Amazon Conservation Team
HEATH CARE CENTER
UNIDAD DE ATENCION EN SALUD COMUNITARIA (UASC) DE UMANCIA
Artist Ana Gonzalez, Cartier and the Amazon Conservation Team have undertaken a collaborative health and social project to strengthen indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon. Gonzalez draws extensive inspiration from this region in her creative practice and has been driven to give back to the community in a positive manner.
The project has led to the construction of a health care centre in Murui Muina of Umancia completed in November 2024, an indigenous settlement located strategically between three important indigenous regions of the Colombian Amazon, Putumayo, Caquetá and Amazonas. These remote regions have limited access to adequate healthcare, members of the community previously had to travel long distances away from their home in order to access basic healthcare. The construction of the healthcare centre aims to bring adequate healthcare to the region, using the centre as a base for travel out into the regions, bringing healthcare directly to the communities. The program will provide direct health services to 63 families, over 300 people and 19 communities across the three regions.
Essential to the project is a collaborative and cross cultural approach that involves two way learning between western medicine and traditional medicine practice from these indigenous communities. Engagement, education and empowerment from within the communities is essential to the projects success. As a part of UASC are educational and upskilling opportunities with cross-cultural understanding and shared knowledge at its roots. The project not only considers access to health care, education but also aims to build an interconnected community that is aware of how the surrounding environment largely affected by climate change, affects an individuals health. Gonzalez has used artwork sales to finance this project alongside the support and collaboration of participating indigenous communities, Cartier, the Amazon Conservation Team, to doctors and hospitals and government organizations.
This project at its core is motivated by Gonzalez’ enthusiasm to give back to the communities that have been essential to the development of her creative practice. The recent completion of the healthcare centre will no doubt have a positive impact across the three regions into the future, empowering and strengthening their approach to healthcare, education and awareness of the impacts of climate change.