Without Walls, In Good Company

June 30, 2025

By Ainsley Dey
Project: Micro hydro

I hope this reflection finds you in good spirits. I hope curiosity brought you here and will keep you company as I try my best to describe what it is like to live, work, and play in the jungle.

Here at Siendo Naturaleza, there are no closed spaces. We are one of thousands amidst the fresh air and sunlight. The humming of the forest and the river’s song weave together in a constant hymn that keeps us company from dawn till dusk. There is no illusion of separation, no way to ignore what we see, what we feel or how we impact our surroundings. Here, guided by principles of regeneration and empathy, we are learning and living into the natural way of things.

As participants in this year's Regeneration Challenges Internship (RCI), we partake in a vision of sustainability, creativity, and compassion through our work with micro-hydroelectric infrastructure and soil regeneration. Living in community, working with the land and learning from one another has already, with only two weeks down, proven fruitful. Our days are nourished by good conversation, food and the abundance of an active life. At every turn, we are discovering and adjusting, finding our way toward growth and getting to know one another in the process.

Along with the unexpected joys and novelties, this natural ebb and flow can bring chaos, discomfort and uncertainty. Ecological design is not always compatible with our conventional notions of organization or predictability. These days require flexibility and trust, not only in the process but in our ability to adapt. On the hydro team, we could have never conceived a system for this place without knowing it as we do now. Research was an essential first step, but only as we walk the forests and rivers of Sacha Isla do the feasibility of our solutions become clear. We work with the weather and our natural pace, ensuring that thoughtful, context-dependent solutions arise from the unique essence of this place.

The land is home to two rivers. They run parallel, one along the mountaintop and the other across the foothill. These unique sources are crucial not only to the ecology of the valley but also to Sacha Isla’s incredible journey of reforestation. Water is the heartbeat of the Amazon, and here, it cradles regeneration. The proximity of these rivers, along with the elevation and slope of the landscape, suggests potential to cultivate energy from an impulse or reaction hydroelectric system. Our task now is to determine what makes the most sense for the landscape based on the available resources, necessary energy demands, and the expectations of Siendo Naturaleza. In the coming weeks, we'll dive deeper into prototyping, maximizing our use of recycled materials, minimizing ecological disruption and adapting to discoveries made in the process. 

I will continue to follow these rivers, trying my best to flow as they do, living in constant awe of their brilliance and giving myself over to the process of getting to know them. I look to them for guidance and motivation, hoping to bring these lessons of nature, community and resilience to our project. As I do, however, I reconcile with a particularly critical line of dialogue.

Throughout my life, I have come to doubt human intention, coming to the outright cynical conclusion that our anthropogenic footprint is the root of nature's problems. I have unintentionally vilified our species and, inadvertently, doubted our ability to provide long-term solutions. In the field, I tend toward cautiousness and preservation as if to overcompensate for our general callousness and disrespect for other beings. This attitude guides my step. I interact with nature carefully and often apologetically, feeling as though I am more of an imposition than a productive counterpart. As I witness, however, the growth and regeneration here at Siendo Naturaleza, my remorse and cynicism have undergone a unique kind of metamorphosis.

By dissolving the barrier between humans and nature in everyday life, they have not just shown but proven that there is no separation. By living within these principles, we become utterly aware of our entanglement in the natural cycles of disturbance and rebirth. I am learning to believe in the strength and resilience of these ecosystems, seeing them through fresh eyes that refuse to patronize their autonomy. Now, I know that (well-intended) change is not the enemy; how could it be when its essence is what has built this very place. I see it in the trees, in the soils, in the hearts of Eliane and George, and in this community of newfound family.

My step is not any heavier, but I walk along these paths with an awareness that I, too, am merely a being among beings. The only difference (apart from maybe our ability to write a blog) is our capacity to encourage and communicate the need for well-intended change. So that's what we are here to do. We are living, working and playing in the jungle to uncover a new way. We are making it our own, showing up for this place and giving what we can to the process. In the coming weeks, I hope the spirit of discovery fills our days and makes its way onto these pages. I know I’ll be all the better for it. I hope you will be too.

Until next time,

Ainsley Dey

Intern, Regeneration Challenges Internship

B.A. & Sc. in the Interfaculty Program of Environment, McGill University