Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Promoting Equality and Reciprocity in Transnational ICEL Partnerships

Vol. 29 No. 2: Special Issue on International Community-Engaged Learning (ICEL)

Iruntrarik Kakarmaitji: “United We Are Stronger”: Reflections on Over a Decade of Transformative Community-Engaged Learning and Research With Indigenous Shuar Communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Submitted
July 1, 2024
Published
2025-07-02

Abstract

In this reflective essay, we (community and university partners) recount a course-based ongoing cross-cultural 10-year+ Global South–Global North partnership (before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic) between four Indigenous Shuar communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and a U.S.-based institution of higher education. We report on developing, maintaining, adapting, sustaining, and enriching that relationship. The experience is founded on a changing decolonizing conceptual framework that integrates participatory action research with Indigenous epistemologies and methods. As we collectively reflect on a decade of collaboration, we explore the transformative potential of Minga (collective action and cooperation) and Iruntrarik Kakarmaitji (strength in unity) as Indigenous Shuar models for shaping community-driven learning and research. This ongoing partnership underscores the significance of trust, accountability, reciprocity, equity, and humility, cultivated through over a decade of solidarity with shared goals and outcomes, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable form of international community-engaged learning.