the guna, a native people of panama, live on dozens of idyllic islands in the caribbean, grappling with the challenges posed by globalization and welcoming travelers seeking out more remote cultures. while globalization brings new challenges to traditions, it also offers opportunities that the guna are eager to sustain for the welfare of their nation.

the guna people rely heavily on tourism, notes guna environmental attorney aresio valiente lopez, as his words are translated by his son diwigdi valiente, an environmental activist and entrepreneur. lopez is both a law consultant for the guna congress and a member of the governing body. 

lopez estimates that 80% of guna income draws from tourism, making it essential for the economy. from tourism the guna earn $2 million, $500,000 of which is invested by the guna congress on behalf of the community. however, the impact of sea level rise due to climate change puts this industry at risk and a drastic decrease in tourists could leave many guna in financial distress.

as a result, the guna are finding ways to develop tourism from the mainland and to diversify their economy.

valiente, who spent much time on the islands with his guna grandparents, has turned to mainland tourism. he has run a hostel in the panama town of el valle anton, located within a volcanic valley, for three years. his university education in switzerland taught him about the importance of sustainability in tourism. subsequently, he created his own hostel business to make a profit, but also as a way for a profitable business to have “an impact in society and the environment at the same time.”

“sustainability is actually a way to make money,” valiente said, “and also have an impact in society and environment at the same time.” for valiente, that means providing educational programs for children that can help them understand their changing environment, climate change and what that may mean for the islands. 

as a former international tax auditor for panama’s ministry of finance, valiente has an intimate understanding of the importance of finance from a practical standpoint, infusing his ideals about sustainability and the environment with his pragmatic business experience.

“if you don’t make money and survive out of it,” valiente said, slapping the table for emphasis, “you are not sustainable.”

valiente emphasizes how sustainability must hit three components. profitability is one. the most important is social impact, which includes hiring local people hired and their ability to have a balance of work and personal life. he said he measures the social impact of business by “the salary you are paying them, the training you are giving them so their lives could be better.”

lastly, the impact of tourism on the environment is an essential focus within his vision.  it had to be safe for the “whole ecology of the system” which included animals, people and plants in the area.

for the guna, other ventures have been undertaken not just on an individual level, but within the nation as a whole. lopez informed us about the guna’s endeavors to bring capitalism into the economy, in contrast to what his son called was an “environment of socialism” within traditional guna culture, where everything is shared.  the guna, according to lopez, have decided to invest in a transportation company where a guna person could own a maximum of 10 stocks and have a stake in the lucrative transportation services provided to bring tourists to the islands. foreign investment – such as the purchase of guna land – is still barred in a determination to keep their resources in guna control.

despite this, many multinational companies and even panamanian ventures are eager to expand into guna and other indigenous territory. sixty percent of panamanian rain forest is within the 23 percent of land occupied by the guna and other native tribes, lopez said. the presence of native people in these forests and the guna congress has protected areas from encroachment and destruction. resources for mining, hydro projects and more have drawn the interest of business to the native land, he said.

however, impacts of globalization such as climate change not only threatens the sovereignty of the guna but their way of life.

a visit to the guna yala islands gives tourists a taste of how much of traditional life is preserved. tourists stay in cabanas, made of wooden stakes woven together with rope and topped with a thatched roof or more “modern” tin roof. both have sand floors. however, tourists sleep on mattresses rather than the traditional hammocks the guna prefer. but much of the food made is traditional, with dishes of rice, chicken or fish. french fries gave a nod to western tastes as did the cans of soda or beer. the picturesque islands of white sandy beaches and clear blue water look like the photos in travel magazines i had often seen growing up as a child.

providing for tourists is hard work, work that is not always properly rewarded by unscrupulous tourists who sometimes resist the small fee for the island visit. abelardo nuñez davies, affectionately called “tito” by his family and visitors, manages pelican island, a small oasis of beach where he and his mother and family serve meals and sell handmade woven jewelry and molas. “some people come and they don’t want to pay,” nunez said as translated by valiente. “or they say, ‘oh i’ll pay you,’ and leave in their boats.”

five or 6 years ago, only three to four boats stopped each week. now the family welcomes that number daily, greatly increasing not only their income but also the workload.  the increase in tourists brings more waste that has to be cleaned up. but the biggest problem is sea level rise due to climate change as the island is steadily shrinking, posing threat to tourism.

on the island where we stayed overnight, i got a sense of the great labor that went into making tourism a success. an old man cut coconuts with his machete, and often could be seen pushing a wheelbarrow of trash. waste disposal is a tourism issue that people are still grappling with. a program started by the guna congress was meant to transport waste from the islands but was cancelled after six months, valiente said.

however, valiente has started a program with children to find new uses for materials, such as making toys out of some plastics. the reuse of what might otherwise become trash helps decrease the amount that may be thrown in the sea.

many islands have kiosks run by guna women in their traditional dress of colorful skirts, tops and gold nose rings. married women wear a red head scarf. some younger women, however, had long hair and chose to wear western dress with t-shirts, capri pants or shorts. i wondered if there was ever any tension between those who wore traditional dress and those who opted for city dress. i recall two women on the island where we stayed who dressed differently but rushed in to help each other with a heavy bucket, smiling at each other. the look they exchanged was clearly that of love, not animosity, and there was a mutual respect and desire to help one another as family, regardless of dress.

in the kitchen of the island, you could see fryers for food and a freezer. the women watched spanish novellas, much like soap operas, on their cell phones. solar panels provide energy for light and the phones. clearly, these electronics allowed for conveniences in keeping in touch with friends and family off the island and in feeding hungry tourists of 50 or more who come to some islands just to eat but stay in the cabanas on other islands.

the increasing presence of tourists is changing the guna way of life, valiente said. but his father is optimistic.

“we have a culture that survived colonization from the spaniards,” he said

however, tourists who came to relax at the beaches don’t always notice or engage with their hosts, valiente added. inevitably, as more guna come in contact with westerners, materialism within the culture increases, in contrast to traditional beliefs maintaining that material possessions in this life do not matter because heaven is the ultimate prize after death. but certainly some guna feel that a western-style home, food and more are superior to the traditional styles. despite mandates that homes be built in the traditional style, we saw buildings especially on the city island we visited that were some made of concrete. while valiente felt the mandate should be upheld, he had no desire to criticize guna people who want concrete homes.

“i cannot tell them that’s wrong,” he said, “who am i to tell them, ‘you cannot build a cement house?’”

exposure to western values in the media he believes had convinced some guna that such homes are better than the cabanas. increasing contact with foreigners would only fuel this desire. however, valiente said he sees remnants of colonialism in this pressure to westernize among the guna.

“we have a very colonial society that forces people to believe that materialism is the best way to live,” diwigdi valiente said, “that buying stuff is what is going to make you feel happy.”

the museum curator charlie davies also felt an erosion of traditional values, especially as more guna youth left their homes to live in the city. according to tito, part of it is a youthful desire for adventure that he believes would change into more appreciation for a rural, traditional way of life as they aged. he himself grew up in panama city. and, any guna man or woman who desires a higher education, especially at university level, would have to leave for the mainland to pursue this dream. while valiente and tito seemed proactive about the ability of female guna to become educated and still keep their traditions, davies was less convinced that western education and traditional customs dress could coexist. women who want to continue their studies adopted western dress and opted out of the rite of passage that would allow them to dress and live as a traditional woman. perhaps this was the result of western media as pointed out by valiente that compelled the women desiring a western education to assimilate, despite laws lopez informed us that protected their right to wear traditional dress in universities.

the guna were candid about the difficulties they face. from waste disposal, protecting their sovereignty, to tourism and gradual erosion of their traditional values, globalization brings challenges that the previous generations did not face.  it also offers new avenues for wealth and exposure to ideas that the booming tourism industry made possible. lopez wanted us to remember that despite the difficulties tourism posed to his people  environmentally and culturally, the guna have had proven themselves to be resilient, winning independence from panama in 1925 as self-governing provinces or comarcas.in seven years, they will be celebrating the 100th year anniversary of the successful demand for political autonomy from the panamanian government.

abelardo “tito” nuñez davies first came to pelican island 15 years ago. it was much larger then.

the small hut he and his mother share started out in the middle of this tiny oasis of sand. now, the structure sits at the edge of the waves on the island’s eastern shore, amid a cluster of palm trees. the ocean laps at their doorstep. but the building never moved; the island shrank.

over the past decade or so, storms have slowly been washing the sand away. davies has seen parts of the island flood and the beach begin to disappear. the storms, he said, are getting stronger and stronger. 

last year’s particularly fierce hurricane season didn’t directly impact the area, but pelican island still endured the effects. “the storm was soft,” davies said. “but it was still very scary. the whole house was flooded and it destroyed the wall.”

“what can i say? we’re here because of the grace of god,” davies said. despite the increasing threat of storms, he said he and his mother have no plans to relocate. they make money for their family by welcoming tourists, who visit the picturesque stretch of sand for a few hours at a time to sunbathe and drink out of coconuts. pelican island receives boats of them daily.

to combat the flooding, davies and his mother are attempting to build a sea wall off the island’s western shore, which may destroy the encircling coral reef in the process. but they don’t want to risk losing their island, which provides them with significant income.

does he think the storms will get less intense as time goes on? davies replied with a spanish tenet: “ojala” — god willing.

rising tides

pelican island is just one of more than 350 islands in the san blas archipelago, part of the caribbean province of guna yala (pronounced “koona yahlah”) along the northern coast of panama. widely regarded as some of the most beautiful and pristine in the world, some 50 of these islands are home to the guna people, an indigenous group that has won the rights to self-govern this area and a strip of the mainland coast.

the guna arrived to panama and these islands in canoes from the northern coast of colombia after the arrival of the spanish in the 1500s, fleeing colonization. since then, they have developed a relationship with the islands as well as their territory on land.

“i grew up in an environment of socialism,” said diwigdi valiente, a guna environmental advocate who grew up on these islands. “within my community, everything was shared. there were people that used to go fishing, there were people that used to go hunting, there were people that used to go farming, and then at the end of the day they would all come back and share everything they had with the people on the island.”

valiente has been visiting pelican island for years, and he said it’s shrunk to half its original size over his lifetime.

the san blas are on the front lines of climate change. scientists at the smithsonian tropical research institute in panama estimate that sea levels are rising three quarters of an inch every year, accelerating from the conservative 3 millimeter estimate first released by the u.n.’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc). at this rate, most of the islands could be underwater in less than 30 years. it’s a similar story in island countries and coastal cities around the world, from kiribati to dhaka.

“if there is a storm here, there could be islands that will completely vanish,” valiente said. “there are months when the islands get completely flooded. you have water up to your ankles. imagine living for a month like that.”

heating up

pelican island’s peril begins thousands of miles away, in the industrialized areas of the world. here, greenhouse gases — emitted mainly from fossil fuels — spread like a blanket across the globe and trap heat. scientists tout the “greenhouse effect” as the cause for global warming: it caused the warming of the earth following the last ice age, which supported life on the planet as we know it, but massive fossil fuel emissions since the industrial revolution have accelerated greenhouse gas levels to a dangerous peak. 

when light energy from the sun travels to the earth, it passes through greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (namely carbon dioxide and methane), originally derived from natural processes like decomposition and respiration in organisms. some of this light energy is reflected back into space, while some is contained by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. this trapped light energy contains heat that creates a warming effect that raises the temperature of the planet. without this layer of gases, earth would be far too cold for life to sustain itself.

but once humans began burning fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas made from previously decomposed organic material — during the industrial revolution, the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere dramatically increased. these emissions collected in the atmosphere, raising levels of carbon dioxide. the atmosphere, in turn, trapped more light energy and radiated more heat back onto the earth’s surface. this has caused the average global temperature to increase at a rapid pace — something never before encountered during the existence of humans on this planet.

as the planet warms, ice sheets in places like greenland and antarctica and sea ice in the polar regions, begin to melt. massive chunks of glaciers break off into the sea at alarming rates, melting and causing sea levels to rise.

additionally, atmospheric heat and absorbed carbon dioxide cause thermal expansion in the oceans. water particles become energized and take up more space, again accelerating sea level rise. 

moreover, a warming ocean sustains more intense storm systems such as hurricanes (as we’ve recently seen with increasingly brutal hurricane seasons). tiny islands like the san blas are ravaged by these storms, which uproot trees with strong winds and flood beaches with storm surge.

climate refugees

some guna people don’t appreciate the severity of the situation, said valiente, particularly older generations, like davies and his mother, who don’t have access to information about climate change and rising sea levels.

“you try to explain (to) people climate change, and they don’t understand it because they are not causing it,” valiente said. “the worst thing about climate change is that people in need — people that are not making the problem — are the ones that are going to suffer the most. everywhere. not only in panama, not only with the gunas — everywhere.”

but valiente is doing work to combat that lack of knowledge with a project called burwigan, leading art projects for guna children about environmental issues that affect them directly.

“we would make fish sculptures. we are putting the fish at different levels around the houses to show them where the sea level will be in the next couple of years,” he said. “i’m working with the kids because what they see now, it’s normal to them. to me, it’s not normal at all.”

valiente said that while moving is inevitable, plans for a mass relocation to the guna mainland territory several years ago never materialized due to a change in government. 

“we have (one of) the first documented cases of an indigenous group forced to move because of climate change,” valiente said, in “a country that did not contribute to climate change at all.”

in the pristine beauty of an archipelago off the caribbean coast of panama, the indigenous guna people show tourists to their small cabanas, where they will be surrounded by the sound of the crashing ocean as they sleep. the hosts prepare meals of freshly caught fish to feed their guests, while others crack open coconuts for tourists to sip while relaxing in blue waters.

guna women sell molas, part of their traditional clothing, and wrap long beaded bracelets around their visitors’ wrists. the guna people rely on tourism to the san blas islands to bring in revenue of $2 million – 80% of their total income.

in the next 20 years,  however, many of the islands of this idyllic destination will disappear under the waves.

climate change is causing rising sea levels across the globe, which means that the ocean is slowly creeping up the shorelines of these small islands. eventually, they will be uninhabitable, and the guna people can already see evidence that their homes are shrinking.

“look at this island: we are not even 30 centimeters above the sea level,” said diwigdi valiente, 28, a guna native who is an environmental activist and an advocate of ecotourism. “the urgency? it’s much more than what you expect.”

abelardo (tito) nuñez davies first arrived at his home on pelican island in the san blas chain 15 years ago, and he has already watched it transform in this short time span. “this island was much bigger before, and now some of the beach is disappearing,” he said.

although he can’t ignore the sight of his changing landscape, he hasn’t considered moving away yet and hopes he won’t be forced to. but the guna government is working to prepare for the day when people who have lived here for generations will no longer be able to call these islands home. these plans are difficult to develop – scheduling a mass exodus of climate change refugees is an unprecedented move.

“four years ago there was (a) budget to move the island to (the) mainland,” valiente said. “the government changed, and the budget was gone.” despite structural changes, the guna people continue to search for ways to plan for their inevitable move. “they’re applying to have funds (from the) u.n. to develop an adaptation and mitigation plan for climate change for panama,” he said.

aresio valiente lópez, a law professor at the university of panama and member of the guna congress, wants to create a special environmental department in the congress. “they will be in charge of making sure that the movement from the islands to mainland is going to be organized,” said lópez, valiente’s father. (note: valiente acted as a translator for lópez, who was speaking in spanish.) 

this move is more than physical for the guna people – it requires a transformation of their industries and economy. to lópez, this transformation is imperative so that the guna can continue to have a sustainable source of income. “our economy has to change,” he said.

“what they are trying to do now is to diversify what the source of income is,” valiente said. “right now, the biggest source of income is tourism.”

the guna people don’t have to abandon tourism completely if they can find ways to make it sustainable, which valiente is pioneering as a founder of bodhi hostels.

“right now, i am committed to building the most sustainable hostel chain in the world,” he said.

he plans to extend his business to the ocean around the san blas islands and build a hostel designed to survive the rising sea levels. his experience as a business owner has shown him that profits and environmental sustainability are not mutually exclusive – within a year of opening, his business broke even and was chosen as the best hostel in panama. now, he continues to run his business with both profits and sustainability in mind.

“right now, my job is to open new hostels, but at the same time, our hostels have a very strong and important focus on solving environmental issues, especially climate change,” valiente said. “sustainability is actually a way to make money and also have an impact in society and the environment at the same time. if you don’t make money and survive out of it, you are not sustainable.”

these two goals made bodhi a perfect fit for the developing town of kalu yala, where valiente and his business partner allan lim recently opened a new hostel. similar to the original bodhi hostel, kalu yala is a new business endeavor that values both profits and sustainability.

“our mission is to build a new town that proves that civilization can live in a socially and environmentally responsible way,” said kalu yala founder jimmy stice, an american entrepreneur.

kalu yala sits in tres brazos valley a few miles from san miguel, a small farming town in the panamanian jungle. founded in 2011, the town now boasts a coffee shop, a restaurant, a bar, and a store with snacks and sweets centered around a communal town square. these small businesses offer a bit of luxury to the sustainable lifestyle at kalu yala, which involves sleeping in open-air ranchos and exploring new sustainable farming practices. the crown jewel of the town is the kalu yala institute, where college students can spend a semester in the jungle studying topics such as engineering, outdoor recreation and media arts.

the institute is currently the main source of revenue for the town, but stice aims to build a fully functioning town, complete with a thriving industry of tourism and hospitality. the hostel is the first step for tourism as interns continue to at the institute continue to innovate sustainable energy, culinary, agriculture and water resource solutions for the community. now, stice plans to build accommodations that are more comfortable for people who aren’t used to camping in the jungle.

“we’ll start introducing the small houses, which will allow for people who want to sleep on a real mattress,” he said. people could purchase houses or just vacation in them – “$150 nights is inclusive just like $13 a night is inclusive” for the hostel, he said.

tara mclaughlin, president of the kalu yala institute for the interns who are helping to develop kalu yala, believes that ecotourism and social entrepreneurship are lucrative industries to be a part of right now.

“that current desire to be sustainable, or trying to make a difference, but also having that desire to travel – if you offer a product that allows somebody to do both of those things, then it’s a very desirable product,” she said.

with an experimental project like kalu yala, it’s possible that it could become a tourist trap rather than an authentic town. stice likened this potential outcome to a “disneyland of sustainability,” but that’s the worst case scenario, he said. he wants to balance tourism with other businesses and industries in the town, as well as the educational component.

marie stringer is capitalizing on this ecotourism potential by starting a zip line business at kalu yala. she believes that panama is an ideal market opportunity because it currently doesn’t have many zip lines, and the scenic jungle and rain forest surrounding kalu yala are stunning.

“there’s a reason why we’re building a million-dollar zip line and it’s paying for itself in two years,” she said.

she plans to hire local people from the nearby town of san miguel and former kalu yala interns to be the zip line guides. one of her top priorities is creating well-paid jobs in the small community and providing her employees with new skills – they will have access to free language classes so that all guides can be fluent in both english and spanish. she wants to emphasize this social change aspect throughout her business.

however, any social change arising from tourism also brings cultural exchange, which can have unintended outcomes.

“tourism is about moving people from one place to another,” valiente said. “when you move people from one place to another, you’re not only moving people: you’re moving experiences, you’re moving culture.”

“we had a group out here partying for panamanian carnival,” mclaughlin said. “dealing with that cultural collision, i think was both good for the students and both good for the panamanians that came out here. they learned a lot about what we’re doing.”

so far this cultural exchange has been positive, but as tourism continues to grow, san miguel residents may look to tourism as an alternative to the tradition of farming in the area. valiente has seen the negative effects of tourism in his home on the islands, and this is why he believes it is important for tourists to consider sustainability when they travel, learning about the cultural values of places they visit and minimizing the physical footprint they leave.

“it is important because when we move from one place to another, we affect the place and we make an impact on the place we are going to,” he said. “and we have the choice of making that a good or a bad impact.”

valiente believes that this impact would be more positive if tourists built relationships with the people whose homes they’re visiting and made an effort to interact with them.

“how do they see you?” he asked. “what do they see that you are coming to do here? do they see that you are coming just to relax and chill out at the beach? or do they see that you are coming here to interact with them and be interested in our culture, which is – besides the water and the nice beaches – one of the most important assets we have.”

despite the fact that the guna culture is one of their most valuable assets, valiente has watched it struggle to survive western influence.

“unfortunately, in the occidental world we have a very colonial society that forces people to believe that materialism is the best way to live: that buying stuff is what is going to make you feel happy,” he said. “but for the guna people, we don’t have to be rich in this life, because according to us, when we die we are going to go to a place where everything is gold. so for us, material stuff is not important. but when you start getting people that come here and have cell phones and have tvs and talk about all this stuff that happens in the western society, then you also start wondering, ‘ok, am i living good here (on) an island in the middle of nowhere? or should i also get a cell phone? should i also get a tv? should i also get cable tv?’”

for this reason, valiente can see a positive side to leaving the islands. “i think it’s a great opportunity for everyone to embrace a culture that’s about to get lost,” he said. he wants to publish art across panama that makes people realize, “okay, that culture is being lost, but it’s time also for us to get it back.”

“instead of looking it as something maybe bad or very negative, we could look at it as something totally positive and something that could even make our society better,” he said.

although climate change threatens to push the guna people away from their island homes, the tragedy may allow them to regain part of their culture that has changed with  tourism, he said. however, it is still unclear how their economy will recover from the loss of tourism or how much of it they can reestablsih with the mainland as a base. in the meantime, only time will tell how the budding ecotourism industry at kalu yala may affect the culture of san miguel.

despite the challenges that arise from tourism and climate change, lópez believes that the native cultures in panama will survive.

“cultures are dynamic: we’ll lose some of it and then we will integrate new things,” he said. “at some point, what we had 100 years ago is not going to be the same anymore. but cultures (are) dynamic.”

as a toddler, diwigdi valiente ogled at the strangers on his family’s remote island. these sailboats brought visitors unlike anyone he had ever seen: blue-eyed, blonde-haired, and “super pale.” as these sailors stopped at his island en route to colombia, valiente gathered vegetables from the island garden. “take, take, take!” he would declare, a natural entertainer. today, it’s no surprise that valiente runs an innovative hostel business.

valiente’s mother is panamanian and his father is guna, one of panama’s eight indigenous groups. originating in colombia, spaniards uprooted the guna in the 16th century. this spurred centuries of guna migration to panama’s san blas archipelago, also referred to as the comarca guna yala. over 360 islands constitute the comarca, with approximately 49 currently occupied. the guna peoples’ next move, however, will be propelled by an entirely different force.

due to rising sea levels, the guna residents of the san blas islands face major flooding and are expected to eventually evacuate to panama’s mainland. if you ask valiente when exactly the guna must pack up their lives and leave, he can’t give a definitive answer.

“that’s a very difficult question. four years ago, there was a budget to move the island people to the mainland. the (panama) government changed, and the budget was gone,” valiente says. “there is not a specific time.”

the fate of san blas may resemble that of other vulnerable land masses. a 2017 study by the journal of coastal conservation found that islands in the western pacific ocean have experienced a rate of sea level rise that is about four times greater than the global average. the climate change-induced factors behind this disparate sea level rise include changes in trade winds and melting ice sheets. as a result of significant flooding, small islands in micronesia have vanished completely.

as the guna contend with the repercussions of global industrialization, people like diwigdi valiente see opportunity.

“i am committed to building the most sustainable hostel chain in the world,” valiente says.

he left his job as international tax auditor at panama’s ministry of economy and finance to found the bodhi hostel chain in 2014. valiente and his business partner allan lim both consider themselves environmentally conscious. most importantly, valiente says, they are equipped to handle the business side of things. valiente and lim hold each hold bachelor’s degrees in hospitality, management and business.

the pair began bodhi modestly and opened a hostel inside a volcano, in panama’s village of valle de antón. within its first year, bodhi el valle de antón was named the best hostel in the country.

valiente says the company is focused on more than just hospitality. bodhi’s non-profit mission, burwigan, educates guna children — a generation of potential climate refugees — about climate change. valiente accomplishes this through art projects, demonstrating the precarious fate of their islands through watercolor paintings of sea creatures.

“i realize that if we don’t make a change soon, it’s going to be too late for us,” valiente says. “but i would say the more access to information you have, the better. that’s what i’m trying to do with my project.”

the second bodhi hostel opened this march at kalu yala, a sustainable “town” tucked in the tres brazos valley. eco-inclined tourists, or perhaps those looking for a party in the middle of the panamanian jungle, can lodge in a hostel run completely on solar panels. if you’re looking for an idyllic beach vacation, you can opt for the guna’s san blas islands.

just as these islands begin to submerge, an indigenous tourism industry run by guna families thrives.

“more and more (guna) people are having businesses in tourism” valiente says. “people that used to dive for lobster or fish will not do that anymore.”

‘symbols of resilience’

it’s impossible to traverse panama without encountering embroidered patches of fabric with striking embroideries that seem to move on their own. mola art has become an quintessential souvenir, though they represent more than a mere decoration. the molas preserve traditional guna stories, which are rooted in a reverence for the earth as dictated by prophet ibeorgun. a hummingbird flits across the mola, delivering the message of the gods. vertical stripes of thread denote the sun shining through the bamboo walls of the guna home.

molas are a symbol of resilience, valiente says, created after spanish missionaries demanded that gunas wear clothing. they display the same patterns historically employed in traditional body art, rooted in the mother earth and father sun binary that is present in each aspect of everyday life. this notion of living in balance with nature was present long before western notions of carbon emissions and battery-operated cars. yet, it’s all at risk. as flooding threatens the gunas, so does time itself.

“we are losing culture. we are losing the people that know the medicine plants,” says aresio valiente lópez, a lawyer and professor at the university of panama. he specializes in agricultural, environmental and indigenous law. he’s a consultant. he’s a poet and a dancer. he is also diwigdi’s father.

lópez says he has witnessed both domestic and global corporations attempt to take over indigenous territories to develop hotels and hydroelectric plants. it’s no surprise, since 60 percent of forest areas belong to panama’s indigenous groups. seemingly-positive initiatives like eco-tourism and renewable energy development are at odds with generations of people who live to defend their land.

but climate change poses an even greater danger to the guna than corporate exploitation, as they are set to lose their homes in the comarca. while many gunas attribute increased storms and flooding to the gods, people like valiente lópez are taking action.

“people like us, who got a much more western education do believe in climate change…that we have to get organized and be strategically prepared for what is coming to us,” he says. lópez hopes to form an environmental department under the sovereign guna government, as well as consultations with panama’s minister of environment. so far, the department hasn’t reached out to any indigenous groups, he says.

the private sector has assisted the guna, however, by improving access to electricity with the solution of alternative energy. between 2006 and 2013, the inter-american development bank collaborated with the panamanian government on the rural electrification program. the effort provided rural areas like the san blas islands with “off-grid power systems” like photovoltaic solar panels in its first phase.

the $20.8 million loan doesn’t, however, account for a culture permanently altered by global industrialization. but by any measure of the term, the guna manage a sustainable culture with modest reliance on energy.

“why would you have to teach them to live sustainably when they have been living sustainably for all this time?” valiente says. “we are the ones teaching you.”

kalu yala goal: empowering individuals

and at kalu yala, the primarily american and primarily white staff is still learning. at the moment, the town is far from the “disney world of sustainability” that founder and president jimmy stice envisions — there’s a high employee turnover rate and construction on the first round of 20 homes has barely begun. still, his mission is clear.

“how do you create a place where when you buy a cup of cold brew coffee, you’re actually sequestering carbon, distributing income and creating socio-economic mobility?” stice says. kalu yala’s coffee is grown in nearby boquete and roasted on-site, by the way.

stice works with interns and staff to establish a model of living where the residents themselves make up the supply chain, which he envisions would eventually grow to a global market that empowers the individual. kalu yala has made small steps in this direction, most notably grow practically all of their own produce. when the intimate community of employees and student interns sits down to enjoy eggplant-quinoa salad and scrambled eggs with plantains, they can track their meal to merely yards away.

“right now i don’t give a shit if this place has 500 people and it’s a cute little village. (if) it fulfills that mission, i’m fine,” stice says. “if we go and build 20 of these things and they’ve got a 5 million person population, that would be really nice too.”

stice and his head staff occupy what appears to be an ordinary office plopped into a jungle. if you venture into a particular thicket of palm leaves, you will find a clearing with a humming wi-fi router and employees pecking away on their laptops.

in another wooded corner of kalu yala, engineering director sasha papich can be found tinkering with a distillation pot and fermentation tanks. while he spends the majority of his days working with engineering students, papich returns to his makeshift distillery late into the night. he is assisting kalu yala’s mission by building a sustainable rum distillery. it’s yet another component of kalu yala’s business model — the distillery will serve as an attraction for guests and currently provides rum to the town bar.

as a bio-resource engineer, papich brings a lot to the table. he wants to make the distilling process completely carbon-neutral. in addition to using solar panels for hydrolysis, he aims to use sugar cane juice from local farmers brought over by mules. to render the system carbon-negative, papich will plant trees nearby to offset emissions. the rum’s methane by-products can be used to extract biofuel from algae, according to recent kalu yala intern research.

papich has found that his engineering niche, particularly his knowledge of renewable energy, makes him a valuable commodity. he says he has witnessed a shift in the corporate mindset. entrepreneurs like jimmy stice recognize that there’s profit in being green. the international energy agency found that renewable energy sources provided two-thirds of the world’s net new power capacity in 2016.

“some companies are doing it for the right reasons, some are trying to profit,” papich says. “companies who are trying to work with other companies to make the best product and reduce the most carbon emissions as possible, those are the ones you hear about. as long as they’re making a difference, i’m ok with it.”

the personalities behind this movement are not all behemoths like elon musk, captivating the world with visions of electric cars and hyperloops. valiente certainly possesses the appropriate charm, and he’s a finance mogul in his own right. he insists that a business can only tout a passion for the environment if it brings in a profit, a win-win partnership of sustainability and sound economics. “sustainability is actually a way to make money and have an impact on society and environment at the same time,” valiente says. “if you don’t make money and survive out of it, you are not sustainable.” he slaps the table for emphasis.

stay or go? and if they stay — how?

valiente says he has seen pelican island, one of the popular san blas tourism spots, shrink in half since his last visit. abelardo “tito” nuñez-davies hosts tourist visits to the island, which have included a boat of nudists. he was raised in panama city and only joined his mother here 15 years ago, after he injured his back in a car accident.

i meet him as he emerges from his thatched palm-leaf home where his mother cooks him breakfast. the house used to sit squarely in the middle of the island, davies says. today, the turquoise caribbean laps at the home’s edges. he recalls one storm that flooded the entire island. during his rescue, davies did not have time to salvage any belongings. “what can i say?” davies says. “we’re here because of the grace of god.”

davies says that, in order to sustain tourism, he’s attempting to build a sea wall and an artificial coral reef that would keep the island intact. this process will kill fish, though, which is the main source of food for davies and his mother.

he says he hasn’t even thought about leaving. yet, for many gunas there will be no other option. they have already moved once, after all. professor aresio valiente lópez does not necessarily think of this as a bad thing.

“at some point, what we had 100 years ago is not going to be the same anymore,” aresio valiente lópez says. “but cultures (are) dynamic.”

separated by miles of ocean and a 2-hour drive, or a 50-mile hike, through the jungle, guna yala and kalu yala are two of panama’s most sustainable communities.

guna yala, part of the san blas islands in the caribbean, and kalu yala, a commune in the interior jungle, differ drastically in not only their locations, but also in contrasting heritages, culture, and history. what the two do share in common are beliefs and practices that revere the environment.

the guna people, one of the country’s eight main indigenous groups live on the guna yala islands as an independent province off the coast of northeast panama. more than 360 small islands make up the guna archipelago, but only about 50 are actually inhabited and many of which welcome tourists.

the stark contrast between mainland panama and guna yala is apparent even before setting foot on the islands. the water, astonishingly clear and filled with marine life, combined with white sands and palm trees make the perfect vacation spot. what is not immediately apparent, however, is the deeply rooted culture and traditions of the guna people who consider the islands sacred.  

according to aresio valiente lópez, a guna environmental lawyer and professor fighting for indigenous rights, one distinguishing characteristic of guna yala is their right of self-government as an autonomous province. 

a major component of the guna culture is the unique relationship with their environment, which can be seen through much of the artworks and traditional clothing made by guna people.

“most of the native american communities in the americas are very, very close to the land and to the mountains and to the sea and to the environment in general. the kuna people are not far from that,” said diwigdi “diwi” valiente, a 28-year-old guna environmental activist and entrepreneur.

while some aspects of guna cultural beliefs regarding the environment may align with the western concept of sustainability, they are not the same given their contrasting origins, usages, and connection to their respective cultures.

“there is supposed to be one prophet – similar to jesus – that taught us how to behave like humans,” valiente said, “we have this religion and way of thinking where we not only have the mother earth, but also the (father) sun.”

delfino davies, museum guide on the guna yala city island of carti sugtupu, explained that the dual aspect of mother and father is one of the most central aspects of guna religion. couplings are present everywhere in guna life and culture; all places and objects are assigned either female or male.

davies describes this coupling pattern that shows up distinctly in molas, the guna’s traditional artwork sewed into a square of cloth, later made into clothing for guna women. molas typically have a geometric element to them and reflect designs from guna legends and culture.

the guna’s distinctive cultural beliefs are closely connected to their beliefs about climate change, or in some cases, lack thereof.

valiente explains that many guna do not have opinions about climate change, simply because they don’t have sufficient access to information on the topic. many people in guna yala also don’t consider issues caused by climate change to be anything more than fluctuations in the weather, though they are seasonal witnesses to the increasing flooding linked to sea level rise as glaciers melt in polar regions.

“here, in the islands: there are months when the islands get completely flooded. you have water up to your ankles. imagine living for a month like that. there (are) people that still believe that’s because of nature itself,” valiente said.

abelardo “tito” nuñez davies, 40, who resides on small pelican island island with his mother and nephews, notes matter-of-factly that his family’s guna island is shrinking. the house, once in the center of the place, now flanks the sea. “what can i say? we’re here because of the grace of god.”

nuñez also explains that although he and his family have had to temporarily relocate to nearby islands during big storms, they haven’t even thought about permanently moving.

valiente sees climate change through a different lens as his people are disproportionately affected by it. “it’s super frustrating. it’s even worse because you try to explain (to) people climate change and they don’t understand it because they are not causing it,” he said.

“panama doesn’t produce anything; we are a country of service. a country that did not contribute to climate change at all.”

panama, as a developing country, does not hold much historical responsibility for the human-induced climate change present on the planet today given the country’s almost nonexistent role in industrialization. panama is slowly becoming more developed but is still largely a country of service, with tourism as one of its biggest industries.

the tourism industry in guna yala has boomed so much in recent years to the point where it now contributes 80% of their income. this large percentage begs the question of how sustainable tourism can be in the long run.

developing tourism options based on the mainland and seeking new directions for the economy are critical, said lópez, the guna environmental lawyer. he explains that the guna congress recently created a mixed enterprise in which people can buy shares for the first time. “before, all the enterprises that the congress had were private, but now they created a transportation company that’s 60% owned by the institution and it’s 40% available… for sale for everyone.” now the island residents will receive benefits from profits of all the boat traffic to the islands, he noted.

however, many guna hold strong ties to their beliefs and are not easily subjected to change from outside influence.

“a lot of people tend to go and sort of pass judgment on them like ‘oh their towns are so dirty and stuff,’” says panamanian architect ricardo arosemena. “but my response to that is: they could keep living exactly like that for a million years and they wouldn’t destroy anything and the way that we live — maybe you don’t see any garbage but we just destroy everything.”

“i mean, we have a culture that survived colonization from the spaniards. we are much more than the caribbean. and that’s something that we have not been able to explore and take advantage of as much as we could,” valiente said.

valiente is different from many other guna. he works in mainland panama with a primary focus in the sustainability industry and he also studied hospitality management and international business tourism at the césar ritz college in switzerland.

currently, valiente works with bodhi hostels, a business whose mission is to “inspire and encourage sustainable ways of living and travel.” valiente and his business partner, allan lim, recently opened up a new hostel location in kalu yala, a growing eco-city in the panamanian jungle.

keeping kalu yala’s mission in mind, lim and valiente incorporate sustainable practices into the creation and maintenance of their new hostel. in addition to using solar energy, “we try to apply all the cleaning practices that are organic: we use vinegar and water to clean,” lim said. the partnership also hires only local panamanians to work in their hostels.

in the words of the town’s ceo and creator, jimmy stice, kalu yala was founded with the intention to “build a new town that proves that civilization can live in a socially and environmentally responsible way.”

kalu yala’s mission is similar to the cultural beliefs of the guna people, in that both are environmentally conscious and structured around a sense of community. the eco-city’s name actually has guna origins, kalu meaning “house of spirits, and yala meaning “land” or “mountain.”

although kalu yala is very modern and the guna culture has been present for centuries, valiente is a bridge between these two communities, being the first guna person to work at kalu yala, but hopefully not the last.

just like in the guna islands, there are clear signs of tourism booming in kalu yala. in addition to the new bodhi hostel, there also are plans to build permanent residences in the eco-city.

“we’ll start introducing the small houses which will allow for people who want to sleep on a real mattress so $150 nights is also inclusive, just like $13 a night is inclusive,” stice said.

in addition to the small houses, kalu yala plans to build larger charleston-style homes and attract permanent residents as well.

“so i think we’ll be back up to 200 people by the end of next year,” with interns and staff, stice said. with guests and hotel tourists, he anticipates a community of about 300. “and then we’ll actually introduce home sales in 2020 or 2021, and we’ll start adding maybe 50 full-time residents a year based on that.”

with all this new construction and development in kalu yala, it will be interesting to see how the community can still incorporate their sustainability values into these plans, and what they will do to potentially offset their emissions.

fifty miles over four days, from the jungle to the caribbean sea. seven hikers left kalu yala, a sustainable eco-town in the making located in the panamanian jungle, and began their trek to the caribbean coast. these hikers soon found out that, at some points, this untested trail did not even exist.

bushwhacking through the jungle was never on the agenda for the seven hikers, interns and directors developing sustainability projects at this experimental community. but they had to improvise to reach their destination safely – or at all.

kalu yala intern carter angel, one of the explorers on the trip, didn’t even know much about hiking. “i think it was the hardest thing i’ve ever done in my entire life and it was as rewarding as it was challenging,” said angel, 31, a kalu yala resident from virginia. the challenges they faced ranged from language barriers and physical injury to a treacherous climb through the mountains that took them in a circle – back to their starting point a day later.

the kalu yala hikers were accompanied by local panamanian guides, “two farmers that knew their way but didn’t know the trails,” angel said. at some points the hikers saw that they were going off-trail but communicating the ideas in spanish to the guides, who were looking for shortcuts with well-trained eyes, was difficult.

nevertheless, the guides proved essential to the group’s survival. “we walked by a wasp nest and (the guide) just took his hand and plugged up the hole so they couldn’t get out,” angel said. the locals’ knowledge of the area and the environment allowed them to “hear and see things that anybody else wouldn’t be able to hear or see,” she said.

marie stringer, co-owner of tres brazos outfitters – an outdoor adventure recreation business at kalu yala – helped plan this trip, and described the trail as the “supreme jungle” meant for adventurous tourists who want to explore the way to the ocean rather than fly by it in a 1.5-hour truck ride. she tracked the hikers as they took this trip and saw that they were walking in the wrong direction at points. but angel and her companions had to circle back, and as a result, fell far behind schedule. “we were in such a time crunch that there were points where we were literally running,” angel said. they had to make it in four days – or their supplies would run out.

in the midst of this adventure-gone-wrong, the travel team diminished from seven to four. “jess, who did the filming got injured, and then jimmy’s shoes fell apart,” angel said. another hiker, bailey, also had to return to kalu yala. “luckily though, it was kind of a blessing in disguise because they gave us their food and some of their clothes,” angel said. carter continued on this trek with kalu yala staffers tara mclaughlin, sasha papich, and wes stiner.

these risks did make this experience unforgettable for the hikers, but so did the rewards. “there’s some really beautiful points on the trail and i think the four of us really really bonded,” angel said, and then she went on explaining how they saw bioluminescent plankton during a boat ride.

although the trip did not go as planned, this is what happens when the trail is untested, “they’ll be doing it again next semester,” said stringer, from tres brazos outfitters.  

speckled just north of the vivacious panamanian coastline is a chain of islands facing the threat of disappearing. these are the san blas islands in the caribbean and their daunting fate is not determined by the doing of their inhabitants, rather by the world around them.

the guna people came to the san blas islands to escape spanish colonization and have remained on these islands, though many live in mainland panama and in colombia as well. with their lifestyle inspired by two deities –– bab dummat (big father) and nan dummat (big mother) –– the guna have their faith rooted in nature around them.

the guna faith honors symbols from the world surrounding this ancient people, including hummingbirds, roots, and other powerful aspects of their environment. religion plays an irreplaceable role in their culture, with its nuances spread throughout day to day life, from daily routines, to health and science, to celebrations of life events.

the san blas islands –– where roughly 30,000 guna reside –– include about 365 islands stretching along northern panama in the caribbean sea. but only some 50 are occupied. many of the islands appear much like those pictured in these images, with sapphire blue water surrounding pale, white beaches dappled with bending palm trees and traditional buildings.

yet these beautiful islands are shrinking dramatically with sea level rise linked to climate change – a shift that sparks confusion among many locals. while the climate around them is changing rapidly, however, their contributions to pollution are minuscule in comparison to their continental neighbors.

the big picture is this: the sea is rising, causing these islands to slip away into the caribbean blue.

alberdo nuñez davies has lived in guna yala for 15 years, helping his family’s tourism business on pelican island, a small san blas island roughly five miles north of the coast of panama. his mother makes traditional molas incorporated in guna clothing and handcrafted beaded jewelry that she sells to tourists.  

when asked about the impact of the island shrinking on their tourism business, nuñez davies said through his translator, “do you see the rocks over there? (we) are trying to build a structure, a seawall and they have to build that so they don’t lose more sand and lose more tourism. and they are applying to fill it with coral reef which is also like really, really sad because they are destroying what gives them food.”

in his 15 years, nuñez davies says that the island has shrunk dramatically –– the building that clings to the edge of the island used to be in the middle of the sandy isle.

he has also seen an increase in storms and high winds, which have caused flooding and life-threatening winds of the island in the past. in response to “does he think the storms will get less intense as the time goes on?” nuñez davies simply said “ojala,” meaning “god willing.”

this deep reliance on the guna faith can be tied to its presence in the everyday life. on the city island of guna yala, locals respond to the sound of a helmet shell being blown for three different reasons: to wake up and call the workers to the mainland, to alert islanders that the fishermen are returning with the day’s catch, and to ward off earthquakes, storms, and high water.

while blowing the shell at a rapid pace, guna medicine man delfino davies states that it means, “all my spirits –– i am working,” in a way to thwart the aforementioned disasters.

“two hundred years ago we are here, in the small islands, but no big earthquake, no storm, because right now when the guna wake up, we blow that (the shell),” davies said.

while guna tradition is alive and well for many communities, the islands are slipping out of view, causing residents to fear that their culture will have the same fate.

“these people are going to move because of climate change,” guna hostel owner and climate change activist diwigdi valiente said. “and it’s not their fault.” valiente recently hosted an event honoring his guna culture through art. at this event, diwigdi said he recognized the gravity of the indigenous people’s situation.

“if you ask me that question, i think it’s a great opportunity for everyone to embrace a culture that’s about to get lost,” diwigdi said.

diwigdi went on to talk about his exhibition of guna artwork by guna children that “tell the stories of our insular countrymen, (being one of) the first displaced by global warming, with the desire to draw the attention of authorities, international organizations and the public in general,” according to a translation of the facebook event.

“all these treaties and philosophical knowledge that has lead us to where we are now – it’s being lost,” aresio valiente lópez, president of the institute of investigation and development of guna yala and lawyer of the general guna congress, said through his son’s translating. lópez attributes this loss to the passing, mostly of old age, of the practicing guna people. he feels that it is up to parents to teach kids to love the land.

this admiration for the environment is visible through the religious reverence toward animals and natural forces.

while the guna environment is facing dramatic changes through pollution and rising sea levels, the indigenous culture is also tainted by globalization –– a contributor to climate change through its widespread promotion of detrimental decisions, such as the use of fossil fuels and improperly handling waste materials.

lópez has an optimistic outlook regarding the fate of the guna people. “we are not escaping from the reality of globalization, and we are still keeping part of our culture alive,” he said.

western aspects have seeped into guna reality, much like how climate change’s impacts have.

only time will tell what the guna people will do in the face of dramatic climate shifts, with fear that this will spark evacuation from the islands, leaving behind centuries of success, stories, and culture while heading to a rapidly westernizing mainland.

“it will take (my generation) to actually solve the problems that my dad and his (generation) had,” diwigdi said. “because his generation was the one that built a bridge between the kuna culture and the panamanian culture, and more integrating the panamanian culture. now that i talk to you, i realize that maybe now that my dad and his generation (has built) that bridge, it’s time for my culture to bring back and try to get back as much as we can from our communities.”

———

about the author: medill student colin boyle can be reached at colinbphoto@u.northwestern.edu and on twitter: @colinbphoto.

on the edge of a sun-drenched caribbean island, a young man in a floral speedo strikes a yoga pose. he stands apart from the throng of beachgoers, gazing off pensively toward the horizon. after his meditation on the warm, white beach, he joins newfound friends for a drink – and finds a long-lost cousin – all within the hour.

diwigdi valiente, 28, crosses between cultures as an environmental advocate and entrepreneur. very few links bind the san blas islands of guna yala – the autonomous province of the indigenous guna people in panama – and kalu yala, the self-described “sustainable town” underway in the tres brazos valley. but valiente is one of them.

in spring 2018, valiente and business partner allan lim opened their second bodhi hostel, their venture in ecotourism, on the lush grounds of kalu yala. the duo studied hospitality at the same césar ritz college campuses in switzerland, missed each other by a year and several thousand miles, then connected through a friend back in panama.

there, they found that valiente’s free spirit blended perfectly with lim’s strategic thinking – right brain met left brain to mold the bodhi business model. though bodhi keeps “enlightenment through travel” and sustainable living at its core, it is, after all, a business.

“if you cannot make a business that can make money, and with that money then you can make good for the people and for the environment, and with that good for the environment and the people you can make more money,” valiente said. “if you are not able to achieve that, then you are not sustainable.”

ringed by palm trees on the san blas islands, he slapped a wood table in the community dining hall of the cabañas niabub for emphasis. his grandparents live on these islands, his father was raised there, and he spent much of his childhood surrounded by the guna “environment of socialism” of sharing.

since he was young, the guna community immersed him in communal sharing, the lifestyle he believes we must have “in order for this planet to survive.” switzerland, however, crystallized environmental sustainability for him – a term unknown to most of the guna community. but living in equilibrium with nature pervades the lifestyle of the people.

sustainability as a force of balance with nature is stitched into the fabric of guna life with the seamlessness of traditional molas. this indigenous people has subsisted off the panamanian and colombian land since before the spanish invasion; hunting, fishing, farming. the modern interpretation of “sustainability,” however, remains distant.

as global sea levels creep higher, the comarca faces one of the growing litany of threats to indigenous island people who will be forced to move because of climate change. a human forced change in climate patterns is neither widely discussed, accepted, nor understood on the islands where people are far removed from the lifestyles causing global warming and sea level rise. resistance to a seemingly inevitable move to the mainland is one among many pressing problems.

“we are facing many issues, and i think it’s going to take a group of people,” valiente said. “people of my age: people in their 30s, above 25 that already (are) working through the same” love of culture but see a change, he said. “i realize that maybe now that my dad and his generation (built) that bridge, it’s time for my culture to bring back and try to get back as much as we can from our communities.”

valiente is a cultural liaison of sorts, in constant flux between “the city” (panama city) where he spent much of his childhood, the islands where his grandparents live, and bodhi hostel locations at kalu yala and el valle de antón. he embodies the bridge that spans from the traditional nose ring of his grandmother to the guna youth to the entrepreneurial outside world.

that bridge bears the weight of an entire community – with an incredible support beam: his father, aresio valiente lópez, a university of panama law professor and lawyer of the general guna congress. there is a glowing filament of pride between the two.

valiente teared up introducing his father’s work as a professor at the university of panama where he is an expert in agricultural law, environmental law and human rights; a writer, poet, dancer, bohemian. “the students have to overcome the teachers,” lópez responded. a parent is a child’s first teacher, he said. one can only hope their children will achieve more than them – like, he says, his son did.

“he’s happy that at least i’m doing something good, something good for the house of all of us,” valiente said in translation. “because it doesn’t matter what language we talk, or what religion we have. we have all the same house, which is in our language napguana, which means mother earth.”

in the guna religion, the great mother (nan dummad) exists alongside the great father (bab dummad). close to the land, the sea and the environment in general, the people believe in nature. they place their faith in the world around them as well as a higher power, but this can prevent a belief in the hard science behind climate change.

the elders and those in charge of the sovereign guna congress, valiente says, are “super wise, super wise – but when you put them next to me, we have seen two different worlds… we can have a different perspective and a different view, but at the same time, these people were trained 30 years, learning about our traditions.”

while he fights to preserve traditional culture, valiente has also embraced a modern way of life. coming out of the closet opened doorways toward self-expression, liberation, and the art he creates today, his business partner said.

“i think a lot of people that are homosexual in our society, they’ve been living in that space for so long,” lim said, “that when you break out, it not only lets you express yourself, but it gives you the power — powers you to do anything. diwigdi has that.”

valiente does have that. the self-described “idea hatcher” has that x-factor that allows him to flow from a professional post as a transfer pricing analyst in panama’s ministry of economy and finances to founding burwigan, an art project teaching guna kids about climate change. he is a change maker, and his tool of choice is tourism.

“when you travel to another place, you not only travel for yourself, you travel to blow your mind,” he said. “tourism is a way to enlighten your life and to see how other people live and to learn from that and to teach what you have.”

the world is an ever-changing transfer of knowledge in his eyes, constantly connecting people with places with new things to learn. today, he is a “climate warrior,” but not until switzerland did he gain social and environmental consciousness. not until he left home did he realize the need to protect his “gem in the middle of the caribbean.”

“when you move people from one place to another, you’re not only moving people: you’re moving experiences, you’re moving culture,” he said. “tourism has a greater impact than we thought and than we realized, because it’s not only us moving, it’s everything that we go with, moving with us.”

amid the tattoo art swirling on his tanned skin – a papaya (his connection with femininity), a rue flower (his grandmother bathed him with it as a child), a heart containing the catalan flag (for his partner) – the bodhi hostel logo (the bodhi tree) makes an appearance on his left forearm. valiente pours himself into everything he does: bodhi was chosen by hostelworld.com as the best hostel in panama within a year of its opening.

he has etched the bodhi tree onto himself as a symbol of enlightenment and a constant reminder of his job, both at the hostel and in the world at large. he lives and works to create environmental change, and to spread the message from traveler to traveler until the world hears about guna yala’s fight for existence.

the yoga pose he struck on the beach was the warrior pose. valiente may cross cultures and defy definition, but one thing we know to be true: he is a climate change warrior.