Always exciting when you hear someone you know on the radio!
I was listening to "Living on earth" on public radio today and part of the show was on "liberation theology" and how radical priests in Latin America are shaping the environmental movement. I kinda suspected they would talk about Padre Andres, and sure enough, he was the main focus of the segment. You can read the transcript or download the mp3 here
Now in all honesty I have to say that I don't entirely agree with her assessment of Father Tamayo -- I have met the man on several occasions, in fact, I met him when I was newly arrived in Olancho and I hoped we could collaborate, seeing as how I was there to work in agriculture and environmental health. He was not interested. I found him to be kinda abrasive, in fact -- he lectured me about vegetarianism (even though I've been a vegetarian since I was 13) and then proceeded to eat some chicken. I think my biggest disagreement with him is over his tactics -- he doesn't encourage his parishioners to take personal ownership for the environment, instead placing blame squarely on the government and the logging companies. If you read the transcript, you know that this blame is not misplaced, but it disregards the fact that much environmental degradation is caused by improper farming practices (such as slash and burn) and that the largest cause of deforestation in Honduras is not due to logging, it is due to people cutting down trees for firewood. He also promotes really dangerous and confrontational tactics -- at one point Tulio went on a march he led out into the forest where they stood off against armed foresters and tore apart the machinery they were using to cut down the trees. Catholic organizations such as Caritas have done a lot of work in watershed management and promoting improved farming practices and more efficient stoves, so I guess it is part of a multi-faceted approach. At any rate, I did participate (in defiance of Peace Corps rules) in the Marcha por la vida of 2003, and I do admire him -- whatever disagreements I have with his tactics, he is genuinely putting his life on the line, and for a country that is not even his own -- he is from El Salvador.
I wanted to share a couple pictures of him, in fact. The first ones are of him baptizing my godson in the church in el Carbonal, and the last one is of him getting into his truck, surrounded by the armed guards that accompany him at all times. (The big heap of rocks is because they are about to rebuild the church).
And now I'm going to send them to Living on Earth!
Now in all honesty I have to say that I don't entirely agree with her assessment of Father Tamayo -- I have met the man on several occasions, in fact, I met him when I was newly arrived in Olancho and I hoped we could collaborate, seeing as how I was there to work in agriculture and environmental health. He was not interested. I found him to be kinda abrasive, in fact -- he lectured me about vegetarianism (even though I've been a vegetarian since I was 13) and then proceeded to eat some chicken. I think my biggest disagreement with him is over his tactics -- he doesn't encourage his parishioners to take personal ownership for the environment, instead placing blame squarely on the government and the logging companies. If you read the transcript, you know that this blame is not misplaced, but it disregards the fact that much environmental degradation is caused by improper farming practices (such as slash and burn) and that the largest cause of deforestation in Honduras is not due to logging, it is due to people cutting down trees for firewood. He also promotes really dangerous and confrontational tactics -- at one point Tulio went on a march he led out into the forest where they stood off against armed foresters and tore apart the machinery they were using to cut down the trees. Catholic organizations such as Caritas have done a lot of work in watershed management and promoting improved farming practices and more efficient stoves, so I guess it is part of a multi-faceted approach. At any rate, I did participate (in defiance of Peace Corps rules) in the Marcha por la vida of 2003, and I do admire him -- whatever disagreements I have with his tactics, he is genuinely putting his life on the line, and for a country that is not even his own -- he is from El Salvador.
I wanted to share a couple pictures of him, in fact. The first ones are of him baptizing my godson in the church in el Carbonal, and the last one is of him getting into his truck, surrounded by the armed guards that accompany him at all times. (The big heap of rocks is because they are about to rebuild the church).
And now I'm going to send them to Living on Earth!