Hasta Luego

I am writing this post from a small house in Panama City and today is my last day in the country.  Let me remind you that my Close of Service date was for April 29^th.

Today is March 22^nd and I left my community of La Mina on March 8^th.  

The followers of my blog know that I had a security incident back in September. Peace Corps and I filed several restraining orders through local and provincial authorities.

Unfortunately, the incident became more complicated and on March 2^nd I was asked to attend a mandatory meeting in Panama City with the Peace Corps security department and the country director.

Due to recent events, they explained to me that the recent security plan needed to be updated (it has been 6 months) but since I had such little time left and for the sake of my safety and security, I was asked that I do an Early Close of Service. I would not be penalized for an Early COS and would receive all of the benefits of a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. But I would be leaving my community March 8^th.  I had 5 days to tell my community, pack my things and leave.

I would not have the awesome despedida (good bye party) that I had been dreaming about for a year. Several mini-projects would not be finished. I would not have the “last times” of doing this or doing that that I had planned with several community members. I would not see the kids in the school plant in the garden.

The next 4 days were some of the most stressful days I have ever had in my life. But the day before I left, several members of the community pulled together and made a goodbye ceremony. It was not the grand extravaganza that I dreamed of. There were no drums or music and I did not wear a traditional pollera. But there was my favorite traditional food and lots of love. People shared their experiences: from work to community events to even having coffee at their house. I tried everything I could to hold the tears back (crying in Panamanian culture is a no-no) as people expressed their love and gratitude for me as a volunteer and as a person. I realized that I did not need all the fancy party things that I had dreamed of, because I received expressions of love, friendship and gratitude.

Final Community Meeting

Lined up at the Despedidia

I spent the next week in the office doing the COS process (medical appointments, dental, administrative paperwork blah blah). From there I asked PC to postpone my flight because I needed time to finish the paperwork to bring Oreo home with me. Meanwhile, I thankfully know a family in the city who was willing to take me in for the week and were just wonderful- fed me, washed my clothes, and showed me some areas of the city I had never been too.

As I look back on these past crazy two years, I don’t ask myself if it was worth it. My motive for why I applied for Peace Corps and why I was able to finish my service are worlds apart. I tell myself that I am a stronger and changed person. Living and coexisting with people who are completely different has made me reflect on world problems such as poverty and governmental corruptness, but I have also changed my values on family and my own culture. I have planted seeds in individuals that I will never see grow. That is what Peace Corps is about and that is why I did it.

 

The Gong Ringing- I am officially a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer!

 

Visiting La Mina- a different perspective

  I recently had the privilege of spending a week visiting and volunteering with Christina in her community of La Mina. My employer gives employees about one week per year of time off to do volunteering, so I took the opportunity to go Panama and volunteer in the community!

I began my trip in Costa Rica (where I studied abroad), visiting friends and host family. From San Jose I bussed south to David, then met Christina in Panama City. We grabbed lunch and left for La Mina.

I wasn’t completely sure what to expect in the community - I’d been told there wasn’t electricity, but I’ve never gone more than a few hours without electricity, so it was a bit of a foreign concept. I’ve traveled through a lot of Central and South America, and had been to some pretty rural places, but still didn’t know exactly what La Mina would be.

The first thing I saw was that La Mina is beautiful. We arrived around sunset, and the surrounding hills and brush was lit with the dying light of the day. Walking around the community close to sunset was one of my highlights of being in La Mina. The scenery glowed.

After arriving, we set up my sleeping arrangements. I met Mama Chana, the owner of the house and a matriarchal type, and went to bed. For the rest of my time there I had the pleasure of meeting Mama Chana’s family, Christina’s host family, and many other warm and welcoming people in La Mina. I speak decent Spanish, but the local accent and vocabulary took a bit of getting used to. Despite this, everyone was very accepting and friendly. We spent a lot of time “pasear”-ing in the village: chatting and catching up.

During my time in the village I had the chance to learn more about the campo lifestyle, including the work, the customs, and the food. I saw the ecological stoves Christina had helped build, and helped her conduct surveys and followups regarding those. Later in the week, I helped teach the English class, and got to meet some of the younger students in the village. Everyone was very friendly, and by the end of the trip I was able to understand a good number of the jokes they made.

One of my favorite moments on the trip was during the trip out of the community to get to the provincial capital, Penenomé, for a regional Peace Corps meeting. We weren’t able to find a chiva (pickup trucks that serve public transit needs), but we were lucky enough to catch a ride with her friend… in the back of his pickup truck which was full of lumber. The ride out of La Mina has some fairly steep points hills and sharp turns, so we hung on tightly to the sides. What the drive lacked in safety it made up for in fun! (For me, at least)

I met Christina’s fellow Peace Corps volunteers (all of whom were friendly and funny as well) and saw the administrative side of the Peace Corps. I heard more about the other communities in Panama (and how they compare to La Mina), and we went to an awesome bioluminescent beach after the meeting.

The following day Christina and I returned to the village and discussed plans for ecological stoves in a nearby community with another volunteer, and I enjoyed my last night in the village.

The entire experience was amazing! The hardest part about not having electricity for me was changing my sleep schedule. I’m more of a “late to bed, late to rise”-type, but in such a setting people wake and sleep with the sun (more or less). During my downtime I would read with my headlamp, listening to the sound of the bat that lived in my house flying into my mosquito net.

I’m extremely grateful for Christina and the people of La Mina for welcoming me and allowing me such a unique opportunity.  A week can only offer so much insight into the experience, but I definitely gained an appreciation for the difficulty of the life of a Peace Corps volunteer. I have  much more respect for the volunteers who spend multiple years of their lives working in these communities.

The most surprising thing about the trip was probably the offer of a free mason jar with the purchase of seco (Panamian vodka). I suppose it beats drinking straight from the bottle :P

  

Omar Torrijos National Park

 

Since my service is coming to an end and work is slow in my community, I decided to take advantage of school summer vacation and organize a trip to the Omar Torrijos National Park. The park is close to my community and since I worked closely with the park director throughout my service, he offered to take me and a group of kids.  

The kids who wanted to go to the park had to participate in a community clean-up. This was a great success because we did the clean up right after Carnivales Holiday (4 days of non-stop drinking, rodeos and dancing). The kids came with wheelbarrows of recyclables (mostly beer cans) which we sorted together in our community recycling center.  

There were 14 kids and 3 parents who participated and the following week we were in a car with the director heading to the park. We hiked some of the paths and the guide was able to spot out birds, frogs, caterpillers, sloths and salamanders that we would have never spotted alone. Kids were in awe and could not stop taking pictures of creatures they had never seen before. We also climbed up to the top of a beautiful view and I enjoyed hearing kids complain about how "cold" it was- being from the mountains myself it was really refreshing to not be sweating and to get a break from the tropical heat!

We also prepared presentations about the importance of national parks and Panama’s diverse ecosystems.

One of my favorite moments of the trip was when a little girl told me that the park was super clean and there was no trash anywhere. She told me she wanted our community, La Mina, to be like that and was going to continue using the recycling center I helped implement. It touched my heart to see the kids so excited to be outside in nature and appreciate what their beautiful country has to offer.,

Moments like these have kept me going through these hell of a 2 years.


“One moment can change a day

One day can change a life

One life can change a world”

 

 

 

 

 

Super windy at the top of a mountain!

Nuff said

 

 

The beginning of the end

In January approximately 3 months before officially ending my Peace Corps service, I attended my Close of Service conference- a final get together with all the people I came to country with. This conference helped us focus on options for the future: how to revamp our resumes, the logistics of leaving country, and probably most important, how to say goodbye.

Many volunteers feel stressed that they do not do enough in their service – “How can I be more productive?” is always a question that runs through our mind. But our COS conference really helped us pinpoint the success we have had- not just with quantifying the number of stoves we built or number of people who attended our meetings-but also with how many goodbyes we will have to say and what friendships we will need to leave behind.  With that being said I would like to say something to my group- G74, and any current PCV or RPCV.

So we are here at Close of Service conference and it is the last time my group will be together here in country and honestly, maybe forever. In 3 months or so we will be pooping in cups and then moving on from Peace Corps. Some of us are staying a third year, some are going to graduate school, some traveling, some working, and others just figuring it out. So, the time for goodbyes has really started to arrive. Here are a few thoughts and words for my fellow friends of Group 74.

Don’t sell yourself short. That has been something that they have focused on at the office as we look at marketing ourselves for jobs and schools and stuff. And, you know what, they are right.

You are amazing. You somehow and for some reason reached the decision to DARE to be the change you wanted to see in the world. Rather than posting on social networks about problems and injustice in the world, you went out to see for yourself what you could do about it. You are all of those inspirational quotes. You embody them. You are living them. You did it.

We did it. My successes in my service are due to you. You have motivated me, advised me, accompanied me, inspired me, hugged me, shared gastro problems with me, cried with me, sweated and danced with me. With this farewell comes the wonderful realization that now we will travel everywhere all over the world, spreading joy, genuinely caring and helping others, and bringing light to your new homes. All sorts of places will now shine brighter thanks to your presence. So go out and brighten your new little corner of the world.

I will forever be sending you love, and I thank you sincerely for making me a better person today than I was before meeting you.

Darien

 

Besides Panama City, I had never been east of the Canal. The Darien is the province furthest east in the country and shares a border with Columbia. The history is interesting with rich latinos, poor indigenous, drug traffickers, tourists and the national guard. It is also the least touched province in the country, with the fewest roads and the most vegetation. We took a week vacation to explore and get lost in the depths of the Darien.

The Darien is historically interesting because as government and drug problems worsened in Columbia, the Darien was abandoned. The government over years wanted to repopulate the area so sold land for super cheap. This motivated many latinos to buy land, slash and burn, and make profit off cattle ranching. This being noted, the area is mixed with wealthy latino populations next to struggling indigenous huts. The indigenous group is called the Embera and actually migrated from Columbia less than 100 years ago. There is also a national guard group living there to protect against drug lords-but with the corruptness and lack of authority, the guards are commonly seen throughout the community smoking marijuana and trying to score with a young indigenous
woman.

 

 

Two elderly brothers telling about their travels from Columbia to Panama 

 

Even thought they are poor, they use natural resources to make elegant houses

 

From the city, we traveled 6 hours by car and 2 hours by boat to reach Sambu, a fairly developed town (and when I say developed I mean electricity and questionable-potable water) where a current volunteer hosted us. We saw large mammals and a plethora of bird species along the river.



Sambu River
 

Volunteer with counterpart wearing traditional clothing

Women traditionally wear parumas (basically a sheet that is made and imported from Japan) wrapped around the waist and the men wear a loin cloth. They paint their bodies with a plant jagua that is also used for medicinal purposes. Each design signifies a different story and meaning. We were not embarrassed to take integration to the maximum, strip off our shirts, and be painted. The woman’s chest for the Emberea is not sexualized, but seen as a symbol of family and motherhood, as the children are fed from the breast. In their cultural, thigs and legs are seen as the sexual symbol so it is important that you cover them up with a beautiful peruma. Since we were not used to wearing a sheet wrapped around our waist (no elastic) we had some trouble keeping the damn things from falling.

Artisan work with a type of grass

Seeds transformed into beautiful figurines!

Being painted back....

and front

Painted in perumas

I loved my time in the Darien and am thankful I was able to see a part of the country I had never seen before.

 

Holiday Spirit

 

 

Things have been going smoothly in La Mina since my return. We have been working diligently on the eco stoves. With your donations, we have built 8 family stoves and 2 industrial stoves. We have several more to make and is in the plan to do so after the holidays. Thank so much for those who donated!



Everyone helps out

Benefiting family with the technicians

 

Transport of materials...such wide loads !

 

The recycling center has also been taking off! Every month we have a “Dia de Reciclar” or Recycling Day where people are encouraged to bring recyclables to the center we made in the middle of the community. The last few months have been great turn outs. People came with huge bags of cans and everyone from all sizes and ages started crushing them. Some kids even got so into it they invented a “can crusher” from some wood and old nails lying around. Some of the adults make a competition to see who could crush faster.

I am working with ANAM (the national environmental agency) to take the community’s recycling to a recycling vender. When we have enough, we call our local representative and he comes to look for it in his truck free of charge. Last month we had our first sell and hauled out almost 400 pounds of trash! Cans, plastic, paper and cardboard. With this the community earned over $50 that can be used for their benefit.

One of the biggest success from this past month was a Christmas party I planned with ANAM. The representative who helps us with the recycling project informed me that every year they plan a Christmas party for a poor community and he wanted to bring the celebration this year to La Mina (connecting local agencies to communities.. win!)
I turned in a list of all of the children in the community and coordinated games with the teachers. ANAM reps told me they would bring a “few” goodies… HAH! on the day of the event 5 cars rolled up FULL of people AND presents, piñatas, candy, second hand clothes, food, and a sound system.

The kids had a great time doing team building challenges and playing games. Meanwhile the parents enjoyed watching the kids play.
After the party many of the parents thanked and congratulated me for bringing and organizing an opportunity for the kids. They had never seen a party like this one before.

Using the industrial eco-stove that we made at the school

 

Gifts for all

Just keep dancing

Fun!

Pinata craziness

Ice Cream on a hot day

Everyone got to eat!

I left the school that afternoon beat, but feeling loved. As a volunteer people ask a lot of you and most of the time (at least In Panama) people aren’t too grateful for what volunteers do and usually just complain. It was very nice to hear words of inspiration and gratefulness.

I hope all of my readers also have a very merry Christmas and happy new year!

When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some

This post is dedicated to an unfortunate incident that involved my evacuation from La Mina. On September 3^rd I was asked by Peace Corps to leave the community and on September 28^th I was finally able to return to the community. While the details of the incident are insignificant to my readers, I want them to understand my emotions of being taken from a community. A community that after a year of being here in Panama and having to change sites, was finally feeling like I was getting work done. A community where I felt really loved. I was taken out because of consistent encounters with a young man who was clearly interested in me. The catalyst happened at a birthday party, when he approached me several times very intoxicated. That very same night he broke into another house and grabbed a girl. Peace corps saw it as a threat to my security and removed me.

I know throughout my blog I have complained about Peace Corps in various aspects, however I do want to say that with this security incident, I have been very pleased with how Peace Corps has handled the situation and my comfort. After several meetings with the community and lawyers and prosecutors, I was finally able to return. It was a hard time emotionally because I was not allowed to go back without a solid security plan, nor did I know when I was able to return. Every other day was a guessing game of where I was going to be or needed to be. I called volunteers on very short noticing asking for a place to stay so I didn’t have to be cooped up in a hotel in Panama City the whole time. I am very grateful to have had volunteers here to support me through the process along with the Peace Corps Staff.  Other options were to be placed in another community, but there was no way I was going to go through ANOTHER site change. Or I could have Early Terminated and retuned to the United States. As hard as my service has been here in Panama, I love my people of La Mina and could not think of abandoning them. I used this time to reflect on my service and visit volunteers in parts of the country I had never been.

On another note, I would like to thank all of those who donated to the Eco Stove project! In less than one week I was able to raise all of the necessary funds and now that I have returned to La Mina, we will be on our way to construction. Thank you all so much.