Estudiantes de Monteverde pasaron cinco días con los Emberá
Alumnos de undécimo y duodécimo
As the boat approached La Chunga, the Emberá greeted the group from Monteverde with smiles, music, and dancing. [Haga click para agrandir | Click to enlarge]
Anjali Pati describe que sus anfitriones “viven completamente rodeados de la naturaleza.” Las casas de La Chunga tienen techos de palma y son elevadas. Los Emberá cultivan plantas típicas de los neotrópicos: piña, cassava, cacao, tomate, frijol, aguacate, achiote, borojó, chile, maíz, y varias palmas, especialmente la palma chunga cuyas fibras son tejidas para hacer cestas. Además cultivan arroz y plátanos, “los básicos de su dieta,” según Francis Joyce, “y ambos del Viejo Mundo.” Estas especies introducidas se cultivan usando métodos nativos, conforme a una rotación de cultivos similar a la regeneración natural de los bosques. Richard Joyce explica que “parece no ser dañino al sistema de agua local. Campos de arroz se convierten en plantaciones de plátano, que se convierten en frutales, que se convierten en bosque. Esto previene el agotamiento de los nutrientes y es bueno para la presencia de flora y fauna. En una caminata, de hecho, ví carpinteros, quérulas gorgimoradas, urracas pechinegras, tucancillos, colibríes, y mosqueros. Otras personas vieron tamarinos de Geoffroy”
The Emberá cultivate many species of palm, in particular the chunga palm, whose fibers are woven into baskets. [Haga click para agrandir | Click to enlarge]
Los Emberá introducen otras cosas en su cultura material. Previamente, por ejemplo, las mujeres se vestían con enaguas, llamadas paruma o paloma, hechas de corteza o fibras de palma. Ahora, estas enaguas “tradicionales” son hechas de telas de algodón teñido importadas del sureste de Asia. Otros aportes a la cultura de La Chunga incluyen plantillas de gas, televisores, canchas de básquetbol, e implementos de metal para la cocina. Como opina Tulio Curtis, “Tradiciones no son valiosas si no son útiles. No hay nada malo en cambiar una cultura si las tradiciones y creencias antiguas son reem-plazados por otras más útiles y prácticas.”
A pesar de los aportes de orígenes fuera de La Chunga, los Emberá mantienen el conocimiento tradicional del bosque que los rodea. “La manera en que imitan los sonidos de los animales,” dice Noelia Solano, “me señala un trato muy estrecho con la naturaleza. El llamado del águila harpía que realmente atrajo la ave, otros perfectos llamados de pájaros que dieron los guías y aún los niños, el sonido bichichí que yo los escuché silbar otros Emberá — todo estos explica cómo conocen los Emberá a la flora y la fauna de su bosque.”
Emberá children play outside all day, run barefoot, swim in the river, are friendly, and aren’t overprotected by their parents. [Haga click para agrandir | Click to enlarge]
De regreso a Monteverde, los viajeros conservaban “tatuajes” pintados en la piel con la tinta azul-negro del jagua. Conservaban también recuerdos de cómo cultivan los Emberá un sentido de seguridad comunal. “Tienen una actitud muy relajada acerca de criar sus niños,” comenta Eric Dube. Anjali piensa que “criar niños de esta manera los hace más felices y en general más fuertes con respecto a la persona integral.” Noelia agrega: “Los niños juegan afuera, corren descalzos, nadan en el río, son amistosos y no son cuidados en exceso por sus padres. La confianza que irradian los Emberá me hace sentir muy cómoda con ellos.”
Monteverde students spend five days with the Emberá
Las casas de La Chunga tienen techos de palma y son elevadas. [Haga click para agrandir | Click to enlarge]
The Emberá of La Chunga continue, as Anjali Pati describes, to “live completely surrounded by nature,” to have little or no reliance on fossil fuels, and to hunt forest game and cultivate crops typical of the New World tropics: pineapple, cassava, cacao, tomatoes, beans, avocado, achiote, borojó, chili peppers, corn, and various species of palm, in particular, the chunga palm, whose fibers are used to make baskets. Yet “their dietary staples,” according to Francis Joyce, “are rice and plantains, both from the Old World.” However, the Emberá cultivate these introduced species using long-established native methods. Their way of farming and crop rotation is similar to the natural progression of forest regeneration, and seems not to be “detrimental to the local water system,” explains Francis’s twin brother Richard. “Rice fields turn to plantain patches, which turn to fruit tree groves, which then turn to forest. This both prevents the nutrients in the soil from being exhausted, and supports the presence of wildlife. In fact, on one walk, I saw a woodpecker, purple-throated fruit crows, black-chested jays, aracaris, hummingbirds, and flycatchers. Other people saw Geoffroy’s tamarins.”
This wildlife-friendly way of traditional farming also incorporates other introduced species such as limes and oranges, coffee, lemon grass, and chickens. But the Emberá do not limit their assimilation of things Asian, African, and European to just plants and livestock. They “upgrade” other aspects of their material culture as well. Previously, for example, the women wore skirts, called paruma or paloma, made from woven bark or palm fibers. Now, however, these “traditional” skirts are made from dyed cotton fabrics imported from South-East Asia. Other imports to La Chunga include gas stoves, televisions, basketball courts, and metal kitchen implements. As Tulio Curtis remarks, “Traditions are not valuable if they are not useful. There is nothing wrong with changing a culture if the old traditions and beliefs are replaced with more useful and accurate ones.”
Yet, in parallel with how the Emberá have integrated Asian fabrics, chickens, and rice into their culture, so too have they have maintained their traditional knowledge of the natural environment that surrounds them. “The way they imitate animal sounds,” says Noelia Solano, “shows how in touch they are with nature. The harpy eagle call that actually brought the bird in, the many other perfect birdcalls that I heard from our guides and even from children, the bichichí noise I heard several Emberá make — all these show how much they know their forest and the living things in it.”
In addition to maintaining their traditions of nature lore, the Emberá are also maintaining the close-knit, trusting, generous, and supportive traditions that keep their society healthy. “My view of the community,” says Nico Wolff, “is that everyone contributes to the daily meals in some way, by either gathering, or hunting, or cooking. There seems to be complete security and love all around. They are a perfect example of how a community should behave.” In fact, individual Emberá begin developing this sense of communal security from a young age. “They have a very relaxed attitude towards raising their children,” says Eric Dube. “I liked to watch how the kids interacted with each other.” The children “play outside all day, run barefoot, swim in the river, are friendly, and aren’t overprotected by their parents,” adds Noelia. Anjali agreed. “I feel that raising children this way makes them happier and overall stronger people,” she says. Furthermore, continues Noelia, “It was the friendliness, the trust that these people radiate that made me feel so comfortable with them.”
Cuando salieron de La Chunga, casi todos en la clase tienen «tatuajes» pintados en la piel con la tinta azul-negro de la fruta del jagua. [Haga click para agrandir | Click to enlarge]
For some students, this comfortable experience in La Chunga was not too different from their life here in Costa Rica. “I’ve always been used to walking into houses through the kitchen doors and finding people gathered there, talking and working,” says Daniel Vargas Cambronero. “I’m used to very little privacy, to a colloquial atmosphere, to running around carelessly with other kids.” For others, though, the cultural differences were greater. “The experience was quite uplifitng,” says Alex Nelson. “It seems to be a more relaxed way of living, and it made me slow down a bit and appreciate what was around me.” Lucía Neander adds, “There is a trade-off when two different cultures come together; it’s part of the learning experience.”
The trade-offs the Emberá are making between tradition and innovation seem to be working. With their happy, healthy children, their supportive community, and the sustainable cultivation of the animals and plants, both native and introduced, of their natural surroundings, the Emberá “have a form of independence and control over their own lives,” according to Zoë Beale, that seems to be lacking in consumerist, money-based economies. One way this freedom and self-control expresses itself is in the form of geometrical designs painted onto the skin with the blue-black dye of the jagua fruit. “It was really cool to see almost everybody in the class with jagua tattoos,” remarks Chan Solano. While the Emberá tattoos survived the two day trip back home through Panama City and San José, they faded some two weeks after the return to Monteverde. The Emberá experience itself, though, will remain indelible.
Our school is sustained by donations to our scholarship fund. Over one third of our students are on financial aid. To start the 2008–2009 school year we will need approximately $50,000, of which we currently have only $36,000. We are blessed by a broad base of donors, each contributing a small amount. Each one makes a difference.
_____ $230 provides an 85% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
_____ $135 provides a 50% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
_____ $ 67 provides a 25% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
_____ $ 27 provides a 10% scholarship for one elementary student for one month
Your donations to our scholarship fund allow us to retain quality teachers, and buy books and supplies. Monteverde Friends School is grateful to our broad base of donors who allow us to provide the quality education we do to all eligible students regardless of their ability to pay.
If you are in need of a U.S. tax deduction you can send money to Monteverde Friends US at the following address:
Clara Rowe
Monteverde Friends U. S.
P. O. Box 993
Amherst, MA 01004
Checks can also be made out directly to the Monteverde Friends School and delivered here.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!