ISBERYALA, Panama (AP) 鈥 Hammocks began appearing this week in the doorways of 300 new houses built in what was previously a yucca field along Panama鈥檚 Caribbean coast for families from the country's first low-lying island evacuated due to rising sea levels.
Indigenous Guna families from the island of Gardi Sugdub ferried stoves, gas cylinders, mattresses and other belongings first in boats and then in trucks to the new community of Isberyala.
They quickly saw some differences.
鈥淗ere it鈥檚 cooler," said 73-year-old Augusto Walter, hanging his hammock on Wednesday in the tidy two-bedroom house with a backyard. 鈥淭here (on the island) at this time of day, it鈥檚 an oven.鈥
He was waiting for his wife who had stayed a bit longer on the island to prepare food. They will share the government-constructed house with three other family members.
Most of Gardi Sugdub鈥檚 families had moved or were in the process of moving, but Isberyala鈥檚 freshly paved and painted streets named after historic Guna leaders were still largely empty.
The Indigenous community surrounded by jungle is about a 30-minute walk from the port where a few more minutes aboard a boat brings them to their former homes. Government officials said they expected everyone to be moved in by Thursday.
However, that doesn鈥檛 mean everyone is leaving the island. Seven or eight families numbering about 200 people have chosen to stay for now. Workers were even building a two-story house on the island Wednesday.
Among those staying was Augencio Arango a 49-year-old boat motor mechanic.
鈥淚 prefer to be here (on the island), it鈥檚 more relaxing,鈥 Arango said. His mother, brother and grandmother moved to Isberyala.
鈥淗onestly, I don鈥檛 know why the people want to live there,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like living in the city, locked up and you can鈥檛 leave and the houses are small.鈥
He didn鈥檛 think was responsible for the move, but rather decisions made by people. 鈥淢an is who harms nature,鈥 Arango said. 鈥淣ow they want to cut down all the trees to build houses on solid ground.鈥
Tiny Gardi Sugdub is one of about 50 populated islands in the archipelago of the Guna Yala territory.
Every year, especially when the strong winds whip up the sea in November and December, water fills the streets and enters the homes. Climate change isn鈥檛 only leading to a rise in sea levels, but it鈥檚 also warming oceans and thereby powering stronger storms.
The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are only the first of 63 communities along Panama鈥檚 Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades.
Ernesto L贸pez, 69, moved Tuesday with his wife Digna. Two more relatives were expected soon.
鈥淲e feel like we鈥檙e more comfortable here, there鈥檚 more space,鈥 L贸pez said, sitting on his own hammock Wednesday. 鈥淥n Gardi Sugdub we were really squeezed in houses with a lot people. We didn鈥檛 fit anymore and the sea was coming in every year.鈥
Like most of the families who had moved in, L贸pez, a Guna leader, and his wife still didn鈥檛 have electricity or water. The government said electricity was available in the community but families had to set up their own accounts. They made do their first night with a battery-powered lantern and the gas burners they brought from the island.
Mangos, unripened bananas and sugar cane that L贸pez had brought that morning from his farm plot some two hours away lay in a pile on the house鈥檚 floor. Like most families, they didn鈥檛 plan to completely abandon the island where generations had spent their entire lives.
鈥淥nce in a while we are going to cross to the island,鈥 L贸pez said.
Late in the day, many of Isberyala鈥檚 new residents did just that because their new homes didn鈥檛 yet have electricity.
Betsaira Brenes, 19, moved with her mother, grandmother and an aunt Wednesday. Carrying two gallons of water into the house that they brought from the island, she said it would be enough space for their family after living on the crowded island.
They planned to continue straddling between mainland and island too, she said. 鈥淭he good thing in all of this is that now we have a new house and the other one where the other aunts stayed.鈥
