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Ese'Eja Myths
Project type
Cultural Preservation
Year(s)
2009-2011
Location
Peru
Role
Book and Audio Production
I had a multitasking role within the project's team. I was in charge of managing the budget, scope and schedule of several activities in the final production stage such as: editing, graphic design, studio recordings, and final legal requirements.
Apart from these management-related activities, this project was very special because of the cultural impact it delivered to the community, revaluing their stories and their particular view of the world.
Key Learning
There is no bigger motivation for a project manager than to generate a deep connection to the project's purpose and to truly believe in the positive impact that its outcome will make on all the stakeholders. If you feel this way about a project, creativity and discipline will flow effortless.
This 2-year project was created to develop a product that could help to revalue the culture of a native community from the amazon rainforest and also generate revenues for further cultural initiatives.
The final product was a book with eleven myths from the Ese´Eja community with illustrations made by kids from the same community and a DVD with an audio version of all the myths in spanish and english and a bonus track of one myth narrated in the Ese Eja original language.
The first edition of this book had 500 copies and was sold for USD 50 a piece and distributed through the lodges of Rainforest Expeditions, a leader ecotourism company in the southeast area of Peru. The main customers were the tourists visiting the lodges within the community land and all the revenue was credited to the community cultural committee.
The project was funded by a wide range of international organisations such as: the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Dutch National Development Agency (SNV) and the Official College of Technical Architects and Quantity Surveyors of Gipuzkoa (Spain).
The first stage of the project was focused in receiving the approval from the Eje'Eja community of Infierno in southeast Peru to kick off the development activities.
The second stage consisted in gathering all the possible myths from the community from secondary sources with the help of experts and it also included a trip to the community were a storyteller performed to the local school children telling several of their own myths to them. After listening to the stories, the children made several drawings related to the stories which were included in the book.
The third stage involved the recording and musicalisation of the selected myths in spanish and english and the production of a short documentary about the Ese'Eja myths.
In the final stage, the book and the DVD were edited and designed and the copies were produced and distributed.
In October 2011, the product was officially launched at an event attended by members of the Ese'Eja community of Infierno, the project team, members of Rainforest Expeditions, representatives of financial partners, members of the local media, all the experts who helped in the development of the project, and friends and family.
