Last Sunday saw the centenary of the London Marathon and another Survival team run one of the most famous races on earth, through rain and hail, for the lives of threatened tribal peoples everywhere.

Survival supporters go wild on the sidelines.

2008 has been a brilliant year for the Survival team. Not only did they smash all previous fundraising records by raising over £32,000, but each one of them struggled through months of training and injuries, ending up a hero.



Darren didn’t slow to a walk once and then helped a flagging stranger make it over the finish line.

Doug beat Olympic rower James Cracknell and his own 3 hour target by over five minutes.

Sam ran the hardest race of his life but raised more money for Survival than any individual ever has.

Tulls did a great time and sacrificed his i-phone to the marathon gods.

Rachel ran a brilliant race and passed a teetotal 25th birthday the week before because of her alcohol ban.

Rusty did 15 miles on crutches after having struggled through months of training with a knee injury but still finished with his head held high.


They made us all so proud and the money they raised will make a massive difference to the work we can do in the coming year.

If you’d like to take on the challenge of a lifetime, visit the Saa! Saa! Saa! Team section of the website and register your details for one of our Golden Bond places in the 2009 Flora London Marathon.

You don’t have to be Superman to do it and it isn’t going to be easy for anyone (except Doug perhaps, although we’re not sure he’s entirely human), but it really is a huge achievement and something you’ll always be proud of having done.

In the words of Darren, “it’s a world of pain… but totally worth it”.

In recent days Latin Finance, a digest of Latin American financial affairs, made Peruvian president Alan Garcia its ‘Man of the Year’.
President Garcia is keen to promote oil exploration on the lands of uncontacted Indians in the Peruvian Amazon. He’s not so keen, however, to even admit the existence of the peoples whose lands are being invaded.
Latin Finance’s award spurred Survival to send the magazine a short letter:

In recent days US magazine Latin Finance made Peruvian president Alan Garcia its ‘Man of the Year’.

President Garcia is promoting oil exploration on the lands of uncontacted Indians in the Peruvian Amazon. He’s not so keen, however, to even admit the existence of the peoples whose lands are being invaded.

Latin Finance’s award spurred Survival to send the magazine a short letter:

Dear Sir,

Peru’s economy may well be making ‘admirable progress’, as your magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’, Alan Garcia, Peru’s president, says, but at what cost.

The oil exploration and production his government is encouraging is endangering the lives of tribal peoples in the Peruvian rainforest who have had no contact with the outside world.

These ‘uncontacted’ tribes are extremely vulnerable to any form of contact with outsiders, like oil workers, because of their lack of immunity to western diseases, and it is very common for more than half of a newly-contacted tribe to die.

Moreover, this land is recognised as belonging to the tribes by international law – a law which Peru has ratified and which President Garcia’s government is choosing to ignore.

What do you think? Should President Garcia be awarded ‘Man of the Year’ while at the same time plotting the destruction of entire peoples?

Share your comments here, or you might wish to speak up for tribal people suffering in Peru over at the living in Peru website.

Yesterday marked the grand launch of Survival’s brand new page on Facebook; another glorious digital Survival ship cutting majestically through the surf of the world wide web. I was all for smashing a bottle of champagne against Toby’s computer as he clicked ‘publish this page’ but the nearest we had to a bottle of champagne was my cup of tea, and for some reason Toby didn’t seem so keen on the idea.

The page increases Survival’s presence on Facebook, and keeps Facebook ‘fans’ of Survival up to date with our urgent campaigns. The ‘Share’ facility allows fans to post links on their profiles, and to encourage friends to get involved.

Survival has always believed that public opinion is the most powerful force for change. The page helps you to mobilise others to join the movement for tribal peoples, and best of all it’s a pretty nifty way for you to show your support for Survival for all your friends to see.

Take a look yourself at:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Survival-International/19668531552

We’d love to hear any feedback from you, so do let us know what you think.

Bruce Parry is back in the Amazon for a new BBC TV series, and he’s been learning from the Matis what it was like during the terrible epidemics they suffered after first contact in the 1970s.

The Amazon website has a great background to the current health crisis in the Javari Valley which is enveloping not only the Matis but other recently contacted – and still uncontacted – peoples living in this huge area of the Amazon. Read more about the crisis on the series website.

Survival’s recent Uncontacted Tribes film opens with some dramatic, previously unseen footage of first contact with the Korubo of the Javari Valley – one of the only genuine first contact video clips in existence.

Last year, I spoke to Survival campaigner Fiona Watson about a visit she made to the Matis, and she told me about the current situation in the Javari Valley:

To help the Matis and other peoples of the Javari Valley, please write a letter using Survival’s online letter-writing tool. Your letters really do make a difference.