Traditionally, indigenous families wake up together at dawn to drink guayusa. They sit around the communal fire drinking gourds full of guayusa until sunrise. During this time, the village elders teach the youth about ancestral myths, hunting techniques and social values. The guayusa ritual continues to be a cornerstone of Kichwa culture, a practice that brings the family and community together around the simple experience of drinking tea.

Waykana Amazonian Guayusa is sourced from small family farms in rural indigenous communities. These communities have often not felt the benefits of economic growth and have been left behind. It was with the vision to positively impact these communities that Waykana was founded, and it is their mission to address the social problems in these communities and help them use the miracle leaf that is Guayusa to benefit them.

• By giving their producers the role of protagonists in the diffusion of Guayusa they keep the communities that produce Guayusa as those who benefit when you buy and Waykana Product.
• Listening to the issues and challenges these communities face is a key part of their work, and through this dialog they are able to develop business practices and social programs that bring about a positive change in these communities.
• Their social impact is one of the metrics that they evaluate their success as a social enterprise on. By making social impact not a side project but a central pillar to how they operate they want to empower these communities.