En La Lucha (In the Fight)

The current president Ricardo Martinelli is currently not very popular in my region of Panama because of his plan to exploit environmentally destructive, foreign-run mines in the Comarca Indian reservation.  However, in the President’s defense, he has put a lot of money into the pockets of the country’s poor through welfare programs. 

Every citizen over 70 years old receives $100 monthly, which generally filters down to improved housing and diet for the children and grandchildren as well.  Students receive $30 at the beginning of the school year and $60 for every trimester completed with passing grades.  Finally, all mothers are supposed to receive $50 of food stamps monthly with proof of health center attendance and home garden projects.  For unknown reasons this program halted for 9 months and the women were only paid for 4 of those months in April of this year.

Each small community has a “volunteer” promoter in charge of keeping track of the mothers and their compliance with program requirements.  In reality the promoters are paid by receiving special preference for limited government project such as free houses.

Last week my local ladies had a health meeting with their promoter to get their cards stamped for the next food stamp pay day.  Of course the promoter advised them the same morning that he would be holding the meeting in the afternoon. If it were a year ago I would have attended the meeting as well, but these days I have little interest in Horrible Meetings.  I figure that I have the rest of life to attend them. 

I saw the women walking home from the meeting after 4 hours.  I asked my 24 year old neighbor friend Julia how was the meeting.  “It was fine, but he asked us each to haul 2 loads of gravel to his house before we can get our cards stamped.  So I won’t be able to make your seminar on Saturday.”

I clarified with her to make sure I was understanding correctly.  Yes, the promoter was asking his 25 women to walk an hour to his house and then to haul gravel on their backs for 25 minutes from the road to his house to advance his government sponsored cinder block house.  I would estimate that 1/3 of these women are in some stage of pregnancy or are breast feeding.

I asked Julia if anyone at the meeting spoke out against this unjustified labor.  She said no, they just wanted to get their cards signed.

For me, that’s the worst part.  They knew that they were being taken advantage of, and were too desperate to fight it.

Wait, it gets worse.  My neighbor Sara is 6 months pregnant and lives alone with her 5 kids because her husband is working near Costa Rica.  She felt like she could not risk not receiving her food stamps so she pulled her two oldest boys (9 and 11 years) out of school to carry the gravel for her.  One of her sons has already stayed back a year in school twice, and the other boy has stayed back once.

The required labor never happened due to logistical issues with the gravel truck delivery.  Nevertheless the situation goes to show that corruption is not all about rich politicians with their yachts and private jets – that it all trickles down to a community promoter abusing what little power he has.