Familia Panameña

My extended host family

Our training community is a small town of several hundred people in Panama province. We have been here for a week and a half. It's not that far from the main roads and a major town, and has a tiny tienda (store), a paved main street, electricity, and running water (for several hours a day). Many men commute to Panama City for work and most women are housewives. There's a grade school here for the many children of the community. The whole community knows the volunteers and is very welcoming!  We are the second group of trainees to be located here. There are some really cute kids who know my name and call it out - I hope to know more of their names, in time. There are a few large family groups in the community; if you stay here a while you're bound to become cousins!  

The 17 trainees have been studying Spanish in the morning and technical training in the afternoon.  Both classes are very interactive and genuinely fun. The technical training, so far, has focused on how to work with a community, facilitating meetings, and identifying needs. This weekend we spent a partial day exploring the water system for this town.  That was interesting!  It involved a hike up a creek bed to a hillside spring, or "ojo de agua". Some of the community's water is piped from that source, but most comes from a more recent well that taps the groundwater.  The community put in the water system in the 1970's. Before that, they carried water from the river. We looked at it as an example of the kind of system we could be working on in our communities. We also found some large spiders in the creekbed!

My host family is an extended family of seven: mother Jilma, father Amadiz, and children Elis, Heidi and Edward.  Elis is married; he shares our home with his wife Sujeidi and baby boy Elian. The oldest son is Julio, he's also married with a baby son and lives up the street. The family is kind and extroverted; they like to talk with me!  It's exciting to be able to communicate entirely in another language! I don't understand everything yet- and can't really yet follow a conversation that's not directed at me. I've gotten better since I've been here, though, and my mind is coming up with the Spanish a lot more easily, instead of having to translate everything! My host family works hard, and when they're not working they tend to stay home and rest. It's a big thing in this community- and in all Panama- to visit other homes (this is called to "pasear").

Most of the community, including my host family, is Catholic.  Unfortunately the church is only open once a month- the priest has 20-some small communities that he rotates between. I hear the priest is Korean!  It's an interesting connection with the outside world.  As I understand it, few people from this small town travel much (or have the opportunity to).

My time here has been good so far; I'm particularly pleased with the friendly community and the excellent classes. It's also been a challenge in that our schedule is quite busy and my previous routines have all changed! I've felt quite unsettled at times due to the changing situation, but they say that's normal.

Each trainee or "aspirante" like me, is assigned to visit a volunteer in their site of service over the first weekend in September, to get a better sense of volunteer life. For me this involves a lengthy bus ride to Bocas del Toro province on the Carribbean side.  I'll let you know how it goes!

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.

En el aeropuerto

Today we are on our way! I write this from the Washington National Airport. Yesterday I met the other Water & Sanitation volunteers that are heading to Panama. We had an orientation session yesterday in a hotel in Arlington, VA.There are 17 total in our group, all in our 20s-30s and evenly split between men and women. Two of the volunteers also have architecture backgrounds, so I look forward to learning more about that!  Others have backgrounds in engineering, environmental studies, and Spanish. There are 204 total PC volunteers in Panama.

In our orientation we discussed the Peace Corps' goals, guidelines, & expectations, as well as our own hopes for this time. Getting more specifics about our plans and discussing our concerns-- and the Peace Corps response-- was encouraging. We discovered a lot of us are looking forward to- and nervous about- some of the same things! Highlights are connecting with Panamanians and their culture, accomplishing projects, and exploring and enjoying the country's ecology.  We fear crime, scary insects, language miscommunication, project-related struggles, and having gastrointestinal upsets!  It was helpful to realize we were in the same boat, and that we will get training on how to manage our risk.

On a lighter note, my roommate in the hotel brought a 2 lb jar of peanut butter! That's something I didn't think I needed. :) but we'll see. I'm much more likely to crave chocolate, which Panama produces, so I don't think there'll be much of a problem there!

When we arrive later today, we will be staying for several days at Peace Corps guest houses in Panama City where the Peace Corps has its office. Then we will head together to our training community in a rural town where we'll be placed with host families.  We'll be taking classes in language and technical skills 5 days a week, plus a half day on most Saturdays.

When I arrived in DC two days ago, Cousin Jeanne and Pat met me at the airport, and my boyfriend Ken came by in the morning of my orientation (he's visiting his parents near Baltimore).  It's been a blessing to see, to call, to write, and to connect with friends and family in advance of this trip. Thank you for your messages, your thoughts, and your prayers!

Al principio

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.