Panama Trip 2016

It had been 2.5 years since my time serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer Panama. In June 2016, my husband Ken and I decided to visit the community in which I worked.  It was a sweet visit where we spent a week renewing friendships and making new friends, most notably with the Peace Corps Volunteer who is currently serving in the community, Maria.

Here we were, waiting for the bus on our way out of Boston. We're carrying boxes of books (we'll describe why shortly).

 On Friday June 17 we left Boston for Panama City. That night we made it as far as Santiago, 4 hours' bus ride west of Panama City. We stayed the night in Santiago, and in the morning we continued our journey and met our friend Raul in the town of San Felix.

With Raul S., a contact in ministry with the Peace Association of Ngäbe Evangelical Churches. (AENGPA)

 Through an organization called the Gospel Coalition's Packing Hope program, we were able to take some books on theology to Panama to give to our contacts in ministry there, to distribute to pastors and lay leaders at some conferences later in the year. At least some of these books are available for purchase locally, but this program was accessible for us than buying them in Panama. We hope the ideas in the books will be helpful for our friends in the Panamanian church and encourage them in their walk with Jesus. We have so much to learn from their faith as well!

From San Felix we went up into the mountains to visit our other friends in the community I used to be a part of, in the Comarca Ngäbe Bugle. A "Comarca" is roughly equivalent to an Indian Reservation in the USA. We participated in a Father's Day celebration at the local church that I used to attend. We saw many dear friends from my time there, especially the women's group that I was a part of. Because it was Father's Day, the fathers got to swing at the piñata with a stick! Though it was the kids who scrambled for the candy that spilled out. I said that Ken and I weren't fathers but we were just there to enjoy the food. :)

Friends from church. Pastor Camilo is on the right.

 Maria lives in a lovely new house. She has adopted my cat, Mechi. She has made firm friendships with her new host family. She is midway through her two years of service and is working on health education and water systems. She was our gracious host during our stay as well.

Maria (in the black dress), Ken, Susan, Mechi the cat, Celia, and Nelva

Maria prepares a meal at home under the cat's watchful eye

Our friends Minsdo and Tito organized a community party for us in coordination with Maria. Ken said that we gave ourselves a task to work on, by preparing for the party! On the day before the event, we bought chickens from local farmers. We said we'd contribute the chicken, and the community members contributed rice, seasonings, drinks and everything else to make a feast.

Marilin and Mikaela volunteered to help us carry chickens to the venue

Ken's first time killing a chicken

Preparing to pluck the slaughtered chicken by dunking it in boiling water

Ken and Maria try their hand as butchers

Washing out the chicken parts

The following day, we had our party! We saw some of my dear friends and neighbors- over 200 people attended.

Federico and Beni (foreground) were my closest neighbors and good friends

We danced a traditional line dance called the "Jegui," and then some more modern dances as well.

Jegui dance: this particular one is meant to be the form of a wave advancing and receding on the beach

Dancing Jegui

We danced with the teachers at the primary school

We even had sack races. People were a little shy to get started but then were really competitive!

Rigoberto and Ken compete

I, Maria, and Migdalia get ready to race

You can't beat the enthusiasm of these little girls in the sack race! 

We were the recipients of so many gifts: the gifts of time, of food, even of clothing! It was lovely but it was also very humbling. Were we there to just eat and drink and receive gifts, and then leave? I remember my time in Panama very fondly and so do many people in the community.

Emilsa gave this handmade bag, or chackra, with stripes made with natural dyes

Eufemia gave me a handmade dress and shirt!

Migdalia made this beautiful shirt as a gift for me

After the party, we spent the night with our friends Lidia and her family. We stayed up late drinking cacao (a traditional pastime) and talking about the successes and challenges of the past few years in the community. What will be next? Maria, the current Peace Corps Volunteer, has been working with community leaders to continue improving the village's health.

We spent a night at the beach at Las Lajas, a resort community on the Pacific coast, and then headed back to Panama City. On the morning of our departure we enjoyed breakfast with Amilcar, a friend from the community who is now teaching at a private elementary school in the City.

Ken, Amilcar, Susan at Subway (really!) in Panama City

We also ran into our friends Mariela and Orlando in Panama City. Even though I spent my Peace Corps service in Panama in one little farming village, it felt like we had friends all over the country! Our week was at an end and we returned to Boston with grateful hearts, and considering what our relationship with the community might look like in the years to come. As our friends said, "Cuando vienes otra vez?" "When are you coming again?"