Puerco en la Playa

Every 4 months, all volunteers in a region get together for a meeting and, afterwards, a celebration.

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In our case we celebrate on the beautiful beach Las Lajas. This time around our coordinator Erin (a volunteer finishing up her 3^rd year of service) organized roasting a pig in a pit in the sand. It involved a lot of carrying logs for firewood the first night, chopping it up with an ax, digging the pit, building and monitoring the fire all night long, and epic cooking the evening of the following day. Once we exhumed the pig from its fire at 9 pm the second day we decided to debone it and stirfry it to ensure it was cooked all the way.  We dined at 11 pm on pork with BBQ sauce, seasoned salt, and boiled green bananas. It was a good thing to have a way to expend our efforts, but a challenge that I don’t think I’d want to organize myself. Once is enough for a meal that takes more than 30 hours of hard work to prepare.  This isn’t a traditional Panamanian way of cooking things either, so there were a lot of unknowns, but it turned out well.

Erin models a traditional bag

Some volunteers decide to stay on for a third year of service, either continuing with what they were doing in their initial site or doing a different project. Each region of the country has a regional leader. I appreciate the service of those who decide that they just aren’t ready to leave Panamanian food, music, and people behind after 2 years of service. I don’t think I’ll be in that situation, but bless those who do.  It means a lot to have a strong support system and leaders you can trust. Our regional leader and coordinator Erin will be taking off in a few months and this was something of a good-bye party for her.

Erin also organized a meeting with the ministry of health, specifically the department that works in water and sanitation systems (just like us!). The technician for my area happens to be holding a training for members of my larger community in a couple weeks, on June 13. He’ll be talking about how to make repairs to existing water systems as well as dropping off some supplies  for small concrete repairs to aqueducts. I hope to attend this and provide some more lasting follow-up and technical expertise in certain communities near mine. (Though within my exact community, we don’t yet have a water system at all.) I also hope increase my collaboration with the ministry of health (which I haven’t really done so far). Some volunteers choose to work more with Panama’s government agencies and some work nearly entirely with nonprofits.  Increasing collaboration with Panama’s agencies ensures that our work makes a more lasting effect, but the bureaucracy and tight schedules of the employees can be a frustrating challenge. As for me, I’m just starting.   

My Minchi

I have a new love: a cat, ("minchi" in Ngabere, the native language).

Her name is Mechi, a woman's name. She's about 7 weeks old now and is the daughter of another Peace Corps Volunteer's cat. I can babble on like a parent about her sleeping, eating, pooping, and playing habits. She's brought some spice to my life in the last few weeks. We like to cuddle, something I hadn't realized was missing in my life. During the day, the neighbor kids and the cat entertain each other. That's a very good thing for me, because they both have a lot of energy. Mechi likes playing with my shoes: she likes my sandals and flip flops for their straps, my shoes for their laces, and my boots for the cavernous space inside.

Cats and dogs are popular companions for both the locals and other Peace Corps volunteers.  They vary widely in their health and eating habits. Dogs are valued for barking at visitors and at night, while cats are valued for hunting mice.  I know some of the dogs on a first name basis: when I see them, I know their owner should be just around the corner! Other pets people have include rabbits, parrots, and parakeets, and one family has a "conejo pintado" or painted rabbit (similar to a nutria).

Mechi is the first pet  for which I'm solely responsible- a big step for me. And as with everything here in Panama, there's a cross cultural dimension. How much will I treat her like an American cat and how much like a Panamanian? How will that affect her future? A spoiled Volunteer's pet has a hard time in the Comarca once the volunteer goes home and leaves it behind. And for volunteers that choose to bring a pet home to the States, the pet has a stressful adaptation to a very different lifestyle.  At this point, I plan on leaving Mechi with my friendly neighbor Beni when I depart for the States. I can't say that I'll have a cat-friendly home or lifestyle when I return.

It's a bit of a fight to encourage Mechi to eat a varied diet: cat chow as well as  people food such as rice, beans, and pasta. It's essential for her to be a flexible eater. In the future, she'll have to eat people food, and whatever she can hunt up in the bush.

Some volunteers decide to neuter their animals, following the prevailing ethic in the States, but others don't, reasoning that one intervention doesn't matter much. Besides, future owners of female pets can sell the puppies or kittens. At this point I'd like to spay Mechi - I don't want to deal with kittens- and am looking into options in the next few months.  I am reminded of this story on NPR about a neutering culture-clash in Iraq.

Bath time with flea shampoo! It's for your own good, really...

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

Niyo & Begui

Well, March has been a big month for me. Ken came to visit from Boston on his spring break. We spent 4 days in my site and 4 days split between Panama City, David, and points between. In my site we visited neighbors, measured the flow of some springs of water, and sang Ngabere hymns at church. Ken's Spanish enabled him to strike up lots of interesting conversations with the locals. Ken even started picking up some Ngabere language.  My community gave him a name in their native language: Niyo, pronounced "NEE-jo."  The last name is Kubabo, which means a person from Kubade, my area. It was so much fun in my community, Ken wanted to stay there rather than leave for a vacation at the beach! I, however, was ready to take a break away so we headed to the Gulf of Chiriqui on the Pacific Ocean. Ken got a mild bacterial infection so we had to leave the next day, but at the medical clinic we ran into some friends. Jim and Emma I. are a retired couple living in David, Panama, who work with missionary teams that visit my area. I'd met them a few months ago in my site! They generously invited us to spend a night with them; something that we didn't plan but God did. It was fun and encouraging to talk with them about their life and work. Finally we visited historic Panama City, observed ships passing through the Panama canal's locks, and encountered iguanas and a baby sloth at a park.

There's a lot to think and pray about in regards to the trip. It'll give us some strength to draw on in the coming months of long distance dating! It's also neat to be able to share my Peace Corps experience more fully.

Also, I and the other volunteers in my training group met for a week of classes in late March. Coming up in the next month, I'll help give a seminar on aqueducts,  host a frisbee event for kids in the area, and I'll present my community analysis to my community itself in a meeting on April 14.

Here are some photos from the trip:

ñänä nire (hot sun)

Hello friends! Happy March! For those who remembered me on my 29th birthday with emails and cards, thank you! I spent the day with community members- at a church Bible study where I brought some stovetop banana-oat cookies, and later making popcorn with my neighbors.

Neighbor Federico and his puppy Lobita "little wolf"

Thank you to all of you who’ve been praying for the protests and unrest in Panama. Negotiations about mining and hydroelectric continue, and the atmosphere is watchful and waiting. Since that first week-long protest things have been much calmer. But the threat of protests, and police response to them, is still present. Groups of indigenous Ngabe are standing by the side of the highway keeping watch, ready to block the road if called upon to do so.

March is springtime in the States but in Panama it’s the height of “summer”, the dry season. It feels a lot more like August with scorched grass and blazing sunshine (in Ngabere, that’s “ñana nire”, hot sun). Summer is also the time of school vacation but now kids are heading back to school in their freshly pressed blue and white uniforms and government assigned backpacks. The teachers are back, after several months’ absence for vacation, commuting to and from our neighboring town’s school in the back of a covered pickup truck that serves as our bus.

The groundwater continues to dry up in summer. In the last 3 months the quantity coming from our principal spring has halved each month. I measure it every month with a group of kids as willing helpers. Knowing how much water is flowing in summer is essential information should we want to do an aqueduct, a piping system, in the future. And now is the time of the year to get the most helpful data. We assume according to WHO guidelines and Panamanian’s water use that 30 gallons a day is needed per capita.

March is also significant for me for a couple other reasons: my boyfriend Ken is visiting me here in the second week of March for his spring break. We’ll be spending some time at my site and also at a tourist resort/hostel. After months of talking on the phone as our main communication, we’re really looking forward to this visit!

Once he leaves, I’ll be joining the other volunteers in my training group, those that started with me in August, for a week of classes near Panama City. We’ll be sharing our community analyses with each other and learning how to plan projects and write grants. In the process of preparing my analysis including my health surveys, I’ve learned some interesting things about my community:

There are around 190 residents in 28 houses, plus me! This is more than I’d realized.
7 of those houses, or 25% have constructed and use their own latrines. The rest go in the bushes.
The median number of children for mothers to have is 5.5. Family planning is rarely used though it is readily available at the health center.
Out of 190 people, fully half are under age 15, and only 6 are older than age 60. Life in the Comarca is hard on the body.

The most common illnesses are
Intestinal worms (everyone has them always, though some times are worse than others)
Colds and flu
Diarrhea
Headaches and migraines.

Most people visit the traditional healer first when they get sick, and the doctor second. They take pride in their culture including the traditional medicine.

The worms and diarrhea are problems based on unclean water and poor sanitation- in short, when we ingest poop it makes us sick. This means that the job the PC has trained me to do, is very relevant for my community.

In April, when I get back from my training, I’m going to share the results with the community in a general meeting. We’ll talk about their needs and priorities and decide what programs and projects we want to tackle first. The community puts a lot of trust in me, assuming that I know what I’m doing! I am learning a lot and hope to be worthy of that trust. Often the Peace Corps will send several volunteers in a row to a location- not just 2 years in a site but 4 or 6 years of PC presence.

Man makes a traditional hat like the one he is wearing. First he makes a braid then sews it together in a coil.

I’ll end with some stories and photos from February (more on my Picasa to the right).

I had the chance to visit a model organic farm in another town. Regina, a friend and elementary school teacher from the neighboring town of Cerro Iglesias, took her family and me on an hour and a half hike to reach Finca Esperanza, Hope Farm. Owner Leandro is an enthusiastic proponent of all things organic. He gave us a tour of his medicinal and edible wild plant garden, fish ponds, okra, forest, and compost. He even cultivates a beneficial fungus in a barrel: he sprays a solution of fungus and water on crops like cacao and coffee that are prone to fungal infections. He says the one fungus combats the others. This is new to me! Winston, a nearby agriculture volunteer in Cerro Iglesias, will be doing some work with him in the future. After the farm tour we cooled off with Leandro’s kids by jumping in a beautiful nearby river and hunting crayfish (we only caught some tiny ones).

Leandro and his daughter show off their okra. They use the seeds to make a delicious "coffee."

beneficial fungus



hunting crayfish



Cooling off! I swam in my clothes as did everyone else...



I also visited volunteer Kayla in another Comarca town to help out with some latrines she’s constructing. I learned a lot from how she’d organized her community in work groups to accomplish a large project of 50 latrines! After spending 1 day working with her, I hiked back down the steep hill with Kayla’s friend Eusebio and horse Jaguar, who was carrying a metal mold to make a concrete latrine seat. Kayla didn’t need it anymore and another volunteer did, so we were helping courier it to another location.

A scaffolding of wood, bamboo, and plastic is laid directly over the pit in order to pour the concrete in place.

The horse prefers to ford the stream rather than cross on the bridge, where I'm standing

Eusebio let me hold Jaguar's reins for a photo

Some final photos represent the harvest of guandu, or pigeon peas, a delicious bean that can be harvested green or allowed to dry on the stalk before harvesting. They lay out the dried beans on some plastic and stomp and sort them- the beans themselves fall to the bottom and the pods can be thrown out.

Aguantar, "to endure"

The last week in Panama has been a difficult one. I have been safe, up in my mountain home. But down below there have been country-wide protests that shut Panama down for a week. As a result, the national Assembly is revisiting the mining and hydroelectric laws that are disputed by the Ngabe protesters. We are all waiting to see what will result from the dialogue! Here's an article describing the situation, from Panama's La Prensa newspaper.