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About Piriatí Emberá

Piriatí Emberá is an indigenous Emberá community of about 165 homes

and 780 inhabitants. It is located in the district of Tortí along the Pan

American highway in East Panama province. Piriatí Emberá is a farming

and artisan community. Families produce crops like rice, plantains, yucca,

and corn for their own consumption as well as to sell to intermediaries.

Many women and some men sell traditional artisan crafts as well. Working
in collaboration with Business and Microfinance Brigades, Piriatí Emberá
was able to establish their own community bank in December of 2013.
Piriatí Emberá is one of Global Brigades' Holistic Communities, with
ongoing projects and collaboration with Medical, Dental, and
Environmental Brigades.

Piriatí Emberá's Economic Challenge

Community members in Piriati Embera do not have access to financial

resources within the community. In order to gain access, members must
travel to Tortí, a 30-minute bus ride, however not all community members can become members of the savings and loan cooperative. Cooperatives require monthly membership fees, and coupled with the cost of travel and
the lack of land titles as an indigenous community, less than 5% of community members are part of the cooperative, and 100% of the community has never accessed a loan from Tortí. Larger financial institutions, which are inaccessible due to distance and cost, do not approve loans to community members without a fixed income, making it very difficult for local microenterprises to grow and thrive. Piriatí Emberá has been trying to open a cooperative in the community through the governmental organization IPACOOP, though its unreliability and underresourced staff has led to Piriatí Emberá waiting for almost a year.

Microfinance in Piriatí Emberá

Through Global Brigades Business and Microfinance initiatives, Piriatí has established their first community bank in December 2013. With the opening of the community bank, community members have access to credit for the first time, and access to a savings account for the first time. Further, with access to savings, families for the first time can have preparation for the future, rather than hiding extra money in their beds, or not saving at all.

One of the cornerstones for the success of future projects is the sustainable nature of a community bank: investments are approved through loans granted to community projects; interest is then paid back on the loans—both large and small—and 100% of profits stay in the community, enabling the funding of more loans for more projects in the community. Capitalization of the community bank is directly linked to the development of Piriatí Emberá; the growth and success of their community bank means growth and success for the community.

Visit Other Programs in Piriatí Emberá

Global Brigades strives to implement a model of Holistic Development in communities through a system of collectively implementing health, economic, and education initiatives to strategically meet a community's development goals. Learn more about the other programs being implemented in Piriatí Emberá:

BusinessDental Environmental Human Rights Medical Public Health