Weaving the LAN
LAN PAWANKA is the global program of the Pawanka Fund to strengthen indigenous organizations in the seven sociocultural regions of the world. Inspired by the Miskitu language – where Lan means learning and Pawanka growing and strengthening – the program uses the seed metaphor to represent a living process of collective learning, where abilities are born, cultivated and flourish over time.
The program promotes self-determination, sustainability and indigenous governance through an innovative model of intercultural cooperation that places indigenous peoples as protagonists of their own strengthening. LAN PAWANKA combines intercultural learning, technical support and tools based on indigenous knowledge systems, allowing each organization to strengthen its structures, leadership and strategies from its identity and territorial context. Its operational model is organized in three interconnected strategies: Cultivate Strengths, Heart of Knowledge and Share the Fruits.
Cultivating Strengths is the training axis of the program and is developed in four key areas: intergenerational indigenous governance, intercultural communication, strategic planning with identity and financial management and sustainability. This strategy is implemented in three levels:
Basket: an open platform with easily accessible tools, methodologies, guides and practical learning resources.
Sowing: training cohorts and technical support with advanced content for capacity building in different areas.
Harvest: with intensive accompaniment to consolidate sustainable institutional models and strengthen the relationship with donors and global networks.
The Canasto level will serve as the main public space for accessing methodologies, guidelines, and practical resources.
Corazón del Saber preserves and transforms collective learning into strategic guidance and the program’s living memory, while Compartir los Frutos turns that learning into narratives, frameworks of understanding, and collective messages for dialogue with partners and allies, promoting cooperation grounded in critical interculturality.
LAN PAWANKA embodies the principles of trust, reciprocity, solidarity, respect for Mother Earth, and the exchange of knowledge promoted by the Pawanka Fund, helping indigenous peoples strengthen their autonomy, consolidate their organizational sustainability, and lead a new paradigm of cooperation that is more just, horizontal, and culturally relevant.