New House for Cesareo

New House and Ceremonial Lodge for Cesareo Piaguaje 

This GoFundMe campaign has been created to help Secoya traditional elder and master healer, don Cesareo Piaguaje, built a modest new house next to his son Cesar’s home in Sewaya village, Sucumbios Province, Amazonian Ecuador. 


A mystical photo taken by Manuel Pallares of Cesareo performing a healing.

Don Cesareos' wife Joaquina Payaguaje passed away last month at over 100 years of age, and he can’t live alone now. Their home was removed from the village in the jungle. The family has asked us to collaborate in raising funds to help this great-hearted elder build a new home next to his sons and grandchildren's homestead. 

Many of us who have been fortunate to visit the Secoya community in Ecuador and have met don Cesareo can never forget him! Always making jokes and so ready to give his best to heal his patients with absolute love and integrity! Don Cesareo Piaguaje is a great man among men, a great and true friend who has been a solid ally to so many people from near and from far.

Here healing Julian Keenan Grow's hurting leg.

Now our time has come to contribute a little to help Cesareo fulfill his modest and necessary dream of having a small house to live in and a new ceremonial lodge for him to continue his age old healing art.

The funds will be used to build a small one-story, one-room house for don Cesareo to live close to his son and grandchildren who will care for him. So he can have the needed privacy an aged shaman master needs. Also to built him a bathroom and install flushing water and sink and shower, as well as a simple kitchen area, with stove and burner.

We also want to build a small ceremonial lodge near his new house so he can continue his healing activities and ceremony of yagé, that brings him great vitality and is a tremendous service to others. His dream and passion are to continue his healing practice while great spirit still gives him life. For being over 100 he is vital and filled with energy and is even a more accomplished and skilled healer than ever!

Here is the last lodge we built for him some years ago, this one will be the same but a tad smaller.  

Leonell his disciple healing Cesareo, they help each other!


We are hoping to raise these funds as soon as possible so we can get his home and ceremonial lodge built, and he can start his healing practice again. As soon as we have raised the funds we will begin the work. His house and ceremonial lodge will be built by a combined effort of community assistance, overseen by his son Cesar, and allies such as Leonell Mendoza, Benjamin Mamallacta, compadre Juan Pilco and other friends who want to help.

Here is Cesar, his son,  a great painter and friend.

For me personally to be able to help my great friend, mentor and spiritual father in any way is a great joy. I invite everyone who has met don Cesareo, written about in my book, "Rainforest Medicine ~ Preserving Indigenous Science and Biological Diversity in the Upper Amazon," and has been moved by him to join us in making this a reality! All of us together we can make this happen, like a summer breeze, that Cesareo is!

Cesareo and Jonathon diehard comrades since 1995

Cesareo in the new wheel chair we brought him last year. His health for his age is great, his knees though are week and won't hold up his body, but he's strong as a bull in more ways than one!

Here's Cesareo with Benjamin Mamallacta, photo taken early June 2018


Deeply felt gratitude for your solidarity!

Words cannot express the deeply felt joy and gratitude, that as organizers of this small but far reaching and powerful campaign, we have for being able to help such a great man as Cesareo, who selflessley and so willingly helps so many.

Thank you with deep and everlasting sincerity for any solidarity you can grant towards this campaign.

Yours truly,

Cesar Piaguaje - Cesareo's son
Jonathon Miller Weisberger - Author of Rainforest Medicine, friend of Cesareo
Martijn Schirp - High Existence group, friend of Cesareo
Julian Keenan Grow - Acupuncturist NYC, friend of Cesareo
Nathan Horowitz - Translator of Yagé Drinker, friend of Cesareo
Claudia Langguth - Friend of Cesareo
Leonell Mendoza - Cesareo's disciple 
Benjamin Mamallacta - Kichwa ethnobotanist and friend of Cesareo