Embera Puru

For our week of classes on Redeeming Cultural Arts / Missions, our classroom was in the village of Embera Puru.  This is one of the 7 native tribes to Panama.  It was my responsibility to cook breakfast every morning, along with Brittany, the girl in the third picture also carrying a pot.  We had to take the pots down to the river to wash them with sand and Ajax.  They were so heavy that I incorporated some of the skills I picked up in Africa - it was so much easier to carry it on my head.  In the first picture Luke is helping us with breakfast cooking over the open fire - yes, those are hot dogs.  The second picture was the cooking house and sleeping area for most of us.  Air mattresses and mosquito nets. 

It was a great week.  I got a lot out of the teaching - wow.  Very impacting.  Perspectives on arts, redeeming, valuing cultures as part of God's creation, and just enjoying art for what it is.  We discussed all areas of the arts - music, drama, visual, literary arts, dance, story, etc.  It was a great setting as the people of Embera Puru welcomed us and we enjoyed their music, their arts, dance, body painting.  It was a perfect place to apply much of what we learned.  I enjoyed our time there.  Luke will probably post about our hike to a second village, eating monkey meat, and instead of hiking back, floating down the river for 2 hours. 

Thanks for your prayers!