+
upworthy
Heroes

10 captivating photos show why people are leaving Panama's Guna Yala islands.

Photojournalist Greta Rybus visited two remote island communities off the northeast coast of Panama in April 2016.

Looking out to the Caribbean. All photos from Greta Rybus, used with permission.

She wanted to go because of a weird reason: Many of the people who lived on these islands were making preparations to leave them.


As the island's population has grown, living spaces have become crowded. Worse, climate change is creeping into daily life, affecting everything from rainfall to fish numbers.

Rybus stayed there for a month, spending most of her nights camping on an uninhabited island. During the day, she photographed the islanders, who told her their thoughts and stories.

She visited two small island communities — one called Gardi Subdub and a more remote island called Coetupu. The islands are home to about 900 people each. This is what Rybus saw and what the people there had to say about their changing way of life:

“As children, we learned through songs," said Joanna Robinson, who lives on Coetupu.

A family house in Coetupu.

"These days, there’s only few people in the community who sing the old songs. My Aunt Rosa was told a lot of knowledge when she was young, so now she can teach and sing to the young girls. We sing things like: 'When you grow up, you’ll help your mother, and you’ll see papa when he comes back home from the mountain.'

Naidi Robinson also remembered growing up and learning through song.

"When I was a little girl, I loved to go to our farm on the mainland and learn about how to plant things," she said.

Climbing one of Coetupu's trees.

“I spent many good times planting things, harvesting mangoes. It is a Guna tradition to teach these things," Naidi said. "As children we are taught to plant things, especially boys. Mostly it’s men who plant trees, and we women go to help and pick things. They plant trees to be healthy, to give us food."

Leonidas Perez, a tribal leader from Coetupu, has watched how things have changed: "The sea can't heal the way it used to."

Perez in his home on Coetupu.

Perez is a saila, or tribal congressman, which means he's one of the people responsible for making decisions for the community.

"In the past, they used to catch a lot of fish," said Perez. "Nowadays, there is not much fish. And before, there were a lot of coconuts and bananas. But not now, because of the changes with the sun. And it used to rain like for about a week long. Now, if it rains, it rains only one hour and then it stops.”

"We are alive thanks to the rain," said Joanna.

People have to travel to other islands to get fresh water.

Changing weather patterns have made it harder for the community to get fresh water.

“We have more and more problems with water. It’s getting worse," she said. "We have always gotten water from rivers on the mainland. Now the rivers have dried up because of the lack of rain. Every five days, we have to go to another island to get water from their community water source."

Jugs are used to store and transport the water.

But rain isn't the only thing the islands are struggling with.

“Parts of the island that normally didn’t flood are often covered in water," said Asterio Ramirez, a teacher in Coetupu.

Rising waters are threatening to flood parts of Coetupu.

For an island struggling to get enough drinkable water, rising sea levels must seem like a cruel joke. As sea levels rise, salt water has begun to inundate low-lying areas. This can be a problem, since it means potential flooding, polluted drinking water, and drying plants.

On Coetupu, they're planning to build a bridge to another nearby island.

On Gardi Subdub, they're planning to leave entirely.

"We, the community, have to be prepared for a new life on the mainland," said Ascanio Martinez, a health educator in Gardi Subdub.

The construction site at Nueva Barria.

Gardi Subdub has started building a new community on the mainland, which they're calling the Nueva Barria. So far, there's a community center and a half-completed health center. Soon they'll start building the houses.

Rybus says she wasn't sure whether everyone on Gardi Subdub would move to the new community, or just some.

"Young people, they are going to suffer the consequences," said Guillermo Archibold.

Boys playing on the docks of an island near Gardi Subdub. Traders from the mainland bring goods for sale.

Archibold is an agronomist from Gardi Subdub. "Governments, politicians, big countries should think about the relationship between people, not only indigenous people but all around the world," he said.

"The problem is that as long as the social system doesn’t change, we will continue to have problems. The rich countries only work to [get] more and more money, and they want to dominate. There’s no equality. Poor countries are becoming even poorer. The system has to change. The resources, the wealth that God created, only few are taking advantage of it and only a few are protecting it."

After a month living with and photographing these communities, Rybus headed back home to the United States to share these stories of how climate change is affecting real people.

Rybus has said that she wants to visit more small communities and learn how their lives are changing in response to climate change. She's already done one series of shoots in Senegal, on the west coast of Africa.

"I really hope that people will start to understand climate change as a human rights issue or a human issue, rather than just an environmental issue," says Rybus.

It's going to affect people's health, security, migration, even what foods they eat. But part of what photographers do, says Rybus, is try to show people a different point of view. "You just keep doing your best to share that, those different perspectives."

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

5-star Scottish resort offers whimsical afternoon tea experience with 'naughty sheep'

Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes tea in the garden with adorably rude guests.

Cameron House/Naughty Sheep

Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes a unique sheep encounter.

Remember when "goat yoga" was all the rage? And then "cow cuddling" and "turkey cuddling" made everyone's bucket lists?

Now we can add "nuzzling with naughty sheep" to the mix, but with a fancy Scottish twist.

Less than an hour from Glasgow, Scotland, the Cameron House resort sits on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, looking as if it were plucked straight out of a fairy tale. Sprawling green grounds, gorgeous lake views and a four-story castled mansion greet guests as their "home away from home" (only better), and a perusal of the reviews show guests raving about the 5-star resort's elegance, beauty and exceptional service.

I mean, just look at this place:

drone view of cameron house grounds and lakeCameron House sit on Lake Lochmond in Scotland.Cameron House


Keep ReadingShow less
Innovation

A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

Keep ReadingShow less
@caitlin.the.realtor/TikTok, used with permission

Wait, so 90's fashion is in, but 90's hair is out?

Every era has its own version of what’s attractive. And very rarely does that aesthetic hold power with the following generation. In fact, it often becomes the opposite of cool.

Just think of Elvis. He might have been a universal sex symbol for a time, but it also wasn’t long before his pompadour became passé. Same goes for Paul Newman’s rugged manliness, David Cassidy’s babyface, Tom Selleck’s mustache. Indeed, for everything a season.

Which brings us to the 90s. The age of beach blonde surfer boys (real surfing skills not required, but a plus). Of flannel, lots of flannel, and super chiseled bodies. Let’s not forget this was the dawning of the term “metrosexual,” and also the time period that brought us that Calvin Klein ad with Mark Wahlburg.

How exactly would these guys measure up with the Gen Z kids today?

Keep ReadingShow less

A Eurasian crow.

A family from Denmark has created a touching video montage documenting their unique friendship with a wild Eurasian crow. This crow, affectionately named Russell, has become an honorary member of their household, forming special bonds with each family member, including the pets.

However, the crow's relationship with their son, 2-year-old Otto, is truly extraordinary. “They could spend hours just playing,” Otto’s mother, Laerke Luna, says in a video shared by The Dodo. "When Otto is outside, he will never leave Otto’s side.”

Russell, the free-spirited crow, ventures away from the family's home from time to time, but never for too long. He always comes back and announces his return by tapping on the door, swooping in to lounge on the sofa, or awaiting Otto's return from school atop their roof.

“When we are inside, he will sit inside the window because he wants Otto to go outside with him,” Laerke said.

The family’s relationship with Russell didn’t come out of nowhere. When Russell was a young bird, he had health problems so the family took him and nursed the bird back to health. Eventually, they witnessed his first attempts to fly.

Recently, Russell became friends with another family member, their second child, Hedwig. Although he does get a little annoyed with the bird’s frequent attempts to nab his pacifier.

Even though it’s rare for humans to strike up such a close bond with a crow, according to research, it’s not that surprising. Audubon says that crows are “some of the smartest animals in the world” with an intelligence “on par with chimpanzees.” They are also very social and family-oriented, so no wonder Russell loves Otto and his family.

Crow Named Russell Waits For His Favorite Kid To Get Home From School | The Dodo


Learning

Why you shouldn't throw your dishwasher pod into the bottom of your dishwasher

Dishwashers actually use the dirty water to know how to wash your dishes.

Photos by cottonbro studio and PhotoMIX Ltd. via Canva

Why your detergent shouldn't go in the bottom of the dishwasher

There always seem to be something going on with the pods and powders you're supposed to use in the dishwasher to clean your dishes. Either the pods don't dissolve completely or the powder gets all goopy and hard, never really fully dispensing into the dishwasher.

The inconsistency in product dispensing can leave you wondering if the dishes are even getting cleaned, causing some to toss the detergent pod into the bottom of the dishwasher. It would seem that placing the detergent at the bottom would allow for it to actually reach your dirty dishes. But Melissa Pateras, a domestic expert, explains that doing it that way isn't doing what you think it's doing.

Pateras actually breaks down exactly how dishwashers work to clean your dishes while explaining why putting the detergent on the bottom is ineffective.

Keep ReadingShow less