Punishment for Children in Embera village

When we walked up, it was easy to guess! I asked if this contraption is for punishment. I don’t know the history of public humiliation but it goes back to at least crucifixion and is carried out globally, including United States, such as through media, or parading handcuffed suspects with orange wearing body armor and cuffs.

Diane Edrington graciously demonstrates.

I’ve asked in several Embera villages if there is a crime problem, or drug and alcohol problem. The villages all feel safe to me. Safer than any major US city by far, or even small cities like Portland where crime is accepted. You can normally quickly tell if a community has a serious drug or alcohol problem. The Ebera villages I have been to seem mostly clean of that, though they say some young people do so recreationally.

I am in the Ebera village by Sambu literally writing this by flashlight. (Turns out I still look at keyboard sometimes, lol.) Am outside and it’s pitch black. Most of the places are dark but some have lights on. They are singing very loudly a couple hundred yards from here. I want to go but must wait on Embera man to come back here and fetch me. If I leave, I might never see him again, lol.