Helen
Yaneth Cabeza Riascos
Traditional Master, Entrepreneur and Cultural Manager
A leader, cultural manager, and wise elder born in Cali with deep roots in the Afro-Colombian heritage of Tumaco and Barbacoas, she carries an ancestral wisdom inherited directly from her forebears and is a proud mother of three daughters. She combines her family legacy with an outstanding professional career in the preservation of intangible heritage, traditional alchemy, and folkloric research in the Nariño Pacific region. Founder and manager of La Casa del Curao de Helen (since 2015), she successfully leads sustainable social development models with a focus on gender equality and territorial peace, positioning the richness of her region nationally and internationally. Currently, she is focusing her global efforts on developing export plans for her ancestral beverages. Her voice and knowledge have actively represented the Pacific region in the most influential political, commercial, and diplomatic arenas, uniting tradition, business acumen, and socioeconomic development.
skills and knowledge
Traditional Master, Entrepreneur and Cultural Manager
Alchemy and Ancestral Knowledge
A transformative teacher and expert on the Chaguí River. She possesses profound expertise in ancestral botany and the artisanal preparation of traditional beverages (viche, curao, creams) with a medicinal, identity-based, and spiritual focus (Born with gifts), guiding these processes towards standardization and export potential.
Leadership, Business and Export
Structuring and managing productive projects, international marketing, and inter-institutional alliances for the traditional beverage value chain. Inspirational leadership focused on empowering women who are bearers of tradition and on local sustainable development.
Cultural Research
Research and active dissemination of the living traditions of Afro-descendant communities. Focus on the preservation of historical memory, sustainable agricultural practices, and the safeguarding of traditional Pacific cuisines and knowledge.
How did the curao house come about?
In 2015, I found myself going through one of the most complex and challenging periods of my personal and financial life. Amidst a marital separation and a profound financial crisis, uncertainty threatened my stability and that of my home. However, my three daughters were always the main source of my strength. Driven by an unwavering determination to guarantee their well-being, education, and a dignified future, I decided to transform the pain and hardship into a productive life project. It was in this context of adversity that La Casa del Curao de Helen was born.
Initially, the business journey was marked by significant social barriers and cultural prejudices. The product faced widespread rejection in various sectors, where it was underestimated and disparagingly labeled as "a liquor for poor people." Far from discouraging me, this resistance became my greatest personal and professional challenge. I decided to defy the stigma and demonstrate that the traditional beverages of the Pacific coast were not a marginal product, but a living expression of dignity, heritage, and artisanal excellence.
I set out to elevate viche and its derivatives to a new level of sophistication and recognition. I began innovating in traditional alchemy, perfecting the preparations, refining the presentation, and highlighting its medicinal and spiritual properties. My central purpose was to educate and inspire new generations, showing young people how our ancestors survived and preserved the identity of the territory through this elixir. By invoking our roots and restoring the respect and value that our "liquid gold" deserves, La Casa del Curao de Helen went from being a response to an economic need to becoming a symbol of cultural resistance, female empowerment, and international projection of the Colombian Pacific.