Roberto Monge

Roberto Monge is Maya-Lenca who was born by the shores the mighty Rio Lempa in Suchito, El Salvador.  His family had to flee El Salvador when he was 8 because of his father’s revolutionary tendencies and the death squads that wanted to kill his father.  Roberto is dedicated to bringing back the village heart to neighborhoods and to reconnect kids to nature, themselves and their communities. He is co-founder of City Repair SLO and is the community papa for the Outside Now School.   In his work life he’s a technology solutionist and attempts to use technology for good. Last year around this time he was at Standing Rock helping to bring high bandwidth internet to the Oceti Sakowin camp so that medics, legal teams and the indigenous press could reach the outside world.  He is currently working with his Maya-Lenca tribe to bring the diaspora together around the virtual Managuara that will serve as a virtual fire for the Maya-Lenca Nation. One of the key stories from the Lenca Manuelike, Chief Chevez, is the story of human creation and how the animals of nature were all part of our creation and six animals sacrificed their gifts in order to make us part of this world.   This story, told by female tribal elders, is incredibly relevant for modern times. It tells us that we are part of this world and that we have multiple energies that we can use to address challenges but that we are strong in two of them. The community’s job is to make sure to honor those two but also to make sure that we are balanced.