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Alexandra Postelnicu shares the incredible founding story of Pachamama Romania, a new NGO which she formed to inspire transformation, healing, and a renewed relationship with Mother Nature in her native country:
After living in the United States for the last 11 years, I returned to Romania to bring the Pachamama message to my native country. So, on Sept 8th 2011 the NGO Pachamama Romania was born. Its mission is aligned with the mission of its bigger sister in San Francisco: to bring forth an environmental sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet.
We achieve this through:
- Education programs: bringing the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium to schools, universities, and Organizations
- Accelerating the process of transformation both on individual and collective levels using the FOUR YEARS. GO. campaign
- Healing the relationship with Nature by making the idea of Rights of Nature known, promoting the Rights of Mother Earth campaign by collecting signatures for the international petition
An old Romanian proverb goes: "When you begin a long journey, start with baby steps." I started with a living room symposium, where I invited my best friends. One of my friends, Carmen Marin, a well known young Romanian painter, was so touched that she decided to share the symposium with her friends. Through this, I met Valeria van Gronigen, the organizer of the Bucharest International Marathon in Romania, who agreed to promote Pachamama’s work through her events.
We launched FOUR YEARS. GO. (4YG) Romania at the marathon, which was held on the 9th of October, and we had around 1,000 visitors. 850 signed the petition for Rights of Mother Earth, 500 were interested in 4YG and 50 in attending a symposium. A dozen people also expressed interest in partnering with us.
A week after the marathon we held a symposium with 21 people including a TV producer at the Romanian National Television station and invited us to a TV show.
What We Learned
In Romania today there is a powerful current of disempowerment and helplessness. Most people have a deep respect for the land and the environment; however, they feel they don’t have any power. That’s one reason why at the marathon, each person we talked to, loved the idea of asking the U.N. representatives at the Earth Summit Rio+20 in 2012 to endorse the idea of granting legal rights to Mother Earth.
The relationship with the land runs very deep in the Romanian psyche. Sixty years ago, three quarters of the population lived in rural areas and were farmers. 150 years ago, more than 90 percent of Romanians lived in the countryside and maintained a deep connection with Mother Nature. Historically our ancestors where shepherds and farmers, they had a deep connection to the ancient forests that used to cover three quarters of the land until the beginning of the modern era. Romanians are now worried that the deforestation is not stopping even though the forested areas have been reduced to one third of what they were.
The general atmosphere in Romania is that of economic hardship and scarcity. This has a deep influence on the Romanian mentality, and the general emotional tone present in society.
Awakening the Dreamer can be the next step they could take in their pursuit for transformation and empowerment.
How Did We Get Here?
Romania has a long history of oppression and injustice. Successive occupations, wars and invasions have left deep scars both physical and mental. Abuse by foreign powers as well of the abuse of the upper classes on the peasantry left wounds that have not yet healed. Communism also made a great impact and contributed to the feeling of disempowerment.
The answer to all cases of suffering is the same: the illusion of separateness. Most people think that if they would get richer, and others poorer, they will be happier. And if we’ll destroy our environment, and the natural gifts that are present in our beautiful country, this wouldn’t affect our society.
What Is Possible for the Future?
A flourishing Romania, where we live in harmony with the environment, clean our cities, and empower ourselves to step in and solve our own problems.
How Can We Get There?
Pachamama Romania is a catalyst for the transformation that is needed. And we are not alone, there are thousands of people and many organizations and initiatives in our country that are working on turning the tide. We believe that the key is what Gandhi said: "Be the change that you want to see in the world."
Pachamama Romania
Pachamama Romania is formed by a small team of enthusiastic, visionary, dedicated volunteers. And in one month, our team has increased from three members to seven members. We are applying for European Funds so that we can bring Generation Waking Up into all schools in Bucharest and other major cities in Romania. We are working with Ingrid Castrejon from FOUR YEARS. GO. Mexico to create a personal transformation toolkit. On December 11th, we are going to have our first fundraising event at Carol Park Hotel in Bucharest.
I will conclude with the words of King Michael of Romania who just turned 90 years old: "Romania (our world) is not a country (a society) that we inherited from our ancestors, but a country (society) that we borrowed from our children."
