Máxima Acuña was living her day-to-day life in the land she rightfully bought in Tragadero Grande, Cajamarca, Peru, growing and living off her crops and animals. Little did she know that the land that was her lifeblood was resting on top of billions of dollars of copper and gold—dollars which mining companies would do anything to acquire. After refusing to be evicted off her land, the mining companies sent armed forces to destroy her possessions, and beat her and her daughter unconscious. Acuña and her family were sued, fined $2000 and Acuña was sentenced to prison for nearly three years. Even undergoing such trauma—losing her land, belongings, and home—she was undeterred. She sought legal help from a local NGO that was representing people like her against encroaching mining companies. Said companies were polluting the waters that fed her and others with their operations, changing the color and making it undrinkable and unusable for crops. Acuña’s case was taken to the supreme court, who ruled in her favor. But the mining companies continue to threaten her and others to this day—destroying their crops, building fences around their land, spying on them, and keeping them from planting more crops—but she has yet to give up, as she fights with dignity for her land, her family, and her people in the face of greed and environmental destruction.