Alejandra Araúz in El Real
“There must be some kind of celebration or holiday, because the Emberás are waiting in the field in their best costumes,” explained the pilot of the Twin Otter aircraft that took the group of foreign visitors to El Real, in the province of Darién, on Panama’s border with Colombia.
The pilot wasn’t wrong, the Emberá community of El Real de Santa María, located in the Darién’s tropical rainforest, were more than happy to receive this group of visitors. Not because they where very important persons, but because they were bringing solutions for a long-standing need: safe water.
The Panamanian Red Cross, supported by the Federation, is implementing a water and sanitation micro-project that has a direct benefit for about 50 families, most of them indigenous people from the Emberás Wounan ethnic group.
The community has christened the project Jumará Itáa, meaning “one for all, and all for one” in their local language. It consists of extending a drinking water pipeline to five rural communities, and building 16 sixteen latrines and a water tank.
In addition, the project will provide training in first aid and the donation of 400 books to establish a first local library.
Celebrating safe water
Because Jumará Itáa was conceived with their full participation, the community decided to follow their traditions and launch the project with a typical Emberá party.
The celebration itself seems very simple, at least to a town-dweller: music, dancing, food and drink. But for the Emberá, it symbolised much more. It was about the first time an organization had really listened to their needs, instead of starting a project without asking their opinion.
Everybody was there: local officials, such as the mayor and the police chief, but also, significantly, non-Emberá neighbours celebrating and supporting the improvement of the five communities that will benefit from the project.
During the celebration, many local leaders spoke to the audience about the importance of the project and reminded them of the meaning of its name: “That is where the success lies: in mutual support and group work,” said Wilson Chamí, Mercadeo community leader.
Later on, the celebration continued with a game of soccer, played with the new balls and sports equipment donated by the El Real branch of the Panamanian Red Cross.
At the end of the party, the foreign guests had the chance to taste something that could be regarded as a delicacy, but which for the Emberás used to be an important source of protein: deer meat. Then it was time to rest, because the next day, the hard work started.
The Emberá Method
Making the Jumará Itáa project a reality involved meticulous planning. The participatory method implied that the Emberá, guided by the facilitators, determined their own needs and the most appropriate way of addressing them.
Five different workshops and meetings were necessary to assess their needs, coordinate, and eventually develop an organization inside the community. Despite having their own local authorities and rules, they had no experience of developing of project.
Establishing their needs was achieved by dividing them up into small groups and asking them to draw up a plan of their ideal community. Through such simple activities and working in groups, they were able to describe their living conditions and determine what they could do for themselves with the resources available in their own communities, and where their would need outside help.
Simple solutions for complex issues
Even if the intention was not to solve all of the problems faced by the Emberás families in El Real, such like unemployment and poverty, the quality of life of around 500 people has improved dramatically, thanks to a simple, fast and relatively inexpensive solution to the problem of unsafe water. Before they had access to clean water, the vast majority of infants fell sick with diarrhoea.
But maybe the most important achievement of the Jumará Itáa project is that the Emberá community is now better organized, and the local branch of the Panamanian Red Cross has a stronger presence and plays a greater role in the community. And even more volunteers are joining the Red Cross family!
“For the Red Cross, the Jumará Itáa project is like lift-off. This is the arrival of progress!” said Damian Jomi a Red Cross volunteer at El Real branch and coordinator or the project.
“Now, people here in El Real know that the Red Cross has always been here. What was missing was our interest and our participation,” he added.