WHERE WE REPORT


Project September 19, 2023

The Solution to an Epidemic of Suicides

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Editor's note: This project discusses themes of suicide and self-harm that may be upsetting to some people.

The number of suicides for Indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon has reached critical levels and has received little attention. It's symptomatic of a general lack of access to good health resources for Indigenous communities in the Amazonian jungles of Colombia.

Communities' medicinal practices, based on an ecological interaction with natural resources, have been the sole tool for health throughout the ages. But some communities are facing extinction because of various phenomena that result from the clash with Western practices and livelihoods.

This project investigates mental health in some areas of the Colombian Amazon. It explores traditional medicinal practices as solutions to health problems and as an essential tool in the conservation and protection of the Amazon rainforests.