IN THE NAME OF WELLNESS is a longterm project produced in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center in different LatinAmerican countries that investigates the phenomenon of environmental neocolonialism, its mechanism and its consequences on the ecosystems and local population to support the market for a diet defined healthy in Western countries. Western food fads,the obsession with everything that is healthy,often has a human cost that no one imagines.Especially because that human almost always lives out of sight. Products like Avocado, soya,quinoa are now commonly used on our tables. Foods considered the basis for a healthy diet. Today,just like over 500 years ago, colonialism is still alive,although it adopts different forms and takes different names. The ships that used to sail off from the ports of Latin America loaded down with silver,gold,cacao and rubber are now enormous freighters that carry off raw materials produced there,depriving local people of water and productive land.

Jellyfish as a superfood, an healthy poison: nutritional benefits and social-environmental responsibilities. In the crystal-clear waters of the Gulf of Thailand, a disconcerting phenomenon is changing the way we look at the sea. Jellyfish, once considered feared and annoying creatures, are emerging as a healthy and nutritious superfood. But behind this culinary trend there is a human and environmental cost that cannot be ignored. The beaches of Thailand are crowded with fishermen who head towards the sea at dawn in search of jellyfish and their fishing has a significant environmental impact. Jellyfish are a rich source of proteins, vitamins and minerals. Their high collagen content makes them desirable for skin and joints. They are served in various forms, from salads to main dishes. Their neutral flavor makes them versatile in the kitchen. But while some celebrate their nutritional properties, many wonder about the consequences of growing demand.

Criminals,murderers,rapists serving their prison sentence between work and self-management in Iwahig,an atypical prison that hosts inmates and their families located in Palawan island,two-times named the most beautiful in the world by readers of CondéNast.Inmates in most of the structures of the country live in terrible conditions and gangs continue to rule the roost especially after the increase,beyond the limit of capacity, of the prison population caused by the war on drugs launched by the Duterte government.In Iwahig it was made a radical change in order to reintegrate prisoners into the community.Inmates wear T-shirts of different colors according to the minimum,medium or maximum security they are assigned.This condition in variable and there’s the possibility for the minimum security to become “skeletal”,to move freely outside of the prison,have a job,live with their families in the structure in private houses.About only 20cases of attempted escape occurred in the last decade

Like all rivers,Dnester is also a river that divides.A boundary,not only geographically.
Cultures,languages,traditions,people.In 1992 the river becomes a real line of demarcation.
Following Moldova’s decision to abolish Russian as official language,the Transnistrian region,a Russian majority,decides to declare independence.Along the Dnester is fought for months,the separatists backed by Russia,Moldova with Romania’s support.Thus was born Transnistria or Pridnestrovie, literally “Beyond the Dnester River.” Today, Transnistria is a “De Facto” nation,unrecognized, like Nagorno Karabakh,South Ossetia and Abkhazia, one of the most closed in the world.Russian,Ukraine and Moldova identity,do not yet seem to be able to blend in a real identity of Transnistria, and and perhaps there is no will of a specific identity for the youth of the country, far from any kind of nationalism. War in Ukraine has brought back tension, instability and ghosts from the past into all these disputed territories

The province of Petorca is the water conflict epicenter in Chile.The avocado industry implanted in the90s with the neoliberal model is destroying the environment causing irreversible damage to local ecosystems.2000liters of water are needed to produce 1kilo of avocados.It has become impossible for farmers to cultivate their land or raise animals,people left the area to build new lives elsewhere or forced to use the water transported by tanker trucks paid by the state.Industrial avocado farms took possession of the water obtaining the rights of use from the state thanks to the water code approved in1981by the Pinochet military regime that privatized rights of water.The export of Chilean avocados is constantly increasing.Movement for Water & Territories and Eco-Feminist activists are fighting to find alternatives to environmental disaster and climate change like Food sovereignty and agro-ecology for an ecosystem restoration through establishing polycropping systems,rescuing native seeds

Latin America is one of the parts in the world most affected by the scourge of human trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation.A phenomenon that sadly involves about24million people in the world,mostly women and children forced into prostitution,traded as sex slaves,raped,abused and often killed.In Argentina a law against human trafficking was created in2008.40%of victims in Argentina come from Paraguay.The main reason is the poverty of many families who have numerous children and no resources to survive.The victims pass by land or by river most of the time illegally and then along the streets are sorted in the big cities or in the tourist places.Others are sent toSpain,Chile or Brazil,victims of the same traffic.Once inside this system,the victims are forced to keep sexual relations with even 30 men per day,beaten,drugged,tortured and live as jailed without a chance to escape.

In 1997 president Kazakh Nazarbayev moved the capital from Almaty to Astana.During this shift,Almaty experienced a big and radical change in terms of population composition.All government offices and activities moved away from the city and with them the workers too. Most men abandoned the city leaving the women behind their women in Almaty that became one of the cities with the highest number of females in the entire world(62.4% of the city’s population).Kazakh culture is still patriarchal,especially outside the biggest cities.Women usually get married very young(18-25 years),they have many children and don't work to fully dedicate themselves to their family needs and children. Divorce is permitted and men tend to get married again or take up some unofficial wives without particular problems.Almaty is an exception to all this,a city where women have an opportunity for a different life.

All the Chilean coastal area is considered a high-risk fire. The shape of the territory formed by green mountains peaking over the sea,the strong wind and the waves of heat are some of the factors that facilitate this phenomenon.At the top of the mountains of Vina del Mar and Valparaiso,the poorest live in Poblaciones. These areas are the most at risk.During the fires whole poblaciones were destroyed and many died like what happened for the Campamiento Felipe Camiroaga of Vina del Mar.From Apr,2014to Jan,2017there have been many fires that have destroyed whole areas of these cities. The Greatest Fire of Valparaíso started on12April2014in the hills of the city and destroyed at least2,900homes leaving11,000people homeless.An additional6,000people were evacuated from the city,which was placed on red alert and declared a disaster zone.Entire neighborhoods were razed to the ground

In Buenos Aires the dirty waters of Riachuelo delimit borders and people who have their houses in its proximity live in alarming conditions. On one side there's Buenos aires on the other the Province.One of the suburbs on the river is called Isla Maciel. Amores Perros is a story of love and pain,violence,street,drugs,a struggle for survive. It's the story of some adolescents.Their stories are the stories of many Argentinean boys and girls who grow up on the streets.Wrath,pain,impotence,misery not only economic are their daily lives.Everyone has inherited this situation created by many factors:a family that doen't exist,violent,addicted or alcoholic parents,an absent government that ignores suburbs,a police often corrupted and accomplice who comes to terms with the narcos. Boys and girls with no chances.They love carnally,giving each other support and,at the same time,fighting like dogs.

In Argentina femicide,the killing of women,is a new category of crime recorded in the CriminalCode in2012and it’s punished by life imprisonment.Despite the tightening of legislation,murders of women are increasing in the country.Currently,according to statistics,a woman is killed every thirty hours.The problem is particularly serious in many Villas of the cities,slums where people live in poor condition,criminality is very high and the youngster are in danger.Often young girls leave the familyHome in which they suffer domestic violence for a love affair with people belonging to gangs who introduce them to the world of the drug or they become victims of the human traffic,kidnapped and forced to prostitution.Frequently girls between13and16get pregnant.Often police doesn’t take the reports,corruption is very common and women suffer domestic and psychological violence for years

On April2,2016,Azere forces attacked all along the contact line the border withNagornoKarabakh,reopening a conflict that had never officially closed in25years.Whole villages have been evacuated to the bombing and displaced families arranged in hotels in the capital Stepanakert.Practically every woman in the country,even the most disinterested previously in military and political issues,was actively involved in the events supporting their soldiers and taking part in every kind of initiative.Every woman have in the family a professional military.Many hold important positions in the government.From the simple mother to the minister of culture women are the soul of Karabakh.They dream of independence made of peace to build a different future for their children.They love intensely,suffer in silence and believe in their traditions.They are brave and fragile.This is their story