Ultimate Frisbee for a Primitive culture

 

My readers that are family and friends know that I am an active person that enjoy sports and exercise, but it was something I was seriously lacking here in Panama. In site, I have tried to go running but our dirt road is full of unstable rocks and the abundance of mud I need to cross to even get to the road discouraged me. I used yoga podcasts for an early morning stress relief, but was still missing some intense cardio workout.

In my community, men and women play volleyball together and only men play soccer. The kids play baseball for physical education when the teachers bring equipment to play with. When I first arrived, I had a strong interest in playing volleyball. Everyone was very welcoming and was willing to teach me (I haven’t ever played much) but my interest didn’t last long. Ngäbe culture is very competitive and sportsmanship and encouragement are not practiced. When someone, or even myself, would make a mistake and send the ball flying in the other direction, my natural reaction would be to laugh it off. But I quickly became frustrated when people would scold each other, accusing they don’t know how to play and to get off the court. Of course there is trash talking between the teams, but even amongst members. When I would say encouraging words: “nice try, very good”, they would mockingly repeat it back to me. The day I realized I would not be playing volleyball anymore was when a grown man kept scolding a 12 year old girl year because she couldn’t cross the net. “Mas arriba, usa tu brazo, mas duro!” – ”higher, use your arm, harder”, he yelled. But did not take the time to show her how to do these things: what form is proper, how to hold your fists together, ect. After the 100^th time of him scolding her, I snapped. “Deja por favor. Ella es una niña y todavía está aprendiendo. Tiene que tener paciencia.” –“stop it please, she is a girl and is still learning. You have to be patient”. The court grew silent and he began speaking in Ngäbere to the others present, probably saying vulgarities.

In terms of soccer, I have never been a big soccer player and the only people who play are muchachos the ages of 12-25 who all want to date me. Avoiding that one.

Despite the lack of sports I had for a while ..I didn’t give up. I decided to introduce Ultimate Frisbee. I also had never been a big Frisbee player BUT it seemed like the perfect sport to bring to my community because:

You don’t need expensive equipment. A Frisbee and some grass

Everyone can play- women, men, young, old.

I need exercise in my life  

A PC Panama Volunteer started the international organization Ultimate Without Borders and is becoming very popular here in Panama.

I now play with community members almost every afternoon. I also feel good being in charge. Since I know the rules and have the Frisbee, the kids are at my disposal and have to listen to me. For example, everyone is new at Frisbee, so I take the time to show them proper techniques- without yelling or harsh criticism. If someone messes up, we all laugh. If I hear negative put downs, they sit out. If I see hitting, they sit out. It may seem harsh but within a few afternoons, I heard my children saying positive comments and giving each other high fives.

I was planning on going to an Ultimate Without Borders coach training. Ultimate doesn’t only teach kids how to play but every “practice“ has some underlying message that ranges from self-esteem to teamwork. Unfortunately I was not able to attend due to a fairly serious skin infection. BUT I hope to be able to attend a training later in my service or just make them up on my own!

I do not currently have pictures of my kids playing Frisbee so for now I have this guy ...

 

 

 

Reconnection

 

 

After about 4 months in site, volunteers must attend a two week In Service Training (IST). The point of this training is to dive into more technical skills once the volunteers have an idea of what they will be doing in their communities. For example, as explained in my last post, my community is interested in Reforestation and Eco-stoves, so I paid particular attention to these sessions. IST was also a great time to reconnect with everyone in my group after not seeing them for almost 4 months!

The first week was in a conference building close to the beach. We (Teaching English and Environmental Conservation)  covered topics such as: medical, security, behavior change, culture and privilege, money, monitoring and reporting our work, and  grants. Most of this information was review, but it became more concrete since we had been in our communities for several months.  After long days in the building, we enjoyed ourselves at the beach.

 

 

The second week was sector based, so TE and CEC were split up again. CEC went to an area of the country called the Azuero. It is on the southern end of the country and is particularly known for their deforestation. The Azuero is filled with pastures but unfortunately the slash and burn method of making these pastures has caused dramatic erosion and a desert climate during the summer. Thankfully we had training during the rainy season so it was beautiful! The community was called La Pitaloza. 

 

 

 

 

 

Yoga and the view in La Pitaloza

The first few days we worked on trash management. Our group had already learned how to make trash incinerators during Pre Service Training, but we were put to the test and all 24 of us had to help teach the community how to make them. We successfully split into groups to divide the work: importance of trash management, what is an incinerator, and the steps to build one.  I thought having a group of 24 leaders would be very difficult in leading a lesson, but we were able to successfully present our information. It was important that we allowed community members to participate and not just watch. This was also a great lesson on the do's and dont's of facilitation.

Putting the community to work

 

 

We learned about Eco-stoves and specifically how to construct them. We learned about 3 different types; each having their own advantages and costs to build. But all of them reduce the amount of firewood needed to cook and reduces the amount of smoke in the air.  

 



Making bricks for a Tower stoves. Ingredients: horse poo, sand, and dirt. All local and FREE resources!

Completed tower stove



Eco-Justa stove. Better for large cooking areas such school kitchen or community center. Most expensive because bricks are made in a factory but are extra sturdy. ANAM is willing to fund

Bliss stove. Also can use local ingredients but because of its odd shape, is not easy to repair if there are breaks.

 

We also learned about reforestation practices, which was appropriate for being in the deforested Azuero. Recap: reforestation is actually very broad and difficult to implement. Every region has its own trees and seeds. Making seed beds and nurseries are common practices, but many PCVs have trouble with communities remembering to take care of them. A method recommended by our reforestation representative was instead of building seed beds and nurseries (which may just be a failure) is to really get people to use less wood in their stoves, do not cut down more than what is needed, and leave large amounts of time in between cuttings so seeds can be naturally produced.

 

After that being said, we still learned a basic way of making a seed bed and a nursery. We also learned proper transplanting methods.

 

Some other topics covered in IST:

Recycling centers
Home Gardens

Teaching in the classroom

Making groups sustainable

 

Recycling center organized in a community several years ago and is still being used today

 

 

I have also successfully written my community analysis report! My first government written document, yay? If you would like a copy please email me at cledsall@gmail.com