Samuel

At the beginning of 1996 when I started university I had to find the time to do things I had wanted to do for a long time other than studying, but being in university was very hard. I decided to look for an organisation that would allow me to do what I wanted, which was to do things that could somehow change the way in which the production processes were creating a world where I didn't want to be. When we found the Greenpeace office I went there with my brother Andres and together we started this fight to save the only place we know and love.

I remember the first action in which we participated with other volunteers, it was a forest campaign action, in front of the presidential palace, it was very cold and it was also raining. I remember that we couldn't open the banner because the police were already all over us. I remember I was a bit late, so after only a few seconds I was in the police car, and this time they even took the whale campaigner that was with us. I had left from the station because of my job, but when I went back I got fired, so I went back to pick up my brother and the others from the police station. That was the first action in which I took part.

Why am I here?

When I heard of the possibility of participating to help the Deni demarcate their indigenous land I could only think of how important this was for the Deni and all the indigenous people of the region. Only they know how to take care of their land, and this demarcation will be a dream come true. For me, living far away from here, it's a compromise that goes beyond the Deni land, it's a compromise to the life of the coming generations, to keep alive the idea that things can be done in harmony and not only by destroying our natural resources and consequently ourselves.

Age: 23
Nationality: Chilean
Job: Risk prevention
Time in Greenpeace: four years
Hobby: Reading comic books and watching cartoons, listening to music and drinking beer with my friends