Twenty-five-year old Manari is the son of the last shaman and chief of the 115 Zaparo who still live along the banks of the Conambo River 240 kilometres south of Quito. For the last three years young Zaparo led by Manari and supported by some organizations have been engaged in a battle to save their culture and traditional way of life as hunters and gatherers. They have three main objectives: to keep alive the Zaparo language, to clearly mark out Zaparo territory and to arrange a meeting with Zaparo who live over the border in Peru.

They have not been able to meet their Peruvian relatives, from whom they have been separated since a war between Ecuador and Peru nearly 60 years ago. The journey can take a month when the river is low and up to three months during a flood. It was only a couple of months ago that someone gave the Zaparo a small motor-boat. Diplomatic contacts would also be necessary to enable the Ecuadorian Zaparo to journey into disputed territory. "We're Ecuadorians", says Manari, "but once upon a time the Zaparo were a single people living in a single forest. So we're not used to getting permission to cross borders or contact our people."

The plan is for a group of four children to go and meet the shamans on the Peruvian side who will teach them their methods. This is crucial if the community is to survive, because when the last shaman died three years ago, the Zaparo lost their only source of knowledge about their traditions, the healing power of plants and the secrets of the jungle. "Since my father died, there's been no one to look after us, and many people are ill and dying. We're afraid this may be the end of the road, " says Manari.

Traditional knowledge and the remedies of shamans can only be handed down through language. Preserving the Zaparo language is more than just a cultural matter. The physical survival of the community itself is at stake. And the plan to save it is a race against time because only five very old people still speak Zaparo and they live several days' journey from each other. |

The story of Zaparo is similar to that of other indigenous languages in this region. These days, Sasiko's grandchildren and greatchildren are taught Quechua and Spanish under a bilingual curriculum decreed by the government. The teachers are secondary school graduates who are paid $4 a month and openly say they will leave the region as soon as they can. Most of their pupils do not speak Spanish and learn Quechua almost entirely in oral form.

(From the press. Adapted)

PART ONE: READING COMPREHENSION

1. Answer the following questions according to the information in the text.
1. Describe the environment in which the Zaparo live.

2. What are young Zaparo fighting for?

3. "We're afraid it's the end of the road". Explain what Manari means by that

4. How many languages are mentioned in the story? (Choose the best answer)

a. Three

b. Two

c. Lots of native languages

5. Why are shamans and their language so important to the Zaparo people?

a. They are the ones who can lead their people over the border and meet some kinsmen who can teach them their own language and traditions.

b. Shamans know the ancient secrets of hunting and farming in the jungle. Speaking their language again is the only way to stop a disease which is killing many old people in the Zaparo villages.

c. They know the secrets of the jungle, their traditions and about the healing power of plants. These secrets can only be given to younger people in oral form.

  PART TWO: WRITING
Choose ONE. Write about either 1 or 2.

1. You are a reporter for National Geographic. Write an interview with Manari about his father, the last shaman.

2. You are a Zaparo indian. Write a letter to Peru's ambassador in Quito asking for help so that your people can cross the frontier and meet their brothers of Peru.

3. Vocabulary

Explain next words in English, write the phonetics and also an example: hunter, flood, to heal, to look after.