The Living Bridges Foundation connects indigenous community's educational and civil projects and NGOs with private European and American foundations.The community project participants work to improve their community's present and future as well as educate people of all ages in indigenous traditions. In addition, we raise money to seed new projects awaiting more long-term funding or provide interim funding for projects between grants.

Current projects supported through our cross-cultural bridges include the Aqua Santa Community's Urcuta Virdi Chura-chi-cunchi (Dressing the Mountain in Green) Pato Project in the Ecuadorian Andes, funded by Tian Gong Foundation, Berlin and U.S.A.; the Living Bridges and Tropical Rainforest Foundations, U.S.A.; and the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity, Costa Rica. Our newest project brings Energy Healing and Qi Training of the Tian Gong International to health workers and others in the Cuzco, Puerto Maldonado, and Iberia regions of Peru.

Since our founding in 1995 we have completed projects that brought potable water to a Q'eros community of villages in the high Andes, funded cultural heritage workshops and a traditional medical garden and cultural center at Centro Wanamey in the Manu Biosphere area of Peru, and supported a gathering of traditional Shamans in Peru.

I am happy about the interest all feel for the forest. There was a time when our people were only interested in the cities. Seeing the interest in the plants and in our forests encourages me. ... A school where we could teach our children how to cultivate and use plants is ideal, because our children are our future.
Mateo Italiano Toribo, Machiguenga, Shamans Confederation

Please explore our website to learn more about the work we do and the people we have had the privilege of working with in our collective efforts to support indigenous lifeways in the Americas. We are volunteers--your donations go directly to support the work and people of these projects.

Donna Runnalls, Connie Tritt, Jane Ostranderl
Founding Directors, The Living Bridges Foundation