“We Are One”: Mercedes, a Young Kichwa Woman, Speaks on Nature, Community & Indigenous Knowledge
Mercedes is 16 years old and lives in Tunshi Grande, a Kichwa community 3,000 meters above sea level in Chimborazo, Ecuador.
From there, she can see Taita Chimborazo, the closest point to the sun from the center of the Earth. But what interests her is not the summit but what happens below: the water that rises in the moors, the soils that feed the chakras, and the plants that heal her people.
She recently told us about her two-year journey with the Youth Storytellers program, a space where young people from smallholder farmer communities learn to share their perspectives, cultural heritage and traditional farming knowledge through film and creative storytelling.
Through hands-on workshops and community radio with our local partner EkoRural, as well as interviews with her elders, she has been exploring how water flows from its natural sources to their tables, how to grow healthy food without chemicals, and how medicinal and native plants are key to both human and environmental health. She then turned these learnings into visual stories to share vital messages, urging people to join her in safeguarding our planet’s future.
For Indigenous youth like Mercedes, storytelling is a vital tool. It bridges generations, keeps traditional knowledge alive, challenges harmful myths, and carries the hope that a community’s identity will endure and thrive.
Watch the full video to hear Mercedes share how she has grown as a Youth Storyteller and witness the strength of a new generation reclaiming their roots and reimagining their future. And if you’d like to amplify her voice, share this video to help her message reach even more people!
“One single thought, one single heart, one single strength and feeling—we are all one.”
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