I’m Helga. Founder of biu biu.
Bridge builder between worlds.
I grew up in Heidelberg, Germany, a city shaped by poetry and philosophy. In a family where politics was a way of standing in the world.
That is the foundation of everything biu biu stands for.
I have always been driven by curiosity. Wandering between worlds.
I speak three languages. I hold dual master’s degrees from two countries. For over 15 years I worked at the intersection of technology, culture and people as a Digital Marketing Director across EMEA markets, collaborating with multinational corporations and GAFAM companies, leading teams across borders and continents. LinkedIn
And at some point, that world wasn’t for me anymore. So many dreams got buried in the hustle. I felt there was something else I was here for.
I lived in several countries and travelled many. Six years ago I traveled to Putumayo for the first time.
To the south of Colombia, where the Andean meets the Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions of the world, home of different ancient cultures.
I felt home inmediately, and reconnected with parts of myself I had been silencing for years. The regions holds so many medicines: The forest, animals, plants, ancient cultures, wisdom, art & craft, the mystic, the stories.
I met people who live with a connection that we in the West have slowly forgotten. I learned what it truly means to listen, to silence, to a plant, to a person, to a culture that holds wisdom we have no name for.
And I discovered my gift.
Translation.
Not only between languages. Between worlds. Between people who believe they have nothing in common and then create something together that neither could have created alone.That is biu biu.
In 2022 I founded biu biu bringing Andean-Amazonian Art & Craft to Europe, born from a desire to support cultural heritage, territory preservation/expansion, language preservation/restoration.
read more on biu biu biutiful art & craft.
I don’t visit the jungle. I partly live there.
This is what makes biu biu different from everything else you will find.
I know the people. Their names. Their families. Their struggles. Their dreams. I hike the jungle myself whenever I can. I know where the medicine is held with integrity and where it has become a product. Continuosly exploring and learning.
Because yes, capitalism has arrived in the jungle too.
There are Western retreat centers that charge European prices while paying local people nothing. There are facilitators who have learned the aesthetics of this work without carrying its responsibility.
I have watched this happen. From the inside.
And it is exactly why biu biu exists. Far too often, the Amazon is exploited for personal gain, and we strive to oppose that.
What drives me and what am I passionate about:
I am not here to market the Amazon.
I am here because I believe that genuine cultural exchange is possible. One that is built on reciprocity. On respect. On the desire to truly understand and create, not to consume.
South America and Europe share a complex history. Colonialism leaves traces, in structures, in relationships, in the way knowledge and resources flow across borders.
I stand for two cultures truly meeting each other.
In practice this means: We work closely with local communities, artists, entrepreneurs and experienced shamans. We give back what we receive. We build relationships, not transactions.
The medicine belongs to the forest.
And that also means for me that I spend large periods exploring the forest to truly know the people and culture.
What I bring to Europe is the connection. The understanding. The encounter.
Who I work with:
I work with people who want to immerse into this biodiverse region and discover all its medicines in private group settings with or without plant medicines.
I work with coaches, therapists, facilitators, educators, people who want to offer their group something real. I have experience and care about what a group needs so the medicine can really work with you. Therapeutic support is not optional for me. It is essential. What opens in the jungle needs a safe container.
I do not support the raising trend of Ayahuasca turism and commercialization. I love to accompany you to get to know or deepen your studies with the plant and culture.
I adapt every program to the group. More forest. More music. More culture. More plant knowledge. More history. More silence. Continuously deepening my relationship with the territory.
Because transformation is not only what happens in ceremony. It is what happens in the body. In the morning. On the trail. While weaving. Around the table. After the journey. At home.
My father dedicated his life to social justice and taught me that engagement is not a choice.
That we all carry responsibility for the world we leave behind. For the relationships we enter. How we are nature. For the way we treat people whose lives look different from our own.
He was a political man. He believed in equity. In dignity. In the kind of justice that costs something.
biu biu is my expression of that inheritance.
And my invitation to you:
Let’s create something openhearted that enriches yourself, community and nature.
How to work with me
We customize your experience in Putumayo together.
Create your individual group expedition, curate your Yagé retreat, create your personal spiritual and cultural experience.