The Heavy Rains have Begun

The rainy season officially started in April, but in the last three weeks the rainfall has picked up (or down?). Just about every day, the faucet in the skies opens between noon and four, and usually keeps going until nightfall. This will continue through November.

Most people can predict the skies pretty well, and go home from the fields or town before it starts coming down hard. However, it is considered normal to seek shelter in anyone’s house along the way as well. I got stuck in a stranger’s house during rainstorm for a few hours and she kept feeding me boiled green bananas and really wanted me to spend the night. I have also hosted strangers on my porch for extended periods of time, breaking down to local customs and offering them coffee and food.

My community has been told for ten months now that the government funded aqueduct project will be starting any day now. The contractors arrived 2 weeks ago, and started driving materials up the muddy rutted road last week. So far, the majority of my community’s work has consisted of rehabilitating the washouts on the road that was constructed in January. Yesterday 3 pick axes snapped in the process of chipping away a rock blocking the road. The contractor claims he has 15 days to bring in the materials and construct the spring captation and the tank and connect 16 houses. However, we’ll see how that goes because it is already Day 5 and not all of the materials have been delivered yet.

Project construction relies on volunteer manual labor from the community. Many men are planning to leave the community soon to go harvest coffee in Costa Rica for three months. Two of my neighbors have already mentioned to me they are going to try to stay around to work on the project, although this means they will lose their work opportunity in Costa Rica. To me, this shows how important the water project is to community members, as they are willing to sacrifice their only income of the year. Let´s just hope the morale keeps up through Day 15.

Full House

What ever happend to predictability?

The milk man, the paper boy, evening T.V

You miss your old familar friends,

but waiting just around the bend.

I hosted a Peace Corps trainee from the newly arrived EH group in my house for 4 nights to give her a first glimpse at what life is like for a volunteer out in the country. I enjoyed my visitor and showing her around the community, and it also made me realize how accustomed I have really become in the last year to my living situation – ie, bugs, bats, peeing wherever, eating and drinking whatever, and wooping instead of talking at times.

I invited my 3 nearest volunteer friends and their 2 trainee visitors to come swim in the nearby waterfalls on the last day. The plan was that the following morning I would head to Panama City with the 3 trainees, as my site as easier road access than that of my other volunteer friends.
My trainee visitor asked me, “where are 7 people going to sleep?”. I said, “We’ll figure it out.” Besides my twin sized bed, I have about 7’x6’ of sleeping space, and a resident bat. My friends and their visitors hiked 4 ½, 3 hours, and 2 hours to get to my house.

We all had a great time at the waterfall and cooking dinner. I brought some leftovers and a bag of dog food to my neighbor Araceli since I would be leaving in the morning for a week. She asked me how many people were staying at my house. I answered, “Bastante (A lot).” It turns out that that very night it was her turn to go to the school to guard the solar panel, and she asked if I could cuidar la casa (watch the house) – by sleeping there with some of my friends. Her house, like most around here, does not have complete walls, so it cannot be left unattended especially at night. At dusk, Araceli left with her 4 small children to go work security. I can just imagine a solar panel robber arriving at the school and being scared away by a sleepy women and her sleeping children.

I still like to think about what the probability is of me having 6 overnight guests, and one of my neighbors having an open house available for me to use as a guest house, on the same night. I slept well instead of squeezed between 4 others on the floor. Thank you solar panel for needing night guards.

Reflections on Parenthood

I recently read Morning Song: Poems for New Parents, a poetry anthology edited by Susan Todd and my aunt, Carol Purington. I enjoyed the variety of poems from traditional to modern, and I plan on reading a few of the poems in their original Spanish form during the Mothers’ Day ceremony here on December 8th.

The poems also led me to reflect on what parenthood means where I am currently living. During training when I started studying Ngaberi, I learned that the word bren means bad, sick, and pregnant. And when I arrived here in the community, I realized that pregnancy is never discussed, even when the woman is obviously rotund in the midsection. I quickly learned not to bother with the typical American banter about boy vs. girl or choosing names or the due date.

I estimate that puppies and kittens in my community have a 80% “infant” mortality rate due to malnourishment, parasites, and diarrhea. I assume that a few decades ago, without modern medicine and hospitals, the situation for human babies was almost as devastating. The Comarca Ngabe Bugle region still has the worst infant mortality rate in Panama (27.2 out of 1000 babies died in 2007, according to Atlas de Desarrollo Humano y Objetivos de Milenio Panama 2010). Thus it makes sense that soon-to-be parents are still weary to express any attachment to a baby before it is successfully born.

When a woman is going to have her baby soon, people say “soon she is going to be free”. Once the baby is born, the behavior towards the baby seems much more familiar. The whole family welcomes the baby into the home. The only difference is that babies here prefer hammocks and woven bags to cribs.

Here are two of my favorite poems from the book.

Expect Nothing

Expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.
Become a stranger
To need of pity
Or, if compassion be freely
Given out
Take only enough
Stop short of urge to plead
Then purge away the need.

Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
Tame wild disappointment
With caress unmoved and cold
Make of it a parka
For your soul.

Discover the reason why
So tiny human giant
Exists at all
So scared unwise
But expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.

-Alice Walker

Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor –
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
‘Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now –
For I’se still goin’ on, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

-Langston Hughes

The world's most dangerous border becomes Even More Dangerous

Spider was successfully killed with my egg flipper.

One Year in Panama

What a year. One year without:
• Riding on an airplane or a train
• Driving a car
• Eating sushi
• Baking cookies or cupcakes (although I have glanced at Joy the Baker a few times)
• Opening the program Matlab (to my fellow BMEs)
• Going to the gym
• Touching snow
• Fall or Spring
• Cutting my hair (gone hippie!)

But it has been one year with:
• Rice
• Learning a language I had never heard of, and one I had
• Living with four host families over the course of almost six months
• Organizing and constructing a palm thatched house
• Adopting 2 dogs and a cat
• Teaching English as a second language
• Surveying and measuring a potential aqueduct
• Talking a lot with adults and children about the dangers of human excrement
• Relaxing in a way that is barely possible in the US of A
• Eating whatever is in season, all of the time (currently oranges and pifa)

It's been a good year. Hopefully the next one is even better!

Family visitors

Me, Nancy, Mom, and Dad in Boquete after some delicious pizza.
The waterfall near my house!
Women in traditional dress after the English class party.

Mom near my house. Maybe I do live in a pretty place.

My mom and dad and Aunt Nancy came to Panama in late July.

I was leaving the Project Management Seminar in Cocle province on Friday with my community counterpart Elieser, so we hitched a ride back to the Comarca with my family’s rental car, which saved us several hours of bus travel. Elieser got to take part in his first American style road trip – car packed to the brim with bags and wet bathing suits and peanut butter.

We stayed in my community in my luxury accommodations for three nights. I had an English class party planned for Saturday. My adult students made rice and beans and we made macaroni and cheese. We then had a short ceremony including a welcome, a prayer, student self-introductios, and songs (ABC song by kids and Jingle Bells by my family and me) all in English. Afterwards we handed out certificates to students displaying how many of the 12 classes were attended. The class party was a success because there was food to spare! I also took my family to go swimming in the nearby waterfall and to visit my host families.

One night my family and I headed over to my neighbor/host sister’s house to learn how to make (and eat) a sweet pudding called “pesada de nance” out of nance fruit which is in season. My host mom was there as well, talking in her native language which is called Bugleri to her daughter. The Bugles are another smaller indigenous group who live in the same mountain region as the Ngabes, but have intermarried so much with the Ngabes that their language is almost lost completely in my area. My Bugle host mom didn’t learn Ngaberi untilafter she married her Ngabe husband at age 14, and later learned Spanish when her first son was attending school. Only my host mom’s oldest children can understand Bugleri. My 12 year old host sister said, “Bechi, my mom can say something to my older sister Araceli in Bugleri, and then she can translate it to me into Ngaberi, and then I can translate it to you into Spanish, and then you can translate it to your parents and aunt into English. That sure would take a long time!”. I am continually impressed that my host mom is trilingual and most people here are bilingual.

Next we headed to Boquete, the coffee capital of Panama, and also one of the largest US expat retirement communities in the world. And I can see why, because the mountainous climate is perfect and it seems like all of the Panamanian workers in the town speak decent English. The first thing we did when we arrived there was order some coffee in the town center (which cost about as much as I spend in a week in site). It really is beautiful there but based on the number of gringos I saw, I didn’t really feel like I was in Panama anymore.

The next day I left my family to their own vices so that I could attend a training session in Panama City. I was selected to be a co-facilitator for the new Environmental Health group in September, so I had to be trained on how to be a trainer (dress nicely, comb your hair, be positive, etc). I am excited to meet the new EH group in their 3rd week in country when they are still starry eyed and eager to learn. I will be teaching them about running meetings and interactive teaching techniques.

After my family enjoyed another day in Boquete and then went snorkelling at Coiba Island off the Pacific coast, they met up with me in Panama City. We saw the Old Town(Casco Viejo) as well as the Miraflores Locks in Panama City. We also took a day trip to see the Gatun Locks and a fort on the Carribbean side of Panama. It was my first time seeing the Carribbean (Atlantic) Ocean since I have been in Panama! I have yet to swim in it.

It was great to see my parents and Nancy again and they were very easy to accommodate. Now everyone in my community keeps asking when they are coming back.

Case Study

In July we had to write a case study encompassing our work trials and tribulations. My case study was chosen to share with the newly arrived Environmental Health group, so I thought I would share it with you all too. Sorry, it´s a bit wordy, but I am a US government worker now.

Title: Working with Panamanian Agencies while Keeping the Community Involved
Country	Panama
Date	31 de Julio 2011
Submitted By	Carolyn Purington
Contact Information
Keywords	Potable Water, Water Committee, Government Agency

Abstract:

The community has been waiting for 1 ½ years for a government funded water project, of which funds have already been deposited to the institution PROINLO. Upon arrival the community expected me to use my connections to get the project started immediately, and since then I have been working with the community to capacitate it so that when the project does finally arrive, the water committee is active and understands how a gravity water system works. At times it has been difficult motivating the people, as they know a funded project will be arriving eventually for the first 16 houses. From the beginning with community analysis to surveying and doing fundraisers with the water committee, the water group is finally becoming functional.

Background:

During my first three months in site, Proyecto de Amistad, I realized that the community of Sabanita had already received $10,000 of funding through the Representante of the corregimiento (local politician of the county), and had already been waiting a year for the project to commence. The community expected that I would be able to use my connections to enable the project to initiate at once. I tried to use my community analysis and FREESOPP as well as SWOT analysis to help the community understand why water is the primary need, and the need for the community to work through family divides in order to work together. The community mapping exercise helped community members realize which houses are lacking potable water in the community, and why it will be harder for water to reach some houses than others. The annual calendar made it clear that some parts of the year are busier than other in terms of work (and seasonal labor) and other engagements.

Implementation:

Using the SWOT analysis, it was determined that water is the primary necessity of the community. However, the community had been waiting for the government funded project to arrive, and had an inactive water committee until December 2010. The community mobilized in January 2011 and decided to restructure the water directive because the President worked full time in Bocas del Toro. Since then, the new water directive and the community have been meeting fairly regularly. The committee realized that it needs to take a more active role in the government, and has been inviting the Representante to all of the meetings. It has been a challenge to maintain communication between the community and the Representante. He informs me of updates and has taken me to visit the agency PROINLO which is in charge of project execution, but he does not attend the community meetings or communicate with the water group directly.

Meanwhile, after several visits to PASAP in San Felix I acquired a copy of the aqueduct design for the community. I have been working with community members to check the design by surveying using the Abney Level and Water Level. We also measured the output at the water source during the dry season and wet season, and determined that the water source is not sufficient during the dry season to provide for 250 people.

Based on this, the community met with the owner of another water source and after much negotiation, bought it for $50. The Vice President of the water group and I met with a PASAP technician to explain why the storage tank placement needs to be changed to accommodate the future annex of the newly purchased water source. However, the new water source spring capitation will not be included in the government project, so the community has been fundraising to be able to complete the second phase of the project.

Results:

Approaching the one year point in my service, the functionality of the water committee has greatly improved. The water group holds meetings fairly regularly to inform the community about news, and has become more transparent with money matters. Technically, community members have been trained to measure flow rate from the spring source, and use the Abney Level and Water Level for surveying. The community is also mobilized to work through the second stage of the project with minimal outside assistance. Through open conversations, the community is more aware of the connection between clean water and health, and the different methods of purifying water.

Conclusion:

At the one year point, the major success is the improved functionality of the community water group. A challenge that I would like to work on is that the group still prefers to wait for me to plan meetings, hold work days, and to be the communicant between the agencies, representante, and the community. My goal is to make the group more independent in decision making and executions, and in order to do this I will have to be more careful to ensure that I do not let tasks fall on my lap which should be the responsibility of community members.

I have personally gained much leadership experience through my experiences with the water group. I no longer get nervous getting up in front of a group and speaking in Spanish. I have also learned that the communications outside of the meeting setting are just as important as the communications during the meetings, as many people are too shy to say what they are actually thinking in front of others. Gaining the community’s trust has been extremely rewarding, but I still feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders to make this government project, as well as the second phase, a success, although many factors are outside of my control.