Madre to Many: The Weight of the World...

We started off early this morning with a trip out of the city to get to the Emberá village. We passed several towns and discussed many different types of architecture. Depending on income and access to resources, home structures vary.

When we arrived at the spot to leave the bus and travel to the village by canoe, we stopped to pick up fruit from a roadside stand. Students were tasked with buying fruit for the group with $10 and their Spanish skills. I wasn't sure about their purchases, but we would later find out that the fruits they picked were amazing and we had just enough! The kids talked about the prices and were in awe at how much fruit they could get here with just $10.

Next, we boarded the canoes. Led by skilled Emberá, we navigated through the Chagres River. This is the river that supplies the majority of Panama's water, as well as the Panama Canal. Students learned how to say "hello friend" and "thank you" in the Emberá language.

hello friend -méra dyaba

thank you - bia bua

Due to the drought and it being just the beginning of rainy season in Panamá, the guides had to occasionally navigate our canoes with sticks or get out and push. This work is not for the faint at heart.

We parked our canoes and were told a surprise awaited us an the end of a hike. They were not kidding! The students enjoyed a walk through the forest, saw several animals, and enjoyed a nice swim in a waterfall!

Now it was time to meet and learn about the Emberá people. We took another shorter canoe ride to the village, where students learned about the community and their way of life. We discussed the palm-made homes and their history as hunters in the Darien Gap. Long ago the Emberá were looking for a better life and settled in this area of Panamá, along the Chagres River. They were able to grow all crops they needed and hunt for food. In 1984 the government of Panamá made this area a national park. This protected the people from deforestation, but also placed other hardships on the population because they could no longer hunt. Many Emberá went back to the Darien, but those that stayed had to change their ways.

In 1994 they made ecotourism their largest focus. They want to teach others about their community and now it supplies their way of life. Students ate the fish from the river and plantains from the community gardens. They also learned about the crafts made by the people. Students were given a tour of how the tagua seed is carved, how the wood crafts are made and how the palm is dyed and woven for the baskets. Students also learned how they choose the chief or the "Noko" of the tribe. Sam was even shown how people in the community are punished in the event that they do something bad. Their legs are placed in the contraption below for an indetermined amount of time and sugar is placed around their bodies. The sugar brings in the bugs, which leads to bites. They then put salt on the wounds. Needless to say, we don't plan on anyone getting in trouble in the village.

To end the afternoon, students participated in the tribal dances. They learned so many things! I hope that they share these with you all upon returning home!

It was now time to head back to the city! We gathered our things and boarded the canoes!

On our way back we saw three crocodiles along the river bank! I'm glad they saw these AFTER we swam at the waterfall. ;)

The kiddos really supported the Emberá. They made many purchases of artisan crafts that they learned about at the village. They are excited to share these with you when they get home.

As if we hadn't already had an amazing day, there were two more stops for our last day in Panamá! Irving surprised us with an unplanned visit to a sloth sanctuary! Last year's tour group saw a record number of 11 sloths! Irving set out to beat that record and we saw 12 in the wild and 4 in the sanctuary! Sixteen is a tough number for future tour guides to beat! Go Irving! Students learned about the conservation of the sloths, as well as visited a butterfly house, a frog pond, and an orchid growing operation.

Our last stop of the day was a boat tour on Gatún Lake. This is the man-made lake/islands that feed the Panama Canal. We drove by large barges and saw a lot of animals! The group saw the capuchin, howler, and tamarind monkeys! Several of them even got on our boat. We saw crocodiles, lizards, iguanas and fish. We were so lucky on this tour that we even saw a capybara!