The Pajaro Jai Foundation     Espanol

The mission of the Pajaro Jai Foundation is to encourage the self-sufficiency of indigenous societies by finding ways to eliminate the dependencies that are often a consequence of efforts to aid these societies. Working with indigenous groups, and public and private organizations and NGOs, the Foundation aims, first to understand the root causes of failures in specific programs, and then to explore and invent modifications and/or alternative options designed to emphasize the development of self-sufficient individuals in healthy self-sufficient societies. Entrepreneurship, ownership, consequence, and responsibility are underscored in projects designed to respect the natural environment as well.

A Young Woman from Manane
The Pajaro Jai Foundation believes that these people can speak eloquently for themselves

The Means

A primary tool of the PJF is the ocean cruising yacht Pajaro Jai (Enchanted Bird) built by inhabitants of the Darien Rainforest in Panama. The yacht is an elegant and exotic 92 foot ketch featuring the beautiful materials and workmanship of the region. With an on-deck sailing capacity of more than 100 guests and a main cabin designed for lectures, concerts, and discussions, the Pajaro Jai was designed for its mission from the keel up. The ship brought prosperity and joy to its builders, and serves as a great demonstration of their capacities.  It provides a very visible platform for expressing the interests of the indigenous peoples and it will support the efforts of environmental organizations and other groups with international interests as well

Its unique power and influence arise, not from a seat of political or economic power, but rather from the earth itself, from the hopes and dreams of some of the least powerful among us who struggled for fifteen years to create the yacht and who consider it their gift to the world. Its origins, coupled with its physical beauty and the purity of its mission make for a stunning entry into any city on earth, especially since the Pajaro Jai is crewed by the natives themselves in their native dress.

The Execution

Cruising from city to city, from continent to continent, in remote regions and in the power centers of the world, the Pajaro Jai will harness its unique image to draw together diverse players in the chess game of international aid. It will provide a venue where ideas can be exchanged and plans crafted to achieve deeper, more effective long-term results.

On its world odyssey it will act as the voice of indigenous peoples. In Washington, New York, London, Barcelona, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Rome, Athens, Hong Kong, Tokyo, San Francisco, etc. the crew will broadcast the following message:

We indigenous peoples are grateful for the financial and other aid proffered by people of conscience. We believe, however, that much of this aid is not achieving the desired positive net effect on our societies. In many cases it is building a culture of dependence and a psychology of victimhood which undermines our capacity to create a healthy future for our progeny.

In order to understand the root causes of this failure, we continue to work with leaders of indigenous societies everywhere to compare notes, to understand why successful programs work, and to understand why others fall short.

In the hope that we can improve the effectiveness of aid to indigenous and impoverished societies everywhere, we offer the following suggestions:

The list grows out of the ongoing discussions

In each locale, local and international foundations, government agencies, experts in the field, and local entrepreneurs will come together on the Pajaro Jai to discuss the weaknesses and strengths of existing local aid and conservation programs. A professional facilitator will be employed as needed to moderate these discussions and help make them as fruitful as possible.

The Foundation will use its influence to support demonstrably effective existing efforts. At the same time it will help develop new options embodying the goals of the foundation. These might involve the introduction of new technologies, the creation of new employment opportunities, the careful introduction of financial incentives, or any number of other solutions depending on the nature of the local problems and opportunities, but all aiming, not for short-term flash, but for long-term depth.

Education and public relations will be important components of these proposed options, but the PJF believes that to be truly effective and self-propelling, these programs must engage the local populations in ways that make it both natural and desirable for them to change their course of action because it makes sense from their perspective, that is, these options need to be more attractive than those currently available to them.

Thus self-interest, that universal motivator – and not altruism - will be the most important ingredient in each option proposed by the PJF.

For example, the PJF will invite US AID, The Peace Corps, and local telecommunications companies aboard the Pajaro Jai to support their existing initiatives, yet also ask them to participate in a project to help remote villages obtain the necessary satellite communication equipment and the knowledge to utilize the Worldwide Web. The goal: to sell crafts and services directly from their villages without the intervention of the layers of middlemen that currently reap the lion’s share in such transactions.

The PJF will push local-led ecotourism projects which demand profitability yet demonstrate that self-interest and the profit motive are not inevitably destructive of environmental health. Once again, altruism may supply the spark but self-interest must be the fuel for the long haul.

And always present on the Pajaro Jai, the amplified voice of indigenous society to provide feedback and perspective.

We will seek to create alliances with the 600 plus indigenous groups
defined by the United Nations Decade of Indigenous Culture.