The Nomanawa Villages of the Noke Koî tribe in the Amazon Rainforest are seeking your support to help them meet their basic needs, which include shelter, wells, a schoolhouse, a community gathering building, a community kitchen, and solar energy.

ABOUT THE NOKE KOI

"Noke Koî" means original or true people. They consider themselves the "True People of the Amazon Rainforest."

Their story says they came out of the Earth and were breathed into life by Kokapino Txari (the Great Spirit), who showed them how to live. They received knowledge on how to eat, what medicines to use, and how, as well as prayers and dietas to strengthen the body and spirit.

Unlike many other tribes that were influenced by the "Yaras" (Non-indigenous people), the Noke Koi still preserve their traditional ways. Only a few speak Portuguese, but everyone in the tribe speaks Nokevana.

They work with different plant medicines and are widely known as the original people of Kambô, which is used for healing various illnesses among their people.

THE NOMANAWA VILLAGE

The Nomawana Villages 1 and 2 are located in the state of Acre, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. They house 140 people, about half of whom are children.

The Nomanawa family has resided on the banks of the Tauari River since the first generations of the Noke Koî people.

The villages are beautiful and surrounded by Samaumas (their sacred tree, the Mother of the Forest).

There is a wonderful center in Nomanawa 1 to receive visitors, which was built through donations in 2021. It includes a maloca (ceremony space) and 17 houses with beds and shared bathrooms.

The center has limited electricity and a water well. However, the residents' houses remain in complete darkness and have very limited access to water.

UNION OF THE NOKE KOI PEOPLE

We believe that the union of indigenous peoples is crucial for protecting and preserving the Forest.

Currently, the Noke Koi tribe is divided into three areas within the region of Acre. Leaders from all three regions have been coming together to organize the first Noke Koi assembly, which will be held in the Nomanawa village in September 2025.

Your contribution can help unite the tribe in this assembly to organize themselves, unite forces, and create one united vision to be stronger and better together.

WHAT'S NEEDED

WATER:

The Nomanawa villages only have one small well per village for all 140 people. Their solar-powered system runs out of power when it rains too long, and the water is only accessible in a few places in the village. They need access to a more reliable clean water system to sustain all the families and provide for visitors while they are in the village.

With your support, we can install three more wells to improve the system and provide reliable, clean drinking water for the Nomanawa villages. We will be able to increase the solar system so that they can access clean water every day of the year. We can also pipe clean water to each house, increasing everyone's access. Clean drinking water can improve the village's health through sanitation and reduce diseases.

WOMEN'S SUPPORT:

The women in the village are responsible for making the “artesanatos” (crafts), which they rely on for financial sovereignty and spiritual technology. We have begun to support them by providing materials and education to empower them to learn new skills. With these skills, the women can offer more financial support to their families and step into leadership roles.

The women also receive musical instruments, which helps empower them to shine as musicians. We have begun providing supplies to create clothing for sale, and they are learning Portuguese. We have seeded these initial projects to help the woman and found that the whole village is behind this work. With your help, we would like to continue to grow these programs and empower the village's women.

SCHOOL:

With so many children in the village, their dream is to build a school to keep the traditions alive and continue to pass on the language and traditional knowledge to future generations. They also learn new languages like Portuguese and English to communicate with visitors and share their knowledge and wisdom. By providing a school for the youth, they can educate the children to face the changing times with fortitude- giving them a better chance at life.

COMMUNITY KITCHEN:

The Nomanawa people are community-oriented, and a big part of this is shared communal eating. When the men return from hunting in the forest or fishing, the woman prepares the meat, and the whole village gathers to celebrate the forest's bounty.

The area they are using now as a communal kitchen is collapsing from years of use, and it is exposed to the weather, so they can’t gather when it’s raining. They dream of building a suitable structure so that the village has an appropriate location to gather and celebrate the bounty of the harvest together. Cooking and eating together is a vital part of tribal living.

RE-CONSTRUCTION OF COMMUNITY CENTER:

Their center is their most precious and sacred space, where they receive visitors, conduct all spiritual work, and gather in community. It needs an upgrade, which includes reinforcing the structure, fixing the bathrooms, and providing reliable electricity.

SHELTER:

They managed to build beautiful homes for visitors, but their basic wooden huts are all falling apart. They're in such a poor state that they can't be fixed. They must be demolished and rebuilt from scratch (with better construction plans and materials). We have already built 2 houses as a sample test run, and these have transformed the village's life. The Nomanawas require support to rebuild 20 homes to house all the families of the villages.

Houses-specific fundraiser

https://givebutter.com/A7mSeI

SOLAR ENERGY:

They need new solar panels, batteries, equipment, and a sound generator for backup to access clean drinking water through their well (which requires electricity) and provide electricity to their homes.

Solar specific fundraiser

https://givebutter.com/wVqoKA

Nomanawa Food Sovereignty Project

The people of the Nomanawa village can no longer fully sustain themselves from the forest that once provided for them. To access basic foods like eggs or chicken, they must endure a grueling journey—four hours by boat followed by five hours by car—only to face high food costs, overnight expenses, and the cost of fuel for the return trip. This system is not sustainable, and without reliable income, many villagers struggle to afford both transportation and food. In response, we have been working directly with the Nomanawa people to understand what they want to grow and how to support their return to food sovereignty. In 2025, we helped plant 500 fruit trees around the village—an important first step toward restoring local, sustainable food sources.

We are also collaborating with Brazilian organizations specializing in agroforestry and agroecology to develop long-term plans for the next 5 and 10 years. These projects combine indigenous wisdom with modern techniques, ensuring that the Nomanawa people are fully involved in designing, learning, and leading each initiative. Villagers will help guide the work, receive extensive training, and take ownership of maintaining these systems, empowering them to become stewards of their own food security for generations to come. By supporting this effort, you help restore dignity, resilience, and sustainability—allowing the Nomanawa people to remain in their ancestral forest as its protectors while building a future rooted in abundance.

Fish Pond:

The amount of fish the villagers are able to gather has rapidly reduced due to the increase in temperatures of the river and the pollution in the water from large corporations. The tribe can no longer gather as many fish per trip when the conditions are right and the opportunities for conditions to be right are less often. In order to help supplement the fishing that they can do from the local rivers we would like to put in a fish pond in the village so that they can grow their own fish. These fish ponds have been successfully implemented at other village locations in the region and are able to produce lots of healthy protein and fats for the villagers to eat.

In order to accomplish this task we have already found a good location near the river where we can dig the pond out. In order to dig a pond of this size we will need to purchase some big machinery such as a back home and be able to transport that up river to the village. We will also need some large irrigation pipes and other equipment. The total cost of the pond production includes all the equipment needed and the initial cost of the baby fish to fill it. This fish pond will allow for fishing during the time of year when they are not able to fish in the river because it's too muddy or the temperature is off or the fish are elsewhere etc.

Equipment needed-

Transportation of materials-

Fish and initial supplies-

Chicken Coop:

In 2025 we built a small chicken coop for the village in order for them to be able to produce their own eggs. This coop has been a test run to help steward the villagers into the world of animal husbandry. We would like to continue to be able to expand this project into more egg production and to also one day have space for some chickens that can be harvested for meat as well. We are currently raising funds for being able to purchase some more chickens and a few warm lights to be able to use when temperatures drop during the annual cold weather periods.

Chickens:

Heating lights and solar to run them-

Acai agroforestry field-

$3500 USD needed

The villagers all love acai and they dream of one day growing enough acai trees that they can have acai throughout most of the year and not just during its short harvest season. We have developed an outline for what all the costs are and the steps needed to be taken in order to bring this reality to the village. The model includes a large area where we can grow the acai amongst other fruits that they love such as banana and beriba (villagers’ favorite). From the time of planting the acai until they are ready to produce is about 2-3 years where we would need to prepare the infrastructure to manage the fruit. We will need to be able to have a large enough building space such as a community kitchen area where the fruit could then be harvested and processed in a machine specifically designed for acai production. And finally we will also need some chest freezers and the solar power to run them in order for the fruit to be stored until future use.

All Seedlings about 13,500 reales- $3500 USD

Processing Machine-

Chest freezers and solar to run them-

Food Forest:

The villagers would like to be able to grow more food bearing trees and plants around the village. This project will include planting several varieties of edible trees, bushes, shrubs and annual vegetable garden areas. The trees will include varieties such as Avacodos, Cocnuts, Mangos, Beriba, Citrus, Cacao and Bannanas.

Below the hieght of the tall trees we will plant smaller trees and then bushes below those. This creates a multi layer system to maximize food production. And productivity.

Closer to the houses where the villagers live we will also include vegetable gardens where they can plant annuals to increase the diversity of their diets. Additionally, we would like to begin to expand eventually for only foods to also include bees which will help with the pollination and will bring honey for the villagers.

Medicinal herb gardens:

We are committed to supporting the villagers in continuing to practice their traditional ways of eating and healing. This includes supporting the pajés who are the local ‘doctors of the forest’ to ensure that they continue to have healthy populations of the medicinal herbs and plants growing around the village and in the forest We will be dedicating areas specifically for planting medicinal herbs and plants that are used by the Pajes in order to keep the people healthy and strong. Plants such as tobacco used in their hape and sananga for eye drops could possibly be included in this area.

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These are basic community needs. These beautiful villages deserve and need our help. With your support, we can help them sustain their traditional ways of protecting the rainforest for the entire world's benefit. They are opening their villages to share their meaningful, sacred, and ancient healing technologies. In return, they seek support from the outside world to help them thrive in an environment rapidly changing from climate change to industrialization. The Nomanawa people are on the front lines of protecting the rainforest for all of humanity, and now is your chance to help support them in doing that.

Your support can create a lasting impact for the Noke Koi people of the Nomanawa villages. They are a community that embodies resilience and hope in the Amazon Rainforest.

By donating, you become a part of their incredible journey towards a brighter future. Every contribution, big or small, makes a significant difference in their lives.

Join us in this meaningful cause and witness the power of generosity in transforming lives!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, or as they say in their village...

Vari Vari!

Nomanawa Village Essentials Fund

Support clean water, education, women’s empowerment, and sacred community spaces for the Nomanawa villages of the Noke Koî people in the Amazon Rainforest.

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