A Look at the Guaymi Indians of Panama

Around the world there are thousands of different people groups, some of them are deep in the jungle and have never had contact with the outside world. From the Americas to Africa, and throughout Asia they live in their untouched cultures. In Panama there is a tribe called the Guaymi, they are also known as the Gnobe Bugle. They were once a warrior tribe that over time ha s calmed down into peaceful natives who live not only deep in the jungles, but have also integrated into many parts of the Panamanian culture.

I have several friends who are Guaymi Indians. They are a very simplistic people and don't need much to live. Their diet consists mainly of rice, beans, and boiled bananas. Stricken by poverty they often are forced to go without food and every year they fight to survive what is called the "Hungry Month." That is a certain month of the year where because of climate changes and other factors, the Guaymi are only able to eat one small meal a day. Imagine how that must be! It is a very difficult life.

I have had the privilege of spending a lot of time in their villages and would like to share my experience of one weekend which I spent with them. It was during the rainy season of Panama, which is usually from about April to November. My team was invited to a village called Lechusa by a local pastor there. After a four hour trip we arrived in what I think to be a classic tribal village. The houses were all made from sticks with grass roofs. However this village was too poor to have beds, so we slept on wooden boards at night.

What amazed me the most about these people was their generosity. They had barely anything to eat in the village and yet they would come to us every meal and cook for us. They never asked us for anything in return. They had hearts filled with giving more than most people who have more than enough. I was amazed.

What we did during those days will always touch my heart. We were guided through the mountainous jungles from village to village each day. Hours of walking in the mud and rain and seeing the same sight every time. Because we are missionaries, we are often called upon to help others in several different ways. This time we were not asked for anything more than prayer. Each hut we were taken to had someone sick inside.

One woman was so sick that she couldn't even get out of bed. Yet there were no doctors who would come to help her, nobody cared. She was all alone in the middle of the jungles of Panama. She couldn't speak Spanish so we had to have a translator. We didn't have any doctors on our team at the time so there was nothing medically we could do for her. However we encouraged her and prayed for her.

The life expectancy that the Guaymi Indians have because of sickness and malnutrition is around fifty years old. That is what the local people tell me, and it's true. From all the times I have gone through those mountains I have rarely encountered someone who was older than about that age.

That weekend we met a lot of new people, most of them desperately in need. There are thousands of women whose husbands have abandoned them for lack of money and food. It is not uncommon to walk into a hut and find a woman with several children that are not her own. One such house I went to I met an older woman who had found a baby outside her door a couple of mornings before we arrived. Many of them ask if we can please take the babies and give them care because they don't have the resources. However we don't have the resources yet either one day we hope to.

After a brief couple of days it was time to leave. Our eyes were opened much wider in that time. Since then I have gone back several times and done the same thing. I have made friends with several of the Indians there as I said before. We have been able to feed some, clothe others, and encourage many more. I love the Guaymi Indians they are wonderful, generous people. They need help though, and let me say that if there is anyone who would like to help to feel free to contact me. If not just know that there is a wonderful people group in the middle of the Panamanian jungle who sleep on boards and eat boiled bananas. They are the Ngobe Bugle, a people not yet forgotten, and I hope they never will be.