Mi casa, su casa

Here I am, with the contents of my house spread out on the grass. (We treated my home with pesticide in an attempt to kill the little bugs that are eating my bamboo siding.)  My neighbors came over and observed, "Begui, you have a lot of stuff."  I do, compared with them, and I've always been a bit of a hoarder besides. As much as it may look like I'm living the simple life, I'm definitely not on the margin. Take a look at a similar series of photos from around the world.

I don't like things that emphasize the difference between me and the Panamanians., whether that's how much stuff I have in the house, how much money I make every month (something they can only guess at), or the opportunities that I have for education, travel, and career advancement.  I don't like people pointing out the gap between us. There's one man in my community for whom the United States, I think, stands for everything good; all golden opportunity. When I go over to his house he says things like, "You've come to see how the other world lives,"  "Over there they don't sleep on hard bamboo beds like this do they?" or "Over there you won't see babies playing in the dirt like ours, will you?"  The way he says it feels like an accusation.

 But it's true, we're not the same in many ways.  In other ways, our humanity and spirituality, culture and nation don't matter.  Part of the process of cultural adaptation, I'm told, is becoming more comfortable in your own shoes. When coming from one culture to another, I have to find the space I stand, in-between.


I just added some photos to the previous post so if  you've already read that one, take another look.

Abril

Here's a summary of some of my recent activities.

I presented my community analysis to the community itself in a meeting (that is, the things I've learned about them in my first few months). The meeting started an important conversation about our water, sanitation, and health priorities and goals. What are we going to work on together for the rest of my time here? As I see it, education is a given: on topics such as hand-washing, watershed protection, and latrine use.  It is also possible to do a latrine or a water system project. In some ways it is easier to put in physical infrastructure such as latrines or water systems, as expensive as they are, than to change peoples' behavior.  People in my community, and others too, want (outside-funded) latrines and aqueducts; however they generally don't understand water borne diseases to be a problem.  With the training I've received from Peace Corps, I see preventing water and waste borne diseases such as diarrhea and worms to be a big part of my mission here. Especially after our community analysis meeting, I know it'll be a long process from going to simply hearing about healthy practices to actually doing them.  One of the most basic healthy practices is hand washing, to prevent disease transmission. Without washing hands, using latrines or piping water to the house won't make much difference in health. Education is going to be a long haul. The government does some health education, which usually goes in one ear and out the other. So how can I present the information differently?

Community Analysis meeting

The rains have started, with some days of pouring rain followed by other days of sunshine. People are hurrying to finish up their dry season tasks- finishing construction on new houses or kitchens, before the rains become more frequent and make the work harder.  For those that were late to slash-and-burn, it's too late because you can't get a good field burn going in the damp. The "monte" or scrub will continue growing for next year unless treated with herbicide as a precursor to planting.  It's also time to sow corn, rice, and yucca.  Some families in my community are working a field together to raise money for a community fund for celebrations. I helped sow corn with them the other day.

sowing corn

Arriving at the Easter conference

I also attended a church conference for Easter (April 8) with my church in Cerro Iglesias. We chartered a pickup truck from our town, which forded the same river- twice- on the way to the campground where the event was to be held. About 1000 Ngabe gathered to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord with worship and Bible study for 3 days.  I think I was the only non-Ngabe there! About half the proceedings were in Spanish and half were in Ngabere (They use hymnals in both). I was very impressed with the organization of the conference.  Unfortunately, every afternoon we had torrential rain that swept around and under my friends' rain tarps, threatening to wet their possessions and dampening our moods. I came back early, by myself, because I wanted to spend more time in my home after traveling a lot in March.  Someone's cousin was going the same way and gave me an hourlong ride on his horse (my first ride)!  My new friend led the way up steep trail, holding the rains on the horse and urging me to "Agarrelo duro!" or "Hold on tight (to the pommel of the saddle)." I could only reply "I am!" as the horse scrambled up the slick clay slope.

Fellow Volunteer Winston worked with community members in Cerro Iglesias to put on their annual agriculture and cultural Fair  mid-April. I enjoyed attending with other volunteers, and we got a special visit from Chief Sylvia Carrera, an influential Ngabe elected leader who has been negotiating with the national government about mining and hydroelectric rights in the Comarca, or native reservation. She is a hero for the people, and a rare thing in this culture, a woman politician. I finish today with some photos from the Fair:

Chief Sylvia Carrera

"Se roto!" It broke. Too bad it's also raining.

Fellow volunteer Erica, who works in a neighboring town, contemplates a stuffed squirrel decoration at the Fair