Patsy’s Daughters Moved Abroad Sistah Yaya / Soul Tribe Heals HARNESSING THE SPIRIT OF YUCATÁN TO BRING HEALING

To Everyone

When Chicago natives

Ebony Duff and Tonya

Cummings arrived from Virginia to Mérida, they knew that moving abroad required packing more than a toothbrush. Your mind, body, and soul all come along for the ride. After closing their cakes business in 2021 and suffering all the pain that came with such a loss and disappointment, they came to Mexico for healing.

And that’s how Patsy’s Daughters Moved Abroad, named for their late mother, was born. Along with traditional relocation services, they collaborate with a tarot reader and an astrologer and host tours that “share the riches of the Yucatán culture.”

So despite what reason a client has for moving to Yucatán — and there are many — relocating here is also an opportunity to “release the old beliefs that no longer serve the beautiful being you want to become.”

Their journey here was serendipitous.

After seeing Sistah Yaya on TV, the daughters tracked her down after doctors were unable to prevent Ebony’s 6-year-old daughter’s frequent daily seizures. Sistah Yaya stopped the seizures with her own Afro-Caribbean-centered herbal remedies and therapies. She also recommended a move to Yucatán, where she was running Soul Tribe Heals.

Sistah Yaya, Ebony, and Tonya have big smiles that go with their easy, infectious laughter — we barely made it through their photo shoot for this story without cracking up along with them.

Sistah Yaya describes herself as an indigenous medicine woman, herbalist, oracle, spiritual medium, and doula, who provides expert guidance through pregnancy and childbirth.

“I know the power of what I do. I’ve had this gift since I’ve been 4 years old,” says Sistah Yaya.

Previously in New Orleans before being forced out by Hurricane Ida, Soul Tribe Heals is based in greater Progreso, helping participants find themselves and even con- nect with their ancestors. And have fun. A recent beach gathering attracted 30 guests.

All three agreed that moving to Yucatán has brought them peace in their lives. “It feels like home. It’s very calming. It’s very mothering,” says Sistah Yaya. ”It kind of puts her arms around you and holds you in.”

Their move here coincides with the Blaxit social movement among Blacks from the United States who are discovering other countries in which they might fare better.

“There is such an energy of oppression that we live through daily,” says Sistah Yaya, recalling her life in the United States. Here, they see smiles when they walk down the street.

“In Yucatán, they see you as a human,” says Ebony. “Yeah, they don’t see you as a color. They see us as people, they see us. They love our children. They love to embrace them, they embrace us.” patsysdaughtersmovedabroad.com and soultribeheals.com

Olga Moguel Míriam Peraza Rivero

Colleagues with community consciousness

Míriam Peraza Rivero, of Manjar Blanco, and Olga Moguel Pereyra, of Amaro, are entrepreneurs who built their successful restaurants from the ground up.

“You need to be creative and resilient to have a business of your own,” says Olga. Míriam laughs and shakes her head. “You bet, and I learned all about that at a young age.”

Míriam had just turned 4 when she moved from provincial Valladolid to live in Mérida with her grandmother, an acclaimed cook. “When I pulled on her apron strings, she’d hoist me up to where I could smell and taste the fragrant spices she used in her recipes.”

The young girl asked every question she could think of, and eventually gained an encyclopedic knowledge about the ingredients found in regional dishes, and the medicinal properties of local plants.

Decades later, two of her sons studied culinary arts. And once they graduated, Míriam and the boys established their restaurant across from Mérida’s Santa Ana market. As a tribute to the woman who nurtured Míriam’s passion, they called their new enterprise, “Manjar Blanco,” the name of her grandmother’s signature dessert.

Mexico and Argentina, and she did not spend all of her formative years in Mérida. She traveled back and forth and, during one of her stays in Yucatán, she wondered why there weren’t more clubs with live music downtown. A friend suggested that she start her own place. The idea buzzed around in her brain until she finally did so in 1993. “Like my colleague, Míriam, I wanted to name my restaurant for someone I admired, Dr. Jesús Amaro Gamboa. He was rector of the UADY in 1936 where he championed students’ rights. Dr. Amaro was a master of diverse pursuits, such as biology, literature, and philosophy. It was an honor to know him.”

Nowadays, Amaro ranks as a favorite spot to enjoy a few drinks or a meal al fresco and listen to trova — the music genre that has flourished in Yucatán since the 1890s.

Because both women work right in the heart of the city, they say hey have a true perspective on all its potential and its challenges.

“Understandably many people fall in love with Mérida and look for a way to live here. A lot of them seem to believe that starting their own business in such a magical place must be relatively easy,” says Míriam, “but overcrowding and excessive noise in the downtown core are issues that must be resolved before more growth is viable.”

On the other hand, they feel there is great potential for entrepreneurs in the state’s smaller cities. Stimulating investment in these places would promote more employment opportunities, and more services would be available to the citizens. For the investor, creating a business in a new place would provide a chance to have both a satisfying lifestyle and work environment.

“Of course, in a different locale or in a new job, success is dependent on many variables. But you need to keep chopping onions,” says Míriam. Olga looks puzzled by the reference, so Míriam explains, “When you chop a lot of onions they make you cry. But you keep on chopping because you know they’ll wake up the flavor of the dish you’re making. And the same is true when you need to resolve an issue that prevents you from creating the life you want, you need to stay consistent, work like crazy, and keep on chopping onions!” 

BY JOANNA van der GRACHT de ROSADO PHOTO LEE STEELE