The One with Character Building

A somewhat surprising benefit of living in a new country has allowed me to identify some aspects are unique to my own culture. One tenet of the American spirit that we take for granted is that Americans, generally speaking, are very hospitable, empathetic and friendly (New Yorkers and Eagles fans excluded).

In Panama, especially rural, indigenous Panama, people don’t ever say kind things to one another. Ever. I want to clarify that they are very kind TO ME and to outsiders in general, but to their own families or friends… forget it.

While education and infrastructure related to water, sanitation and hygiene are important, one of the most influential aspects of my job, I’ve found, has been working on developing character. I’ve been doing this through my Ultimate Frisbee club that I started at my school (Las Aguilas Fuertes de Lajas Blancas). I cannot believe the improvements I’ve seen in these kids in just a few months working with them.

When we started, practices were chaotic, the kids didn’t listen or respect me or each other. It was pure anarchy. I’d turn around for seemingly 2 seconds and they’d be dangling from trees, throwing my Frisbees into the jungle, and sending their naked 3 year-old cousins in to find them. I needed help. With the assistance of a few other volunteers and some tools provided by Ultimate Without Borders, I’ve been able to see a HUGE turn around in their behavior.  Kids actually listened when I asked them to stand in a line, they told me when they couldn’t attend a practice, they even… wait for it… used words like “please” and “thank you.”

It’s interesting to note that the many benefits of sport is recently beginning to be recognized. In fact, yesterday the United Nations declared April 6 to be the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.

http://www.olympic.org/news/un-creates-international-day-of-sport-for-development-and-peace/207997

“We have seen the true worth of sport and physical activity many times. It helps young people learn the value of self-discipline and goal-setting. It builds self-confidence. It defies gender stereotypes. It provides an alternative to conflict and delinquency. It can bring hope and a sense of purpose to refugees, impoverished communities and other people in need. It helps keep young people in school, it brings health.”

I could not agree more with this and I’ve experienced, first-hand how much of a difference sport can make in the lives of children in the Third World. It is for these reasons I’m hosting a camp for 40 kids all over Panama in February. The camp is not just to help them learn about Ultimate and Spirit of the Game but also about setting goals, resolving conflicts and thinking through decisions.

I hope you might help Ultimate Without Borders and me with this first camp in Panama.  You can donate to this project on the Peace Corps website by searching my last name or following this link:

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=13-525-033

All of the money for this project goes towards transportation, food and materials for the Panamanians attending the camp. Lodging is being donated and Peace Corps Volunteers are generously paying out of pocket. Feel free to ask me about any other questions/comments/concerns about the project.

Thanks in advance for all your support! I know this camp will change the lives for the Panamanian children that can attend.

The One with the Life Lessons

Well, I’ve officially been in site for over one year now. I only have 11 months left, and the time has flown by.   I felt like this was a good time to reflect on some things I’ve learned out in the jungle.

1. If you want to, you can get accustomed to almost anything.
2. 95% of the time, the hardest parts of living in the campo have nothing to do with lack of running water, thatched roofs, or the bugs.
3. Eggs do not need to be refrigerated. Ever. I seriously don’t remember the last time I saw eggs inside a fridge.
4. Machetes are more than just big knives. They are also lawnmowers, saws, paint can openers, toys for toddlers and orange peelers, among other things.
5. Some people suck and some people are awesome, doesn’t matter if you are rich, poor, middle class or famous.
6. Most (but certainly not all) people that are awesome are either under the age of 5 or over the age of 65.
7. It is possible that a person that does not have a lot of money may still have an unhealthy obsession with obtaining it.
8. Being poor does not mean you are lazy. It also doesn’t mean that you’re not lazy.
9. The only things my people will probably remember about me are probably related to tickling, high-fiving and poop. I’m ok with that.
10. The fastest way to do something is often the worst. It’s important to appreciate doing things the slow way.
11. Emberá babies are better looking than white babies. Don’t know why. Just is.
12. Never underestimate how quickly Emberá people will start talking to you about sex.
13. In case you weren’t sure, it’s DEFINITELY NOT about what you know. It’s DEFINITELY about who you know.
14.  There is no “correct” way to organize people. No one has it figured out. And all governments are corrupt in one way or another.
15. No one is going to do something they don’t want to do. Unless you pay them.
16. Cockroaches will never go extinct. Ever.

The One with the Conquistadors

So. The Jungle is surprisingly busy. And, as it turns out, a great place to host gringos!

First and foremost, in May some lovely friends were out here (yes, here: Lajas Blancas, The Jungle, Forgotten Province of Panama). That’s right folks, Javier Chan Ruiz, Megan Lyons, Nicholas Catania and (drum roll, please) Holly Hodges came to visit! We had a great road trip traipsing from Panama City to my village and then to the beach.

Luckily while they were here, I was able to show them how wonderful and secure the law enforcement system of Panama is. The police pulled our vehicle over twice during the visit. The first one for not stopping at a stop sign. Mind you, the stop sign was in the middle of the road, facing oncoming traffic. When, we pointed this out, the response was, and I quote “then you obviously should have remembered from when you came in to the Darien that you had to stop here.” I couldn’t make this up if I tried…

The second one for speeding 5 km/hr over the speed limit (approx. 3mi/hr). Luckily we got out of the second one because it started to rain. The police officer didn’t want to get wet writing the ticket.  Like I said, Panama’s law enforcement system is on it.

Aside from personally funding Panamanian law enforcement, we did enjoy a few days in my site, got a few tats, and, most importantly, played A LOT of Settlers of Catan, the world’s best board game. I’ve been playing since high school.   Though I had a string of bad luck while the crew was here, I did start dominating other PCVs. I was undefeated until very recently. What I’m saying is: bring it on Hodges.

Speaking of taking over the world, that brings me to my next point. In June, my neighbor had a visit from 300 high school kids from all over the world, visiting historical places in Panama.  It was called something like Ruta Quetzal and they were doing a tour of Panama and also a few countries in Europe. So, I mean, you’ve got 300 white kids show up in the middle of a village in the jungle that has 200 people – obviously I had to see this. So a few PCVs went to watch (and mostly watch how people dealt with bathing in the river). It was quite entertaining. The most entertaining part, however, was during a cultural exchange. The Emberá did their little Emberá dances, as usual. When the Europeans got up to present their culture they felt it appropriate to present jousting. JOUSTING? Really?  A bunch of Europeans show the native Indians FIGHTING? The irony was too much…

Finally, this past week, I hosted about 30 PC Trainees in my site for a week of Technical Learning. Though it was a logistical nightmare and a lot of planning, it was a really great week (also full of Settlers of Catan). We built 4 small water tanks for the community, 4 drains for the non-functioning water tap stands (that’s a whole separate issue), started a compost latrine, and made a few walkways. Each of the trainees also stayed with a host family in my community, which was definitely a highlight for my community. They enjoyed having their own personal “son” or “daughter” and feeding said gringo/a weird Emberá food and sharing with me whether or not they ate it. This may have only been entertaining for me…

A few pics from Tech Week:

 

Building some cement sidewalks

 

 

 

Group shot by the super-clear Rio Chucunaque

 

 

Heading up to the water tank to do some surveying with a water level.

 

Building a drain for one of the tapstands for the aqueduct.

 

Celebrating a well-made ferrocement rainwater catchment tank.

 

Can’t leave my site without getting a least a few tats. :)

The One in the Dry Season

First off – I apologize. This blog will cover only Jan – March. My b. Ok, back to scheduled programming…

 

As in all tropical areas, there are two seasons in Panama: rainy and dry. The rainy season means that it rains. Hard. For at least for an hour a day. So hard that my entire community is basically a mud pit and I can only walk around in rubber boots. The dry season literally has no rain. The whole community looks like a desert.  Yeah, Panama doesn’t do moderation. This year, the dry season was surprisingly short and productive. I say “was” because it seems to have ended in April. Normally, the dry season should be from December through April or May.  Thank you, global warming, now Panama rains about ¾ of the year. Fabulous.

 

IN ANY CASE, this particular dry season was crazy productive. It is the only time where Panamanians like to work. They’re surprisingly scared of getting rained on. It started with the compost latrine in my neighbor, Amber’s, site on New Year’s. After that I held a seminar in my site about the new water system. There’s still some problems with the system but the seminar went pretty well. More on the water system next blog post.

 

Then I went straight to the absolute best experience I’ve had in Peace Corps so far: GAD Camp!! 

GAD stands for Gender and Development and it is an organization within Peace Corps that focuses explicitly on sexual health, gender roles and empowering women, so obviously right up my ally. Every year in Panama we put on a week-long camp for two youth between the ages of 12 and 17 from every Peace Corps community. This year there were so many applicants they actually had to turn a significant number of people down, as well as facilitators. I was lucky enough to be chosen to attend.

This is my team at GAD camp:

 

So in just 5 days, 7 other facilitators and I spent all week with 40 youth from all over Panama. There were indigenous kids as well as latinos, kids that traveled an hour and kids that traveled days to get to the camp. Some of the kids had never left their small villages before. It was great to see the camp relationships form over the course of the week. Throughout the week we worked with the kids on life skills: organization, goal –setting, resume- building as well as extensively covering sexual education.

 

It was by far the most exhausting and productive week of my service so far. We literally were with the kids starting at 6am until 10pm every day – always trying to teach them, keep their interest, and (of course) keep them out of trouble. We even had one little camp romance by the end of the 5 days (how is that even possible?!). One highlight for me was to see the indigenous girls get really involved. There is a lot of racism between the latinos and the indigenous. By the end of the week, the latino kids were asking about Embera traditions and basic phrases in the language.

This is the boy that I brought with me to camp:

AND you can check out the GAD Camp video – https://vimeo.com/57813660 

 

Anyway, following the Best Week Ever was my Best Idea Ever: I built my very own compost latrine at my house. With the help of my neighbors (that will be sharing the latrine with me), PCVs from Panama and a very special guest appearance from an RPCV from Zambia, we completed the project in about a month. It was the Best Idea Ever because:

1. People actually believe me when I tell them I’m an engineer.
2. My people think I’m strong (it was a nice self-esteem boost)
3. I don’t have a poop in a hole any more – I have a nice fancy concrete box!
4. People actually believe me when I tell them I’m an engineer (did I mention that one?)

 

My neighbor/adopted child helped too :) 

 

But really, it was the best idea because since then, two other families have started construction of their own latrines – with their own funds! I’ve only been helping them with the design and education and they’re doing everything else on their own. This is really the most important part of my job –  that what I do is sustainable, such that my community no longer will need me. I literally am trying to work myself out of a job.  The more my community can do for themselves, and the less I bring in outside resources, the better. 

 

Until next time! We get to start talking about Lajas Blancas’s very first Ultimate Frisbee Club! Get excited!

The One with all the ULTIMATE!

I’m not sure how well you know but I kind of enjoy playing this sport called Ultimate Frisbee. You know, a little bit. Occasionally. And obviously, like all casual ultimate players, I brought 50 discs with me to Panama.  I’m definitely not obsessed.

Anyway, now that I’m here, I am happy to say that I am part of a really incredible ultimate community in Panama.  A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Panama (RPCV) and another from Azerbaijan, Ben Searle and Dai Lin respectively, started a non-profit organization called Ultimate Without Borders.

Basically the mission is to work with PCVs to start ultimate youth teams and use ultimate as a tool to develop skills such as communication, goal-setting, teamwork and emotional intelligence. 

Another PCV, Ken Hartman, did some great work in his school on the other side of the country with regards to Ultimate Frisbee. Him and I are teaming up to be the Program Directors for Panama.  So this past weekend the two of us and Ben led a seminar for 11 other PCVs on how to play ultimate and use it as a tool for their own youth groups! We’re planning on doing at least two more of these, hopefully more, and training about 35 volunteers by 2014.

It was SO much fun and more importantly, I can already tell that this will be one of the most productive and sustainable contributions from my service.  I really believe that working with youth to develop these important life skills will be infinitely more helpful to my community than any latrine project, or water system, or grant I could find.

So everyone should go on facebook and support Ultimate Without Borders because it is a truly great organization! (Yeah, I’m shamelessly self-promoting here).

 

Here are some pics from the training this weekend: 

 

Ken and I at the Training of Trainer’s

 

Lot’s of PCVs are about to start ultimate clubs!

Teaching the game :)

 

 

The One with the Compost Latrine

Nothing says Happy New Year like building a compost latrine! So that’s what I did.

 

A few volunteers and I were visiting a friend’s site to celebrate the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. For the midnight festivities we even finagled cold champagne and fresh grapes, which may not sound like much but is fairly difficult to attain in places that don’t have electricity.

 

The volunteer I was visiting is continuing her compost latrine project started by her previous volunteer. A compost latrine is basically a concrete box that you use to take care of business. It is different from a regular latrine in that it separates the pee and the poo. If you manage it properly, you can eventually use the poo as a compost for trees and flowers (not recommended for vegetables and root veggies for obvious reasons).  It’s a really cool technology and great for areas like mine that have a really high water table. PLUS, they don’t smell. It’s like magic!

 

Her community is super motivated for this project since they have been waiting so long to finally be able to build. Both volunteers have been doing such a great job educating the community that they are literally begging to work. It’s incredible. A few other volunteers came along to lend a hand and learn the mechanics of laying block (the most difficult part of the build) and building the concrete structure.

 

So 8am sharp on January 1^st, everyone was working. It was so nice to finally construct something. I feel like this is the reason I came here. I don’t want to be an engineer that sits behind a desk and plays with AutoCAD all day. I want to actually do something. So finally getting my hands dirty was pretty much the greatest start to a new year I could ask for. 

The One with the Stingray

Yes, stingray. But first, let me give you some context.

 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday in the States. It’s a holiday based entirely on sharing delicious food in the most beautiful season and spending time with people you care about. To me, there’s nothing better.  Thankfully, in Panama there is a tradition of getting all the PCVs in country together to eat some delicious turkey and traditional Thanksgiving foods. I, however, almost missed this scrumptious fiesta…

 

So the week before Thanksgiving my group of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) had to get together for another training event.  We had training during the day and every night after dinner we would walk about 45 minutes down to the Pacific Ocean and just hang out. You know, drink beers, make fun of Panamanians, and talk about diarrhea.

 

One night, I was just minding my own business, frolicking around in the ocean with my friends and BAM. Something scraped my ankle, but I had no idea what it was. When I got out of the water my ankle was bleeding, but not too much and I thought I had probably just manslaughter-ed a very aggressive crab.

 

That was Thursday. On Saturday my foot swelled up the size of a grapefruit.  It started to turn red and purple and hurt so badly I couldn’t walk without limping.  So I made my way to a hospital to have it looked at on Monday. The doctor took one look at me and said, “Danielle, your foot is the 3 times it’s normal size and you have 14 infected bug bites on the same leg, you’re staying here tonight. And probably tomorrow night.” (As a side note, the bug bites were completely unrelated). Anyway, long story short, I was on IV antibiotics in the hospital and the doctor didn’t know what was wrong with my foot. By Wednesday night I was feeling better and DYING to get out of the hospital. THANKSGIVING IS TOMORROW, I AM NOT EATING PANAMANIAN HOSPITAL FOOD FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER (Panamanian hospital food was cheese and mustard sandwiches, I was desperate).

 

Then the most ridiculous thing happened. The doctor came in and told me that he was pretty sure that 1. The wound on my foot was in fact due to a stingray and 2. That the stingray had been carrying flesh-eating bacteria.

 

Yeah.

 

Despite flesh-eating bacteria, the antibiotics had been working and I was able to leave and make it to my Thanksgiving dinner just in time! I’m still on antibiotics and will have to rest for a while longer but I should be fine now.  Plus, I feel like a baller for being attacked by a stingray with flesh-eating bacteria.

 

On a sappier note, this Thanksgiving gave me a whole new list of reasons to be thankful. I’m especially grateful for the people that came to visit me during those 3 days in the hospital and brought me this cake. 

 

And I am REALLY REALLY thankful for Alexander Fleming and his accidental discovery of antibiotics. 

 

I have also included a list of other things I’m thankful for this year.

 

Reasons I’m Thankful  – Panama

1. Panamanian Piñata (see previous post)
2. My fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, no one else can quite relate
3. My best friend, Emmanuel, an 11 year old boy that helped me plant passion fruit in my garden
4. Anyone in Panama that goes to their job to do work and not just to get dressed up. (You’d be surprised)
5. The few gems of my community that are patient with my terrible Embera and actually help me to learn it.

Reasons I’m Thankful – US

1. Real piñatas
2. The invention of Thanksgiving (seriously could there be a better holiday?)
3. Trash cans,…that get used, and also emptied
4. Toilets
5. Beds/mattresses
6. The inclusion of vegetables in meals

 

And obviously I’m thankful for anyone still reading this blog ;) 

 

The One with the Panamanian Piñata

November 3^rd is Panama’s Independence Day from Colombia. November in general is the season of holidays in Panama and they celebrate their independence a little differently than we do. In November, half the month is is a holiday. And each one is celebrated in the same manner (to be fair, not all of these days are celebrated but at least 5 of them are).

Here are the Panamanian November Holidays

Nov. 1 – Children’s Day

Nov. 2 – All Souls’s Day

Nov. 3 – Anniversary of the Separation from Colombia

Nov. 4 – Flag Day

Nov. 5 – Colon Day

Nov. 8 – Anniversary of the Establishment of the Comarca Embera – Wounaan (only where I live)

Nov. 10 – Anniversary of the First Call for Independence from Spain

Nov. 28 – Anniversary of the Independence from Spain

Panama, in general, is a very loud place. Music is played only on the highest volume, so it goes without saying that a Panamanian holiday would embrace the loudness. To do this, speakers are just not loud enough, so they give any and every small child a drum and have them all parade around the community for hours on end. What a delightful experience. Also, deafening.

Another tradition, apparently, is to have a piñata. But this is no normal piñata, (obviously – this is Panama, don’t forget).  So imagine it this way, replace a baseball bat with a machete. Replace the traditional piñata with a live chicken. Now, instead of hanging the piñata (live chicken) from a rope, you bury it in the ground so that only it’s neck and head are above ground. All other rules apply. Yes, including the blindfold.

As November is now coming to an end, there may be a day when I miss being awoken at 4am by the sound of children drumming, but at least I know there will be next year.

Some of the finest lyre-playing I’ve ever heard

Boys dressed in traditional Embera garb

The boys parading with their drums (yay!)

The baton girls during the parade

The One with the Third World Problems

A friend of mine wrote this. This is a compilation of stories from Peace Corps Volunteers in Panama. I hope this entertains you. Guess which ones are me :)

A cow ate my underwear off of the clothesline.
My bug bite started growing.
There’s a ______ on my _________.
My pillow molded.
I got stuck in the mud up to my knees and my neighbor had to come pull me out.
I fell in the latrine and was shouting for help for 6 hours before someone found me.
My bus broke down on the side of the road in the jungle at night. FARC stopped and helped us jump the battery.
There’s a 250 lb pig in my canoe.
I took a shower in the rain. Halfway through shampooing, the rain stopped.
I can’t build my house this week because the moon isn’t right.
I can’t teach English at the school this week because it is possessed and needs to be exorcised.
I can’t remember if I took my malaria pills this week or not.
I have a double infected foot fungus.
I ate an endangered animal, and it was the best tasting thing I’d had in weeks.
I don’t know what I am eating.
I DO know what I am eating.
I missed my pee cup.
My boat ran out of gas halfway upriver to the port.
It’s 100 yards to the latrine. It’s pouring.
There’s a drunk man I have never seen before sleeping in my kitchen.
I bought a 25 lb bag of rice to feed my family for the week. They cooked it all in one night and invited the neighbors over. Tonight I don’t have dinner.
I got chased down by dogs on my way to the latrine at 2am.
My town is underwater.
My town put in power poles and connections to each house for electricity. We’re moving the entire town to higher ground next dry season.
My host dad won’t let me out of the house because my Spanish sucks.
My host dad won’t let me out of the house because I am a woman.
My country ran out of malaria pills.
I’m stuck in rush hour traffic on a 30 year old school bus with no A/C, sharing my seat with 3 Panamanians, and they’re blaring accordian music.
I woke my host family up beating on the walls due to my malaria med-induced dreams.
The border police thought my ID was fake.
My malaria meds make me cry spontaneously.
I went home to the US to visit and wasn’t feeling well. I told the urgent care nurse I either had Dengue or Malaria. She thought I was kidding.
There are ants in my toothbrush.
Today I was so bored I _____________. (this will probably be its on post in the future)
My matches got wet so I couldn’t make dinner.
My doctor told me it was a health hazard to have flies in my latrine and recommended that I pour kerosene in it then toss in a lit match.
We went to catch dinner in the river. We didn’t.
To send a text, I hit send then throw my phone up in the air to find signal. One time, I didn’t catch it.
To call you back, I have to trek through overgrown jungle, wade through a river, then climb a hill.
I went to the gas station. They didn’t have any.
I found 3 worms in my fruit. After I had eaten half of it. I gave it to my host mom. She took the worms out and gave it back to me to finish.
I’m standing by the side of the road waiting for my chiva. My chiva isn’t running today. I don’t know that yet.
I have a beach front hut on the carribbean. My community uses the beach as a latrine.
There’s a hole in my mosquito net.
I think I accidentally got married.
I went to the post office to send a letter. They didn’t know how.
I had spagetti for lunch. I forgot. When I threw up later that afternoon, my first thought was, ‘oh god I have worms!’
Our tiendas are out of food until tomorrow.
I have been hungry for 2 months.
When the boa constrictor fell from the roof onto my bed, my host dad said, ‘Don’t worry, he’s probably not big enough to kill you yet.’
The medical office wants me to make the 7 hour bus trip to come see them because I have to use the latrine every 20 minutes.
My host mom sent me to go get chicken for dinner. I told her the tienda was sold out. She said, ‘I know’ and handed me a knife.
My pile of dirty laundry just moved.
I got splash back in my face.
A pupply licked my butt when I was squatting over the latrine.
My host mom uses plastic bags as kindling whilst cooking.
I wear my sunglasses at night to watch the lightning.
A horse pooped in the doorway to the latrine.
My Panamanian women told my Columbian women they can’t be in the same crafts group.
There was a protest in my site over the need to build a road. But the protest was in the middle of the road.
I called to make a reservation at a hotel for the night. They never asked me for my name.
A rat peed on my bed. While I was sleeping in it.
If I wash my clothes I am afraid I won’t have enough water to bathe.
Smirnoff is the only thing on the top shelf.
Bot flies.
It took 30 years to build a road.
My peruma fell down when I stood up to introduce myself to the director of a government agency.
My community made me dance for them. Alone.
A man at the cantina offered my guy friend $2,000 for the opportunity to sleep with me.
I think there’s an unintelligable drunk trying to sell me coke right now. Not the soda.
On our night off, I went out to party with friends. By 8pm, we were all exhausted.
I bought ONE margarita at the mall. I got drunk.

The One with All the Soap

Now, if you know me, back in the States, I did laundry once every few months. And I would literally bend over backwards before I’d shower twice in one day. I mean, I didn’t see the point in washing clothes that were just going to get dirty again. Same goes for the body (I mean really, why shower after ultimate practice if I’m just going to go running in the morning?). I literally think I went one semester in grad school washing clothes three times (though I did shower more frequently than that). And that’s in a machine, you literally just have to throw the clothes in there, add some soap and come back in an hour. It’s basically magic.

 

In Panama, I do laundry like twice a week, mostly because it gives the community something to laugh at. I go down to the river with my little laundry soap and basket and sit on a rock and people just watch me struggle. They laugh for a little while, then they all discuss which one of them is going to try to help me.  And let me tell you, it’s HARD. And not because it’s physical (it is a little), but because there’s a specific technique to it.  When the women in my community wash clothes by hand there’s a very specific sound that it makes. I can occasionally make this sound but I still haven’t mastered it. And when I do get the sound, I get really excited… which then just makes anyone in the river laugh even more.  

In other soap-related news, I buy soap like it’s going out of style. I bought soap to put in my host family’s house, to bathe with, to wash clothes with, another to wash clothes with (accidentally, Spanish still isn’t great), another one to bathe with since the first one got lost in the river, and some Clorox to wash clothes with (still counts as the soap genre, right?). That’s a lot for one month.  But it has translated into some small successes. I sewed a little pouch to hang soap in my host family’s house (see below) and I’ve actually seen a few of them use the soap to wash their hands! Never before they eat or after they use the latrine… mostly just after they eat (with their hands)… but you know, one step at a time.

 

This is my little “jabonero” aka, soap holder. I went for the patriotic red, white and blue :)