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Global Law Brigades with Emberá Purú

Global Brigades Peace Corps Partnership Program


UIUC Law Brigade
June 14-21, 2009
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Background Information & Location
Partner Organization
Community Background United States Peace Corps – Volunteer Elena
Emberá Purú, is an indigenous community located upstream of Pequeni River, an affluent Pahl
of the Alajuela Lake in the Colón Province about 2 hours from Panama City. Travel to the
community requires a 45 minute to 1 hour boat ride from Puerto Vigía. Warrara Krincha is a local NGO with the
mission to increase access to education.
This community is made of Panama’s indigenous Emberá people. Originally from Darien
near the border with Colombia, they migrated to this area looking for better quality of Zuleika Mepaquito is the current leader of the
life. According to the Ministery of Finance, the community is poor and their members live NGO and she is fully engaged in getting the
with less than $100 a month. community mobilized to improve their
participation in the formal legal sector, access
Emberá Purú leaders are interested in working with Global Law Brigades on the process to education, and overall quality of life. The
of establishing personería jurídica for their education fund. The community is also NGO must establish personería jurídica as part
interested in legal capacity building workshops including alternative dispute resolution of the process needed to function in the
and learning about legal regulations that apply to communities that live in national parks. formal legal system. This will enable the
Tourism has been the main income generation activity for the past 10 years. Recently the NGO to open multiple bank accounts, be
number of visitors to the community has been decreasing. recognized as a legal identity, develop
partnerhips, and give it more legitimacy.

Community also needs Legal Empowerment


workshops about land use regulations for
villages inside the national park, and
Alternative Dispute Resolution workshops to
improve skills for achieving “win-win” solutions
for disputes and conflicts.

UIUC Law Brigade


Student Leader: Meghan Martin
Panama Advisor: Diane Dunn,
Director, Global Law Brigades
Trip Dates: June 14-21, 2009

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Peace Corps Volunteer Community Info
Community Background
Emberá Purú is an indigenous Emberá village whose primary income comes from tourism. All members of the community produce artisan
goods, and bring their handicrafts to the cruise ships that pass through the Panama Canal. They also bring tourist groups in from the city
and cruise ships to experience what life is like in a traditional Emberá village. Everything from traditional houses, dancing, food, music,
and botanical medicine hikes are offered. Due to the popularity of these tours other villages closer to the city have turned to tourism.
Unfortunately, this has caused the business at the Emberá Purú community to drop, since Emberá Purú is farther from the port, and the
rising price of gas makes their tour prices higher than other Emberá villages in the area. One advantage for Emberá Purú is that
because of their remote location they offer tourists a more authentic experience including unique activities such as panning for gold, and
hiking through primary rainforest to see a harpy eagle nest, etc.

The Emberá Purú community was founded 10 years ago as a work project, and a location where members from the agricultural
community of La Bonga could receive tourists. La Bonga is a 45 minute walk up and across the river, and currently most of the families
working in Emberá Purú have ceased living in La Bonga. However, many still have small parcels of land in La Bonga that they use for
farming. At this time, about16 of the 20 families in Emberá Purú no longer have houses in La Bonga and live and work full-time in
Emberá Purú. La Bonga and Emberá Purú currently share the same leaders (also known as Nokos or Chiefs) and the students from
Emberá Purú and La Bonga all attend school in La Bonga. Right now there is a movement by the majority of the Emberá Purú community
to be independent from La Bonga, and they would also like to have their own school. There is a lot of history between the leaders on
many sides of the complex issues involved with the movement for independent status of Emberá Purú, and conflict management skills
couldCommunity Contact to communicate, collaborate, and achieve a win-win solution. The Congreso General de Tierras
really help these communities
Colectivas Emberá y Wounaan is an organization that was formed to unify Emberá and Wounan communities outside the Comarca, and
has been involved in mediating the issues of independence and education with Emberá Purú and La Bonga. The land where the Emberá
Purú community is living was initially granted for the tourism project according to an with the environmental ministry in Panama,
Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente (ANAM). Also, there has been interest in other parcels of land in the national park and there is
lingering confusion about their rights and options for developing tourism projects elsewhere.

As previously stated, the tourism committee is the main income and business in town, and it could also benefit from the efforts of the
Warrara Krincha education fund, because one of the main objectives of the fund is to support community development projects including
tourism management, education, etc. Once the personería jurídica is established the community would also be able to open a several
bank accounts, and one account could be dedicated for managing the tourism income. Currently the President of Tourism travels to
Panama City to the tourism agencies to pick up the check payments, then finds a place to cash the checks, then travels back to the
community to distribute the cash. It can be very dangerous for the President to travel with so much cash using public transportation.

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Personería Jurídica
Help establish Personería Jurídica for education fund NGO
Project Area named Warrara Krincha
Warrara Krincha, needs to establish personería jurídica in
order to function in the formal legal sector. Once
established, they will be able to open multiple bank
accounts, and more easily receive and manage donations
Needs/Problems and other income.
Explain process and prepare legal documents needed to
Goals establish personería jurídica for Warrara Krincha.
Previous drafts of documents, community commitment,
Available Resources Spanish translation, and local legal expertise.
Funds for legal project expenses, research, writing ,
Community Contact Needed Resources analytical, and presentation skills.
Peace Corps Volunteer Full transparency and collaboration with community
Elena Pahl members, local legal experts, community contacts, and
elena.d.pahl@gmail.com other stakeholders. Meet with local attorney for
workshop about legal process of establishing personería
jurídica. Lead presentation to explain legal process to
community including information about the importance
Proposed Method and advantages of legalizing the NGO.
Potential for Follow-up for personería jurídica process will be
Sustainability maintained by local legal expert and community contacts.
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Alternative Dispute Resolution
Project Area Alternative Dispute Resolution workshops
Community needs capacity building workshops to improve
communication skills including active listening, conflict de-
Need/Problem escalation, analysis, creativity, and collaboration.
Inspire creative, analytical approaches to prevent and/or
resolve conflicts peacefully. Carry out one workshop with
GLB volunteers before going to community, and carry out
Goal two workshops together with community.
Available Alternative Dispute Resolution specialists, Spanish
Resources translation, and community leadership commitment.
We would like to include Emberá youth who are bi or tri-
Needed Resources lingual, so they can share the information and skills.
Community Contact
Peace Corps Volunteer GLB volunteers will learn and conduct Alternative Dispute
Elena Pahl Resolution workshops by applying role playing techniques.
elena.d.pahl@gmail.com Interactive role-play exercises will be utilized to encourage
conflict de-escalation and transformation to achieve win-
Proposed Method win solutions.
Capacity building efforts will be sustained by teaching
Potential for new skills and “training future trainers” who can lead
Sustainability similar workshops as needed in the future.

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Legal Empowerment
Access to Justice: Inform about laws and regulations that
govern villages within national parks and environmental
Project Area reserves.
The community is confused about land use regulations, and
needs accessible information about issues including collective
and private land ownership, and land use regulations by the
Panama government for communities that live within national
Need/Problem parks and environmental reserves.
Prepare Legal Empowerment Workshop to share
information about laws and regulations that affect these
communities. Inspire consideration of alternative revenue
sources such as eco-tourism, adventure tourism, and/or
Goal projects for reforestation to offset carbon emissions.
Community Contact
Peace Corps Volunteer Available Local legal expertise, Spanish translation, and research
Elena Pahl Resources tools.
elena.d.pahl@gmail.com Research and analysis conducted by GLB volunteers, and
Needed Resources development of Legal Empowerment presentation

Lead presentation for community, and provide written


Proposed Method information translated into Spanish for easy reference.
Potential for Networks and contacts for local legal service organizations
Sustainability that specialize in these issues.
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Community Contact

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