In August 2011 I am starting 27 months of service with the Peace Corps in Panama, as a Water and Sanitation volunteer (for short, Wat/San in English, Agua y Sanidad en español). This is the close of a chapter for me: nearly 4 years in Boston, in which I worked as an intern architect, an architecture instructor, a wilderness canoe guide, a supervisor for Habitat for Humanity, and a grocery store cashier. I've joined a church community, and have started dating a neat man, too. It's been a time of transitions, and I'm looking forward to this coming one, with joy and nervousness.
In Panama, I will likely be working in a very rural community, doing projects such as rainwater collection, building wells or maintaining aqueducts, building latrines, and educating about clean water and health. I'll know more soon, but I'm certain that I'll be working on building latrines!
My first 3 months in Panama will be participating with a training program in a town with other Wat/San volunteers. We'll be living with host families as we do a two part training: language and technical skills. We'll be practicing our Spanish. Some Volunteers will be placed with indigenous groups and get to learn a tribal language, also! While I don't yet have experience in Water and Sanitation, I'll learn, and my architecture background will be relevant in some ways. This 3 month period is also a chance to assess the right fit, for both the Peace Corps and myself. From November 2011 to October 2013, I will be working on-site in a rural community. I will be staying with a host family, at least initially.
Panama is both hot and humid, which will be a big adjustment for me. The diet can be monotonous, and some of the Peace Corps project sites are accessed only by a several hour hike down muddy roads! Some of the locations are in the remote tropical rainforest. Although I've never done anything like this, my wilderness trips the last couple summers have taught me something about living minimally. I expect it to be challenging and rewarding.
I'm learning more about the area through reading. Panama's Darien Park is one of the greatest ecological treasures in the world. Panama, like the rest of the Americas and much of the world, faces challenges with disenfranchisement of the poor, rapid urbanization, indigenous displacement, deforestation, drug trafficking, and health problems. There is a lot of wealth concentrated in urban areas, like Panama City and along the Canal, but little opportunity in rural areas. All of these related issues, and I'm going to try and build some bathrooms! I hope that this is a situation in which I can participate in how God is working in the world, turning things upside down and making them right again.
I expect my email access to be intermittent. Postal mail may take from 10 days to one month! But I'd love to hear from you. My mailing address from August 16 through mid-November 2011 will be (via the Peace Corps office in Panama City):
(my name) Peace Corps Trainee
Edificio 240 3er Piso, Calle Victor Iglesias
Ciudad del Saber, Clayton (Corregimiento Ancón) Panamá
Republica de PANAMA
For the most current mail/phone info after November, please contact me by email.
