Building a Indigenous Maloka for the Embera tribe

Introduction of the Emberá-Chamí tribe

The Chamí or Emberá-Chamí are a group of indigenous Colombians who speak a dialect of the Emberá language: Chamí means "mountain range" and embera means "people"; the Chamí are 'the People of the Mountain Range'. The Embera Chamí represent 12,35% of the indigenous population of Antioquia.
The community in the territory of town Jardin is populated by 274 families.

The Embera Chamí live a process of accelerated acculturation (changes with the influences from the west). A consequence because of the location of their territories that are very close to urban areas. However they have kept their own language and much of their customs. They have an agricultural focus, combined with their own activities such as hunting and gathering, and in this moment some communities are dedicated to the production of sugarcane producers such as Panela, of excellent quality and 100% organic.

Due to this acculturation process, the majority of young embera do not want to learn from traditional medicine, so the elders and mayras decided that this knowledge -as it is of humanity- must be shared with indigenous and non-indigenous people. Too complete this mission they need an adequate classroom to transmit the traditional knowledge and let the knowledge continue to exist; this classroom is the tambo, maloka or medicine house. With your help we can make this natural wisdom school be built!

Traditional doctor Taita luis Alfonso Yagari

Taita Luis Alfonso Yagari is an elder and traditional doctor, jaibana, of the community Embera chami of Colombia. The connection between the Jaibaná and the Jai (spirits of nature) guarantee the fundamental activities of society and the continuity of the natural cycles. These connections have a cosmologic trait in the way that the communication and agreements with the Jai regulate the exchanges between the different levels of the universe.

The Taita envisions their home to convert in a place where they can receive friends from all parts of the world, who want to heal with the yage medicine and learn to be "ambacheques" or "healers with the jais or spirits of nature".

For this it's required to construct a medicine house (tambo or maloka). It will all be constructed with guadua and with eucalyptus wood, with a roof of recycled plastic. El Taita invites us to participate voluntarily in the constructing of this place of healing and wisdom, his yage tambo, through a minga (voluntary and communal work) from 18 to 24 of November in his community, part of Karmata Rua in Andes, Antioquia.