Costa Rica
Founded in 2013 | Located in Talamanca (BriBri), Chirripó & Ujarras (Cabécar), and La Casona (Ngäbe-Buglé) | 225+ Youth Served Weekly
In partnership with Proyecto Jirondai, LEAF International Costa Rica serves in three indigenous territories. These programs were created by the culture keepers. Located on Alto Chirripo, in Talamanca, and in La Casona, each program supports the preservation and revitalization of ancient music, art, medicine, and language traditions in each territory.
The culture and language of the First Nations in Costa Rica have been marginalized: 2+ generations haven’t been learning their native traditions and ways of being. Ninety percent of the Americas' linguistic diversity has already vanished or is actively disappearing. At this rate, UNESCO predicts that nearly all Indigenous languages could be lost within this century.
Proyecto Jirondai rescues and disseminates ancestral indigenous songs through their fusion with contemporary music, visual art, and multimedia. They carry out artistic or cultural training activities that promote spaces for coexistence through workshops or similar activities in artistic or cultural areas (dance, theater, visual arts, crafts, cultivation techniques, gastronomy, among other possibilities), linked to the socio-cultural dynamics of the community where they will be developed.
Meet The Culture Keepers
Alexis Rodriguez learned music and Ngäbe traditions from his mother, who lived near the frontier. While he speaks Spanish, he thinks in Ngäbe-Buglé. For more than 20 years, Alexis has been a culture keeper teaching thousands of youth traditional Ngäbe-Buglé music, rhythms, chants, and the language itself. Alexis has authored 3 books that are used in schools in southern Costa Rica & Northern Panama to teach youth the Ngabe language & history.
Alexis
Cabécar culture keeper Luis Salazar is a teacher, healer, medicine man, agriculturist, musician, & community leader. Luis teaches kids in his community, high on the Chirripó Mountain, and he travels across the country to teach oral traditions & medicine and ancient chants to the Cabécar kids of Ujarras in the South Pacific.
Luis S
Founder of Proyecto Jirondai, Luis Porras uses ancient traditions and the voices of the elders with contemporary music to bring awareness to indigenous culture and the voices of marginalized people. He also uses visuals to explain the songs to those who don’t speak their indigenous languages.
Luis P
“We started our school underneath roped poles covered with garbage bags. But the students still came, and with the help of allies and hard work we were able to build the beautiful school you see now. Yet this is just the beginning…As every day the Ngäbe people are losing their language and traditions. It is my life work to continue these traditions and find new ways to expand this work. Like our unique culture and way of life is the most important thing we can ever hope to offer the world.”