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OUR ORIGIN IS DARIÉN
Our community, Puru Biakiru, was founded on Thursday, May 31, 2018. Today, the community is known as Puru Biakiru, which in the Emberá dialect means “beautiful town.”
The first individuals to settle were the Ruiz family: Elías Ruiz and his wife, Alicia Caisamo, and their five children, Eneldo Ruiz, Ángel Ruiz, Euclides Ruiz, Iván Ruiz, and Eliecer Ruiz. They left Darién province in the 1970s in search of a better life near Panama City.
The economic situation in Darién had become very difficult, and they could no longer make a decent living from farming. Furthermore, clandestine Colombian drug trafficking groups in Darién posed a major threat to their safety.
OUR ANCESTORS
Elías Ruiz, our grandfather, was a humble man. He was a farmer, an expert in medicinal plants, and a skilled artisan of traditional Emberá cocobolo wood carvings.
His wife, Alicia Caisamo, together forged a small, humble community in the Upper Chagres rainforest. They practiced subsistence farming and hunting to support themselves and their family.
OUR TOURISM HISTORY
We began working in tourism in 1996. Initially, we sought and received significant assistance from the Panama Tourism Office (IPAT), the World Bank, and several local non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
They helped us organize and establish relationships with local tour operators. They also provided us with important training in tourism, customer service, and visitor safety.
WARRARA CRINCHA RL
Our business is now a formalized cooperative, created on Friday, March 23, 2018, recognized by the Panamanian government. It is called “COOPERATIVA DE SERVICIOS MULTIPLES WARRARA CRINCHA RL.”
We are working very hard to grow our domestic tourism. We are learning about accounting, marketing, and computers so we can manage our new cooperative more efficiently. We are also learning English so we can invite more independent tourists to visit us. And we are educating our children so they can one day take over our business!
Tourism has proven to be a very good option for our community. It has a low environmental impact, yet has long-term sustainability. Most importantly, tourism has sparked a renaissance in our traditional Emberá arts and culture. We are proud of who we are, and we are especially proud to share who we are with you, our visitors. It is you, our tourists, who help us sustainably live this special way of life.
