Wow, it's been a while...As every Peace Corps Panama Volunteer knows, November and December bring
holiday after holiday, and in Panama, or at least in our communities, the
holidays last for more than just one day and the extended holidays mean little
to no work is going to get done. For Valle Escondido, composting latrine
construction had been put completely on hold. The community needed a
jump-start.
Last
May a group of Hydrogeology graduate students from the University of
Nevada-Reno (UNR) came to Valle Escondido as a service trip for their student
group, Student Association for International Water Issues (SAIWI). The group,
which I knew through a classmate at Notre Dame, had a wonderful time working
with the community learning about life as a Peace Corps Volunteer and life in
general in the developing world. The three students enjoyed the experience so
much that they recommended a second group to come back during their Winter
Break. From the same student organization came three more students interested
in water resources and public health protection. Having fundraised the previous
year to pay for flights and materials, the group arrived eager to work, to
build two composting latrines, and to learn about Valle Escondido.
Frankly,
I started out worried because I had just arrived back at my site after a trip
home to the States for Christmas and because New Year’s festivities in my site
seemed to still be going strong three days later. I didn’t know if I would have
gasoline, let alone a boat and boat driver, available to go pick up materials
on Isla Colon, where the group was waiting for me. Luckily, in the late
afternoon the tienda owner, Renato, was able to pick up more gasoline and
transport materials back to the community.
The
following day my community had magically recuperated and together with the UNR
group we broke ground on the first latrine of the trip. From day one the group
worked hard to communicate in Spanish and to build relationships with my
community members, and they did so flawlessly. By the third day, we had my counterpart,
the obligatory worker on the part of the latrine owner, a third worker found by
my counterpart, and three more young men that simply enjoyed working with this
UNR group. With each increasing day the community fell more in love with the
outgoing, charismatic group. Community members invited us to go swimming in the
ocean, to visit their fincas, and to learn about the cacao process.
Within
four days we had the first latrine base built and plastered with the frame of
the privacy structure in place. The afternoon of the fourth workday happened to
fall on January 7, the day of the College Football National Championship
between Alabama and Notre Dame. The entire group went to Isla Colon to watch
the game. Although it turned out to be a sad day for Notre Dame fans, I was
happy to be able to share the game watch with my dad. After a day of much
needed rest for the group in Bocas we quickly started the second latrine. With
an excess amount of workers, we divided duties so that some worked on
ferrocement toilet seats, some finished another latrine that simply lacked the
seats, and some continued working on the principal latrine. I primarily worked
with the ferrocement seats and taught the group and community members the
details of forming the seat shape, plastering the inside and outside of the
seat, and making the urine diversion piece. On the other hand, Poli, my
community counterpart, led the construction team at the principal latrine. Each
member of the UNR group synched well with the community members and the
assigned work. More importantly, younger community members, or the future
community leaders, were freely giving their time and simultaneously learning
both construction and project management skills.
Peace
Corps has three main goals: (1) to help the people of interested countries in
meeting their need for trained men and women, (2) to help promote a better
understanding of Americans on the part of the people served, and (3) to help
promote a better understanding of other people on the part of Americans. This
UNR SAIWI group did an impeccable job at achieving Peace Corps Goals 2 and 3.
The effort they put into practicing Spanish, getting to know the names of
everyone they met, and showing flexibility with food and work schedules
demonstrated some of the best qualities Americans can portray here in Panama.
My community members felt comfortable talking with each member of the SAIWI
group and walked away from the experience with good memories and new
friendships. Also walking away with new friendships, the group felt proud what
they accomplished while working “shoulder to shoulder” with my community. They
took away a better understanding of the developing world, international
development work, and the strong sentiments felt by my community for them. The
group took pieces of Panamanian and Ngabe culture back with them: photos of
dancing tipico, balls of cacao, the traditional woven Ngabe bags (chakra), and
memories of all the small children coloring in my house. Finally, the cultural
sharing will continue because before leaving I set up e-mail and Facebook for
their three closest friends in Valle Escondido.
In
the end, the trip resulted in three fully completed composting latrines, one
Tippy-Tap presentation, new friendships, and three community members with Facebook.
I’d say it was a pretty successful start to 2013, and I can only hope that the
group members might add some of their own stories to my blog…
