the cause of Amazonian Indians at all."

Stephen Corry of Survival International

 

England's Granada Television broadcast a major investigative documentary for their program World in Action on The Rainforest Foundation. The show was re-broadcast in the United States on the A&E (Arts and Entertainment) cable network hosted by Bill Kurtis.

 

The show detailed the malfeasance orchestrated by Sting, Trudie Styler, and Jean Pierre Dutilleux, including the realities of the demarcation issues, the false claims that "All Royalties go to The Rainforest Foundation" from the sales of the book "Jungle Stories", and the broken promises of money to help the Indians.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

The documentary makes clear that, unlike other celebrities with charitable aims, Sting did not simply raise money for established organizations with the existing infrastructure to properly put the funds to use.

 

 

Instead, he exploited the rainforest issue to set up his own charity, wasting a majority of the donated funds on offices and salaries around the world so only a mere fraction of the money remained for to the stated charitable aims.

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

The documentary details the dilemma of the Indians facing a devastating malaria epidemic. Clive Kelly, who had accompanied Sting on his first trip to the Amazon, recounts how he pleaded with Trudie Styler via telephone from Brazil for the money they had been promised to help treat the Indians and how, despite her promises, no money ever arrived.

 

 

The show explains how many indigenous Indians died from this infestation of the disease. Kelly notes how, instead, the money was used to buy a private airplane for Raoni, so he could secure his position as Chief among Chiefs.

 

 

 

 

Raoni now lives comfortably in a modern suburb of Brazilia.

 

[Flex Mentallo]

Concerning Dutilleux and his pocketing of some $100,000 USD of Rainforest Foundation book royalties, the documentary was especially damning. Dutilleux denied the money was royalties. To that, Bill Kurtis said bluntly, "Mr. Dutilleux is lying."

 

In summary, World in Action declared The Rainforest Foundation "a charity built on promises that has failed to deliver."

 

[Flex Mentallo]

The Foundation currently operates from three offices in New York, London and Oslo.

 

The Rainforest Foundation in New York, according to their own published figures, spent $363,883 in development and general administrative costs in order to give away $518,790 in program services.

 

In 2002 the numbers were more outrageous, costing $648,486 to give away $741,943.

 

So, in 2001, they ate up 70 cents in order to get one dollar to those in need.

 

And in 2002, the administrative costs ballooned to 87 cents for every dollar.

 

[Flex Mentallo]

In 2002 Trudie Styler was honored "for her work to save the Amazonian Rainforest and the peoples who live there from extinction" at a New York City gala event.

 

 

But it transpires that The Rainforest Foundation US organized the big party itself to honor one of its founders, with funds raised from donations made by the general public, who intended their donations to reach the Indians the Foundation purports to serve.The cost of the party is estimated to be $285,000.

 

[Flex Mentallo]

There are many celebrities who have worked selflessly on behalf of third world countries. Some, like Audrey Hepburn, will be in our hearts forever.

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

Or who discreetly donate vast sums to charities that understand how best to ensure that these funds reach the intended target. An example of that premise is the collaboration between the late actor Christopher Reeve and the American Paralysis Association (APA). After Reeve was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 1995 he became connected with the APA, which over the next three years saw its revenue double to $5 million, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In fact, the results were so positive that the charity was rebranded as Christopher Reeve Foundation.

 

Check out who made the 30 Most Generous Celebrities list according to Forbes magazine in 2010:

 

 

 

 

1. Actress Jami Gertz and her husband Antony Ressler — $10,569,002

 

To the Ressler Gertz Foundation. Grants from the foundation include $1.7 million to the LA County Museum of Art, $400k to Cedar Sinai Medical Center.

 

2. Musician Herb Alpert –$9,104,829

 

To the Herb Alpert Foundation, which focuses on the arts, compassion, and well being.

 

3. Actor Mel Gibson — $6,853,020

 

To the A.P. Reilly Foundation, which he started to support Holy Family Church.

 

4. Director, Producer, Writer, George Lucas — $4,250,000

 

To Lucas Film Foundation then granted to The George Lucas Educational Foundation with a mission to inspire and empower young people to become responsible citizens, compassionate leaders, and to live their dream.

5. Writer Nora Roberts — $3,000,000

 

To the Nora Roberts Foundation, which support literacy. Additional areas of focus are: children’s programs, arts organizations, and humanitarian efforts, with local organizations being its priority.

6. NFL Player Ndamukong Suh — $2,600,000

 

$2 million to the Nebraska University athletic department and another $600,000 to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering to endow a scholarship. It is the largest single gift ever from a former football player.

7. MLB Player Lance Berkman and his wife Cara — $2,412,245

 

To The Lord’s Fund, a foundation they established. Grants include $400k to Josiah Venture, a Christian youth movement in Eastern Europe, and $113k to Children’s Cup, a Christian organization focusing on “forgotten children” in Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and efforts are also underway in Vietnam and the Philippines.. Most of their giving is to Christian-based organizations.

 

8. Actress Meryl Streep and her husband Donald Gummer — $2,000,000

 

To Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts, a foundation they established. Grants include $100k each to Oxfam America and Partners in Health; $1,225,000 to Vassar College. Total grantmaking for the year was more than $2.1 million.

9. Television Producer Marcia Carsey and her husband John Carsey — $1,870,000

 

To Carsey Family Foundation they established. Grants include $250k to Media Matters for America, $100k to Institute for America’s Future, $50k to Progressive Talent Initiative.

10. Simpsons’ Co-Creator Sam Simon — $1,800,000

 

To The Sam Simon Foundation to “save the lives of dogs to enrich the lives of people.” The Foundation manages a number of programs including a mobile veterinary unit, dogs for veterans, and dogs for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

 

11. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld — $1,766,000

 

To the Seinfeld Family Foundation that supports education, children’s services, health associations, and Jewish organizations; funding also for the arts.

 

12. Actress Barbra Streisand — $1,555,500

To the Barbra Streisand Foundation. Grants are distributed to a variety of charities and causes including the Barbra Streisand Women’s Cardiovascular Research and Education Program at Cedars Sinai, City Year, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, respectively.

 

13. Actor Matthew McConaughey — $1,537,292

 

To the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation that he established. Grants distributed include $88,000 to Communities in School Los Angeles West and $38,000 Communities in School Central Texas.

 

14. Writers Dean and Gerda Koontz — $1,500,000

 

To the Dean and Gerda Koontz Foundation. Grants include $750,000 to Canine Companions for Independence and $500,000 to Saint Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, CA.

 

15. Model Gisele Bundchen — $1,500,000

 

To the Red Cross for Haiti Relief.

16. Writer Isabel Allende — $1,017,247

 

To the Isabel Allende Foundation to support charities that empower and protect women. Founded in honor of her daughter, Paula Frias who passed away at 28. Grants include $500,000 to Oritel, which provides human services for low income families and $30,500 to the Global Fund for Women.

 

17. Actor Alec Baldwin — $1,005,131

To the Alec Baldwin Foundation. Grants include $50,000 to the NY Philharmonic, $42,500 to Waterkeeper Alliance, and $250,000 to the Carol M Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

 

18. Actress Sandra Bullock — $1,000,000

 

To Doctors Without Borders for Haiti Relief following the devastating earthquake.

19. NFL Player Eli Manning and his wife Abby — $1,000,000

 

To the University of Mississippi’s Ole Miss Opportunity Scholarship, which allows prospective students with an adjusted gross family income at or below $30,000 to attend the University of Mississippi.

20. Actress Will and Jada Smith — $900,000

 

To the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation. Grants included $126,000 to the Lupus Foundation, $200,000 to the Baltimore School for the Arts, and $52,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

 

21. Playboy Founder Hugh Hefner — $900,000

 

To Trust for Public Land to save the iconic Hollywood sign from being plowed under in order to make room for four luxury homes.

 

22. NBA Player Carmelo Anthony — $837,200

 

To Carmelo Anthony Foundation. Grants include $500,000 to Syracuse University and $302,000 to The Living Classroom Foundation.

 

23. Cyclist and seven-time winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong – $700,648

 

To The LiveStrong Foundation, which he founded to improve the lives of people with cancer.

24. Writers Jonathan and Faye Kellerman — $627,700

 

To Jonathan and Faye Kellerman Foundation. Grants include $175,000 for Children’s Hospital of LA, $150,000 to USC/Kellerman Endowment, $25,000 to Boston Institute of Music.

25. MLB Player Mariano Rivera — $627,500

 

To the Mariano Rivera Foundation. Grants distributed included $150,000 to the Church of God Prophecy and $50,000 to the Brooklyn Tabernacle.

 

26. Singer/Songwriter Taylor Swift — $625,000

 

$500k to Hands on Nashville the Community Foundation of Middle Tennesee for Nashville’s flood relief efforts (Nashville Rising); $25,000 to the Wyomissing, PA school district for educational $100,000 check to rebuild Kids Kingdom, a playground in Hendersonville, Tennesee where she attended high school.

 

27. Daniel and Cara Whitney (Larry the Cable Guy) — $550,020

 

To Git-R-Done Foundation. Grants include $500,000 to the Child Advocacy Center and $525,000 to the Madonna Foundation.

 

28. Artist Jasper Johns — $500,000

 

To Low Road Foundation he established. Grants distributed include $50,000 to the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.

29. Golfer Davis Love — $424,379

 

To the Davis Love III Foundation, which he established. Grants distributed include $479,000 to the St. Presbyterian Church, $100,000 to Frederica Academy, $75,000 to Special Olympics, and $75,000 to Boys and Girls Club of Southeast GA.

 

30. Actress Victoria Principal — $342,665

 

To Victoria Principal Foundation. Grants distributed include $25,000 to Greenpeace Fund, $125,000 to Natural Resource Defense Council, $100,000 to Oceana.

 

 

Sting is not one of them. Between 1999 and 2002 Trudie and Sting reportedly gave somewhere between £51,000 and £100,000 (or between $75,000 and $156,000 dollars) to The Rainforest Foundation UK.

 

Their fortune is estimated to be about $200 million.

 

 

 

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

There are many Amazon tribes under real and immediate threat of extinction. The Kayapo are not one of them. Those tribes under threat include the Yanomami, who are not even mentioned on the Rainforest Foundation web site.

 

 

 

http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/index

 

 

Next: Extinction

[Flex Mentallo]

The Last Free People

 

“In our relentless search for ‘development’ and material progress it is possible we have alienated ourselves from our deepest human needs, which surely lie in our connections to each other and the Earth. Tribal peoples still perhaps understand those connections better than most."

Stephen Corry, director of Survival International

 

 

“This here is my life, my soul. If you take this land away from me, you take my life.”

Guarani-Kaiowá

 

These photographs are of one of the last uncontacted tribes in the world. They are in a clearing at the headwaters of the Envira River, deep in one of the remotest parts of the Brazilian Amazon. Very little is known about them. We do not know their name, or how they live, or what they believe. We know that the uncontacted Indians seen in this part of the Amazon move across the rain forest at different times of the year, living in the heart of the forest when water levels are high, and camping on the beaches that form in river bends during the dry seasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

"The true meaning of what it is to be “civilized” lies not in accruing power and wealth but in respecting the differences of others and accepting the value of human diversity... showing us that humanity is about “we”, not “I”, belonging not ownership, human values not economics, balance with nature, not destruction."

Joanna Eede

 

 

“This land keeps us together within its mountains. We come to understand that we are not just a few people … but one people belonging to a homeland.”

Akawaio

 

Survival International published these images in June 2010 in order to help protect the lives of the tribe by proving their existence. They caused a worldwide sensation. The moment they were published, thousands of people per minute were looking at the images on Survival’s website; since then, over 2 million have seen them.

 

http://www.survivalinternational.org/

 

Importantly, the Peruvian Government announced within 2 days of publication that they would work with Brazilian authorities to stop loggers entering isolated Indians’ territory along the two countries’ joint border.

 

[Flex Mentallo]

Until they choose otherwise, they must be allowed to live in peace, not condemned to suffer from the mindless repetition of history - destroyed by those interested not in their unique cultures and values, but in the minerals beneath their soil, the trees around them and the gold that washes through their rivers.They understand that once the forests, trees and mountains have been depleted, mutilated or polluted too severely, no technological quick fixes will restore them.

Joanna Eede

 

“The great difference between the indigenous and the western world is that we live in communities. The individual is important as a measure of the whole. Together, we are strong.”

Aguaruna

 

Today, there are over 100 uncontacted tribal peoples worldwide - living free from the influence of governments, the subliminal powers of the media and the thoughts of others.They belong: to a place, and to each other. Dependent on their community for survival in remote and often harsh environments, many tribal peoples have lived — and often still live — in complex societies, where the solidarity of the group is of utmost importance. Tribal peoples - both uncontacted and contacted - show us that humanity is still part of nature, and that we ignore this at our peril.Their lifestyles are not inferior for their lack of “modern” technology, material goods or formal education. Nor do the people who practice them need civilizing or “developing.”

 

[Flex Mentallo]

“The world needs human diversity as much as it needs bio-diversity"

Stephen Corry

“I do know that the measure of a civilization is not how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man”

Chippewa

 

Now that loneliness and depression in industrialized societies is so prevalent, this consideration of the individual only as part of a dynamic whole is perhaps particularly compelling. Especially for someone like myself, working in mental health, witnessing everyday the destructive power of stress and anxiety that seem to grow more intense day by day, year by year.

 

However tall our buildings, however fast our computers, within ourselves we as a society have cultivated a wasteland, a theme to which I will return later, because the wasteland theme is to be found in all our fables and mythologies - and that is because it recurs throughout history.

 

That is why virtual communities like these boards can be so helpful, by giving us a sense of being connected to each other and some of the things we care about in an increasingly fragmented world.

 

Edited February 1, 2014 by Flex Mentallo

[Flex Mentallo]

Yanomami

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flex Mentallo]

The Yanomami live in 200-250 villages in an area of 60,000 square miles (96,500 square kilometres) of jungle, sprawling across the Venezuela-Brazil border.