El Fuente

I and the Water Committee Secretary, one of the team that escorted us to the village

After 2 days of training at the Peace Corps office in Panama City, we headed out today on a site visit!   We visited a rural, Latino pueblo (village) of about 200 people in which Peace Corps currently has an Environmental Health volunteer (my type of project). We did this to see an example of a volunteer's life style, community, and projects. I have quite a few photos in the album (link to it on the right side of the page) in addition to those highlighted here. This community is Latino; only 20% of the projects in Environmental Health are in such communities. The other 80% of projects are in indigenous areas, which will be quite different socially and economically.  This ratio is for the Environmental Health sector specifically; many Volunteers work with Latino communities in Panama.

In this pueblo, to generate income, the residents work on their own small scale farms and also make beautiful Panama hats for sale in the regional center. These hats are made from a single, coiled braid of palm fibers. Most people in the pueblo make them- men, women, and children- in addition to their other tasks.  The pueblo has both an elementary school and a health post (puesto de salud) with a health worker who is there 5 days a week and serves the whole surrounding area.

Health Center

Panama Hats- the lady to the left is holding the braided palm of which this is made.

The Peace Corps has been in this community for about 4 years- two volunteer terms. This volunteer, Katherine, was just finishing up her term.  The Peace Corps has facilitated latrines and an aqueduct- that's a pipeline that carries water downhill from, in this case, a spring, to the pueblo. This is the first time I'd seen such a thing, but it's apparently a type of Project that Peace Corps works on frequently.

Amazing view to the south- the Pacific must be just beyond view.

To get to the project site: After a two mile walk on una caminita (a trail) away from the dirt road where we left our vehicles, we reached a natural spring (el fuente) in a high hillside. The fuente is covered with a new, concrete and stone cap called una toma (an intake) that captures water from the spring and channels it into a PVC pipe. The pipe runs down to a holding tank and then splits off to individual homes. The community pays into a fund for the water.

Water Intake at the Spring

Water tank for village supply

This project was begun by a Panamanian government agency about 30 years ago, but it had fallen into disrepair since. A main job of the Peace Corps volunteer in this location is to mobilize and facilitate the villagers (campesinos), who have set up a Water Committee. The Water Committee and she have been renovating this older aqueduct system part-by-part.

The community served us a delicious lunch at the open-air school cafeteria, featuring a tasty traditional soup with chicken, yucca, and yams, rice, and homemade juice from a tart tropical fruit.  We had fun talking with the women, men, and the kids in Spanish. Laughter eases the way. I was happy with how much I was able to communicate with them, but I have a long ways to go towards fluency!

 

Our hostesses, the cooks (right)

Delicioso!

On the way back we experienced a thunderstorm with heavy rain but since it was still pretty warm, it was all right. We slogged around in some serious mud on the way down! 

In training, the Peace Corps has been advocating "capacity building." The PC approach is that it doesn't put much capital money into projects themselves- volunteers are expected to work with and educate community members to organize themselves.  Funding would come through grants to Panamanian agencies or NGOs (nonprofits).  The idea is that the people of communities will be able to advocate for themselves instead of living from one handout to the next. This is a different approach than that the  Aids Care and Treatment project in Ethiopia takes (I spent a two week mission trip there with my church in 2008). The Aids Care and Treatment organization's primary purpose isn't "development", though they do work in the field with other NGOs. 

Tomorrow we head to our training town where we'll spend most of our time through November  busy with technical and language training.  I will also meet my host family, with whom I will stay during that time!  My mailing address is still through the main office in Panama City. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.