The story and purpose behind WAKE

The Foundation of Trust

WAKE’s mission is built upon more than thirty years of deep relationship and mutual respect. Dr. Janis Nuckolls, a professor of anthropological linguistics at Brigham Young University, has spent over three decades living and working alongside the Napo and Pastaza Kichwa people of Ecuador. Her life’s work has been dedicated to studying and preserving their beautiful, expressive language. Because of this lifelong immersion, the Kichwa communities are not just research subjects to Janis—they are dear, lifelong friends, collaborators, and extensions of family.

As the years passed, Janis witnessed her Kichwa friends grow into elders. In the remote Amazon, where specialized medical equipment is nearly impossible to access, she watched aging community members slowly lose their mobility. Simple daily movements became hazardous, and a lack of support frequently led to tragic, life-threatening falls.

A Turning Point in the Rainforest

In 2024, Janis’s husband, Steve Zuckerman, accompanied her on a field research trip deep into the Pastaza province. Witnessing the elders struggle to navigate their daily lives with nothing more than flimsy, hand-cut bamboo stalks for balance, Steve knew they had to act.

Leveraging his extensive professional background in strategic planning and US-based non-profits, Steve realized they possessed the exact combination of skills required to solve this problem. Janis had the trust and the linguistic fluency to communicate deeply with the communities; Steve had the logistical drive and time in retirement to orchestrate a solution. Together, they established WAKE (Walkers for Amazonian Kichwa Elders).

Direct Impact, Restoring Dignity

What started as an urgent realization quickly materialized into direct action. In the summer of 2025, Steve and Janis successfully transported and distributed 25 high-quality mobility walkers (andadores con ruedas) to Kichwa elders. The response from family members and elders alike was overwhelming, proving that a simple piece of equipment could instantly restore a person’s independence.

Realizing that the demand far exceeded their initial supply, Steve committed himself to scaling their operations. Operating from their home base in Utah, Steve spends his retirement tracking down, accumulating, and meticulously restoring mobility equipment. WAKE is actively preparing to distribute nearly 200 fully restored walkers to the most remote, unreachable areas of the Amazon rainforest.