Sarah J's Benefit Concert for the Amazon at Billy's Tavern

Come one, come all!  Sarah J is giving a benefit concert for Amazon Pueblo at Billy's Tavern, Thomaston, Maine, USA, on December 26.  Just one day after Christmas, what better way to celebrate the holidays!

Sarah J

Sarah, a singer songwriter from New York, will be playing a wide range of music from original songs to top 40, folk and rock.  Sarah is a board member of the Amazon Pueblo project and volunteered in the village during the summer of 2013.

“Versatile, soulful, melodic acoustic rock with lyrics that span vulnerability to empowerment, tricking the listener into thinking and feeling after being drawn in on the surface by hummable, radio-ready hooks.”
—  Gary Trust, Billboard

Please go to http://www.reverbnation.com/thesarahjshow to find out more about her music.

At 6:30
The event will start at 6:30 pm with informal discussion (totally voluntary) of Sarah's adventures in the Amazon, during which you may enjoy your favorite beverage.  She will be giving tips and advice for your own trip the the village of La Libertad!  The project will be selling a wide variety of HANDCRAFTS (which were on display at the Rockland Public Library in October) from the Amazonian indigenous village and Colombian emerald jewelry at Colombia-direct prices.  We will also hold a silent auction and raffle for select pieces of jewelry.  All the jewelry may be seen here: JEWELRY!

From 7:30 until 9:00
Sarah will be performing at the tavern.  People are encouraged to enjoy themselves and engage in discussion about the Amazon or other topics.  The other project volunteers will continue to answer questions, sell t-shirts, handcrafts, emeralds, raffle tickets, and coordinate the silent auction.

9:00
The raffle drawing will take place and the winner of raffle, and the silent auction, will be announced.

9:10 to close
Have fun!

Video documentaries, tourism website, childrens' photo workshops and a photo book of La Libertad!

Three days ago I was pleasantly surprised (very surprised) to receive a LinkedIn message from Johanna Gomez. Johanna and her husband Javier Ibarra have visited La Libertad twice, in 2010 and last summer. Johanna is an engineer and cultural manager and Javier is a photographer and documentary filmmaker. They are willing to help in whatever ways they can with the village and project.

First, they have created a series of videos about La Libertad and the Amazon in the La Libertad area. Having high-quality videos is one of the areas that we have wanted to develop. These tell the "story" of La Libertad very well. To spread the word about La Libertad, these videos are invaluable.

Here are 3:

They also have a number of other ideas, which we believe are very workable and on which we can start as soon as they are able. These include:

1. Creating a tourist website in Spanish. This can be used to attract more people to the village.
2. Actively recruit small groups of socially-conscious ecotourist to visit the village. They would use the project's facilities and be charged money which could be used to further our work in the village.
3. During their next visit to the village they can bring cameras to give to the children to take pictures. The children would be instructed in camera use and how to compose pictures. They would then "run free" taking pictures, the best of which may be compiled into a photo album for the villagers and for us to use for the website and promotional material.
4. Create a photography book that illustrates the people and life in the village. They have previously created a book, INSPIRACIÓN, MUJERES FRENTE A LA CÁMARA (Inspiration, Women in Front of the Camera).  They received funding from this book through crowdfunding. They will do the same for this book. I believe we could help them to achieve their goals.  This video show their current book:

Thanks for reading our blog and stay tuned for more news from the Amazon!