After many years in beautiful Portugal in a boring job I decided I needed a life-make over. I diminished my belongings to the more or less 30 kilos that you can take on a plane, flew far away and became a volunteer in the Peruvian Amazon.

3 years later I had set up a succesful eco brand for the Chaikuni Institute. Chaikuni is an NGO focused on promoting sustainable agricultural practices in the Amazon, supporting indigenous peoples and helping to integrate their wisdom into modern life.

Jungle life was quite an adventure! The humidity does wonders for your skin, but I can’t say I miss the compost toilets, mosquitos, biting ants, poisonous snakes and doing laundry by hand. But I am grateful for the experience and proud of what our team managed to create: high quality cosmetics, herbal teas, jams and chocolates, combining traditional techniques, modern knowhow and ingredients from the forest sourced in a sustainable way.

Though I am no longer active in the institute, the Chaikuni Natural Products line remains my baby and I love to brag about her.

For volunteer opportunities or to get some of the products, head over to Chaikuni.

www.chaikuni.org
@chaikuni_natural_products

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