The Indigenous Village of Piriati

Several weeks back I had the great pleasure to get to know the pueblo of Piriati and take a hike up to their future water source with Gabriel and a Peace Corp worker, Alan, I am friends with who lives and works in Piriati with an indigenous tribe called Embera. Alan has been there for almost two years now and has been involved in aqueduct projects, composting latrines and other sanitation and health issues. The hike took us all day from early morning until dusk with many obstacles such as steep mountains, slippery rocks and plenty of mud. Luckily Alan´s neighbor was kind enough to loan me a pair of rubber boots for the trail, realizing my shoes would probably be lost along the way due to the great amounts of mud. I was sucking wind part of the time trying to keep up with Alan who patiently waited for me and Gabriel at the top of the steep inclines. Being my first time, I felt I did pretty well considering Alan had probably made the trip more than thirty or so times; probably more. The long haul was well worth it for we encountered beautiful waterfalls, rivers and untouched jungle. Unfortunately, much of the area below has been deforested to raise cattle, but at least the water source and surrounding area above has been protected due to the efforts of Alan and the people of Piriati. All that stands in the way now in giving the people of Piriati a bountiful supply of clean water is a little pvc, a couple break pressure tanks and some motivation for the people to finish it up. Right now they share a depleted and sometimes dirty source that can bring illnesses to the village ever so often. I felt very privileged to be able to share in this experience with the people of Piriati and get to partake in the mission of Peace Corp here and realize the many projects that are going on in Panamá. It gives me great hope for the future that there are people who care enough to give their service for the good of mankind. We don´t all have to be Peace Corp workers or live abroad in order help those in need, but we can live consciously and deliberately each day so that the cry of the poor and oppressed will not fall upon deaf ears. There are many groups working to bring awareness of local, national and global issues that need our attention. I made links to several such groups on the right-hand taskbar on this blog so you can check them out and get involved if you feel drawn to a certain issue. Dom Helder Camara, a Brazilian Archbishop once said, "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." Many people feel good about giving, but change in the system of how we all live is feared. Certainly it is more difficult to enact change in the social structure in which we live. But, if we really want to help the poor and oppressed, it is necessary. We cannot keep putting a band-aid on the hemorrhage that is our education and prison system in America, that is the plight of the homeless and the destitute around the world and so on. I read a quote in the National Catholic Reporter the other day that read like this, ¨Keep your coins, I want change.¨ - Referring to a sign held by a homeless person in a charcoal drawing by a high school student from Kansas City. It seemed to make sense (cents, haha) to me and confirm what I have been thinking.

Many of you know I will be coming home to Chicagoland for a visit at the end of September, specifically Sept. 25^th til Oct. 3^rd. I will hopefully be bringing with me some artisanry from the Embera tribe I mentioned earlier. Some pictures are shown below of the art and the people who make it. There are some very beautiful bowls, jewelry and other local works that I will be bringing to sell. If you are interested, please let me know so I can make arrangements to bring enough with me. Thanks for your support. Hope to see many of you soon!