Animals Waiting for Dawn

I listened to Kenshi-san's story.
Kenshi Minami, who had just returned from her 36th trip to the Amazon, had a hoarse throat and seemed to have difficulty speaking.

I first met Kenshi-san, the representative of Rainforest Japan (a tropical forest protection organization), in 1999.
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In 1989, when Sting (the rock singer) and Raoni (the Kayapo chief who is now nearly 100 years old) came to Japan on a world tour to raise awareness about the disappearance of the Amazon forest, Kenshi-san went to Narita Airport to greet them and ended up taking care of them during their stay. She subsequently established the Japanese branch of Rainforest and has since made 36 trips to the Amazon, spending more than 2,000 days there.
She laughs, saying she didn't have any lofty aspirations - it just happened that way through circumstances.
Raoni, who enjoyed eating the rice balls she brought as a gift, asked her to "protect the forest."

Forest fires occur all over the world, and forests have always been prone to burning during dry seasons.
We tend to think that fires in the Amazon, the land farthest from Japan, don't really affect our daily lives, but in today's increasingly globalized world, those fires could be said to be directly connected to Japan.

Her 35 previous trips to the Amazon were harsh, but she always felt that "somehow things would work out" (even when she drifted for five days on an Amazon tributary and prepared for death), but during this year's Amazon trip, she felt "the end of humanity."
There was a photograph showing forests burning on both sides of the path that women had to walk to fetch water - it was like a hellish scene from the paradise-like, lush green Amazon.

It's never too late to realize something.
From that moment, something should change.
We should be able to change it.

Kenshi-san said that ash from the burning forest had entered through her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and was stuck from her throat to her lungs, making it difficult to speak.

On her 36th trip, she felt "this might be impossible," but Kenshi-san said there is always "hope" no matter what, and after the lecture ended, when I greeted her, she laughed and said, "Take me somewhere for something delicious to eat."

*The photograph shows the cover of a picture book called "Animals Waiting for Dawn," drawn by an author who was saddened by the Amazon forest fires, to express the prayers of animals and respect for those working to protect the forests.