My humble abode

I live in a beautiful little wooden house on stilts with a thatch roof, up on a hill overlooking the Bocas del Toro Islands and the Caribbean ocean. It might be the coolest house I ever own. We built it from the base up, cut down the trees (don’t worry, we are planting more) and constructed it with the help of my community members. I now continue to build things for my house; shelves, a bathroom and shower, rain collection system, table, benches, dish rack, etc. It sometimes feels like paradise, that is until a child starts screaming in the house 7 feet away at 3am, or a funeral procession passes under my house, or whatever other event takes place. But the message is, that I have a wonderful little home to live in and for visitors to come stay in. So to all my friends and family, come visit whenever you like, just give me an email heads up for when you might come hang out in this new humble abode!

Water is the source of life

The last few weeks, I have been supporting an extended part of my community to fight for their right to clean water. Over the last three years, they have been working with the Ministry of Health to receive a new aqueduct with the capability to provide clean water to all houses. Due to a disagreement with another nearby community, the Ministry of Health postponed the aqueduct project, threatening to give the resources away to another community. In a meeting this morning, the two communities fought for their rights. It was quite moving. The children of the school walked out in their little uniforms holding signs, making their own silent protest.

“ El agua es la fuente de vida, sin ella no podemos vivir”
“ Water is the source of life, without it, we cannot live”

“Necesitamos agua para limpiar nuestra escuela”
“We need water to clean our school”

“Podemos vivir sin luz, pero sin agua no podemos vivir. Tenemos derecho a vivir y a agua limpia”
We can live without electricity, but without water, we cannot live. We have a right to live and to have clean water.

They all looked up with eyes so big. And it is true. We cannot live without water. Without clean water, we cannot live fully. Without a clean source of water, the people collect water from nearby streams, the same streams that others use as a latrine. More directly said, people shit in the same streams which they drink out of. Through this form, stomach parasites including worms and amoebas are passed on. I have consistently had diarrea since February. And when you are in this state, you can’t work fully, you feel drained. And I even have had access to outside medicine. The case is much worse for those who cannot afford to leave the community to buy medicine, the majority.
The necessity of clean water made the answer so clear. But still, 3 hours of fighting and arguing followed in the meeting. Unfortunately, Ngobes maintain their original strength that allowed them to prevail over other local tribes, winning wars and outnumbering the others, the response to fight, to defend, even when unnecessary. But as is often the truth, a strength may rapidly change to a vice. But after incessant arguments and various political roundabouts, both communities will receive a new aqueduct, and the people will have water, hopefully allowing them to work harder and to advance.

The Chickens are coming!! The chickens are coming!!!!

I have spent the last week and a half spreading this propaganda, like the little chicken telling all the world “the sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!”. As of April 1st, a truck full of 1,100 little chicks were scheduled to arrive in my community for my group of 22 farmers that I am working with, sent by the Ministry of Agriculture. We have been working with the Ministry of Agriculture’s program which gives resources to rural farmers to plant gardens, raise fish, chickens, goats and so on. It has gone incredibly well so far, with the cooperation of the Ministry and all the hard work of the farmers in my community.
Last Wednesday, the chickens were scheduled to arrive. I ran around the day before reminding everyone that they needed to have their chicken coops ready with dry sawdust and everything. Wednesday came and no chickens. They all died in the truck bringing them from the other side of the country in the hot Panamanian sun. So we were told that Monday would be the day. Friday morning, while a I was happily sitting on my porch building a shelf for my house and helping a little neighbor girl make a pair of earrings out of seeds she collected, I got a phone call. “ The chickens are coming today, at noon!” It was 10am. I had 2 hours to inform 22 farmers that the chickens were going to arrive and that they all needed to be present to receive them. That act might be easier if everyone had phones or lived closeby, but many live between half hour and forty five minute walk away. It was a daunting task to complete. I sent out messengers, used all my phone minutes to call those who have cell phones, and ran around like a chicken with my head cut off yelling that the sky is falling. Or that is how I felt. At 11:30am, I had informed 21 out of 22 farmers and was 2 minutes away from arriving at the last house, which lies down a very steep hill, when my phone rang. “The chickens aren’t coming!!” “Oh damn! But all the farmers are already coming!” So I ran in reverse, retracting my propaganda.

So we prepared ourselves for the following Wednesday. Everyone was ready, so excited for the pollitos. We even played a game where everyone had to pretend they were little chickens. And then I got a phone call. “Kati, the chickens aren’t coming today. Only 300 arrived and we want to bring them all together”. So I had to break the sad news that “the chickens aren’t coming”. The rain rolled in and everyone looked a little more glum. I told them that I was sad and frustrated and they told me “ Don’t worry Kati, there’s nothing we can do and now we have to time to prepare better for the arrival of all the little chickens! Lets play another game.”

Life as it was in February

Overall, I feel calm, happy, relaxed, content and excited. As I rode along in the little bus today on my way back to my community after a agency meeting, listening to the radio, Panamanian version of yodeling combined with guitar and accordion, swerving down the road, just missing people, bikers, landslides, fallen trees, anteaters, and anything else in the path, I thought to myself how happy I am. I wouldn´t change my decision to come here and have these experiences for anything in the world.
But that is overall.
There are times when I miss home, when I am frustrated, when I am overwhelmed at how hard this is, but that is part of the joy and reward of it all. There are happy times and really hard times.
I have spent my month helping my womens group with organizational and leadership skills, leading a teen youth camp on self confidence, personal development, and sex, HIV and AIDS education. I took 2 teens from my community to the other side of the country for this seminar, kids who had never traveled further than the small town half an hour away from the community. The seminar was held in a beautiful place. When we arrived, we walked the grounds looking at the gardens and the lovely pond, complete with ducks. Upon seeing these duck, the boy traveling with me told me he would like to bring his slingshot to shoot the ducks to eat. I taught the girl to use a flush toilet and helped them have a fabulous time away from home. At the end, neither one wanted to leave and go back home.
Other days I spent working with 17 farmers leading them in constructing their own home gardens and planting rice and corn. I somehow got 17 grown ngabe men to participate playing a few games, giggling like children. Sometimes though, I feel really underqualified when these 17 farmers who have been farming all their lives turn to me and say "Kati, what do we do now?". But we are learning together, making our way. Everyone now has tomatoes, ´peppers, cucumbers, squash and beans growing in their gardens which they look forward to harvesting and eating with their families.
I walk around my community and twirl kids around, humor my neighbors when they tell me silly tales, laughing up a storm. The other day they told me about the Red Chinese that live in glass houses under the sea that eat people of the ngabe race ( I think this corresponds to a historic tale of a submarine appearing in the mouth of a really large river sometime in the 1940s). They asked me if I would fight a red chinese if they came chasing after me. I told them i would be too scared and would just have to run and hide in the bushes. They told me they would join me. They then, and now every day since, have asked me to give the example of how I would run hysterically into the bushes. And I humor them, running hysterically into the bushes.
I am learning so much here. My most recent lessons have been in Ngabe culture. My new neighbors practice a traditional religion called Mama Tata. Cacao is a crucial part of this religion. Whenever needed, my neighbors ask the local shaman to grant the right to have a 4 day celebration . They drink cacao (Hot chocolate, but without milk or sugar, just dark) from a big pot in the center of the room with a gourd cup, from 7pm till 12pm for 4 days straight. They put up special plants as an entrance to the house and burn termite nests to fend off bad spirits and wish for good health.
But unfortunately, good health isnt always to be found. Most children here are malnourished, not starving, just not getting enough of the right nutrients that growing kids need. Sunday, a man asked to borrow my hand grinder to grind up some food for his sick daughter. He then asked me to give him money to buy vitamins for his daughter. But everyone here asks me for money, or salt, or sugar, or whatever they come up with. And I just can{t always hadn out things, because it isnt sustainable and will not help them into the future. It doesnt change anything, it is only a temporary remedy and often times the money is just wasted anyways. So I lent him my grinder and we compromised on me visiting on thursday to see what kind of sickness she had. She died on tuesday, at age 2 of malnutrition. All I could do on thursday was console a crying devestated dad who has now lost three children to malnutrition. It was too late to ask for help, but that doesnt mean that I didnt cry too.
These are the hardest things I will ever face. I almost feel like I am being unfair sharing these sad stories, since it breaks my heart, but it has to be known that it isnt all pink clouds and candy gum drops here. Oh what those kids would do for gum drops to be falling from the sky.Oh but their poor little rotting teeth.
Little by little here, working for the future.

Development at its finest

We all imagine how the things we donate to humanity change lives. And yes, they change lives, sometimes in ways we can never imagine. So my parents were so incredibly kind and brought down so many things to help my community. Thanks to Callie for the new books, small children come over to my house all the time and sit on my porch and read, some are just starting to learn. My favorite are the two little girls who no matter how hard I try to explain it, they always ask why the dogs in the book "Big Dog, Little Dog" walk on two legs and wear T shirts and drive cars and tell me that the ones here just walk on 4 legs. The concept of "an imagination world" is a little hard. Thanks to all the nurses and doctors in the Emergency room at Island Hospital, my community now has two copies of a medical book called "Where there is no doctor" to use as reference when people get sick and don't have enough money to leave the community to see a doctor. And there are now some medical supplies available. And thanks to those who donated the toothbrushes and floss. 50 kids came to a little health presentation that my mom and I gave and learned about general health care (hand washing, diarrea, fevers and toothcare). Due to increased amounts of sugar in the diet, there are a lot of little rotting teeth in the mouths of these kids here. At least that is my theory. Another wise elder in the community says that it must be the sugar and the change in diet from good foods from the farm to processed foods (sound familiar?) but is also caused by the lack of tooth care. And when they say tooth care, they mean that when you loose a tooth, you must wrap it up in a special leaf of a special tree and dig it in a little whole at the roots, so that your teeth and the tree will grow strong (for those of you who have read Life of PI, it might bring to mind some images). This of course led to me telling the story of the tooth fairy which they thought was absolutely absurd! After the presentation, each child went home with their toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss, so proud and excited. And sending these children off, I imagined all the great uses they might find for floss, like fishing, or tying sticks together, hoping that maybe some of them would try it out to the benefit of their little teeth. Two days later, I was visiting a house and a little kid came running up to me, so excited to see me, shouting my name, with the biggest grin on his face, showing all those little rotten teeth, and around his neck, he had created the most fabulous medallion from the neon green floss box. He had creatively used all the floss except the last two feet in those first two days and with the remaining piece, he created a necklace of champions, tied nicely around his neck. So we brought joy into their lives and maybe a little bit of improvement to their health. Little by little the word is. A young man just told me a nice little saying for that. Poco a poco, una vieja gacha come un coco, meaning, little by little an old woman with no teeth can eat a coconut.

Welcome to the new year

Happy Holidays to all of my friends and family. I hope that you all enjoyed the season thoroughly. I had a great holiday season filled with visits from family, new experiences with the community and just a good amount of cheer!

My parents came down and visited me for a few weeks. My dad was here to celebrate christmas and we had a fabulous time. We celebrated with the dearest family here, the family of the woman in charge of the women´s artisan group. We made delicious traditional food. All day Christmas eve, we prepared tamales and wrapped them up in banana leaves and cooked them on the fire. In Panama, you stay up until midnight on christmas eve to bring in christmas day. I was in charge of the desserts for this grand family celebration ( and when I say grand, I mean that probably a total of 40 people ate at this festivity). I made cake and pie and tiny cinnimon rolls which were a great hit. The family that we celebrated with is very fortunate in the community and had saved up all year and bought a generator for christmas, so they could have light for the celebration. So I had electricity for the night! We even got to decorate a small fake christmas tree and put some lights on it, but only here would you have to worry about scorpìons stinging you while putting up the christmas tree! Christmas day we made a big traditional soup called rondon with fish smoked over the fire and all sorts of lovely root vegetables and other wild veggies. And from there, my dad and I walked from house to house, handing out those little candy canes to all the little children. I think we may have confused the kids, seeing to that my dad has a white beard and was handing out candy canes on christmas day. But the truth is, Santa is not a tradition from here and not too many kids are aware of his presence in the world. We were very fortunate to celebrate christmas with such abundance, as there is a lack of food in the community after the storm and not every family was as lucky to get to make a special meal for the occation. But most found enough spare change to have a drink (asi es la vida).
The holidays were a time that passed quickly but really enjoyably, with all these amazing new experiences. But I missed you all, all my friends and family and the snow. It is quite hard to even comprehend snow, but yes, if I think really hard in my mind, I can maybe start to see a flake or two.

Rainy day turkey day

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I am thankful to my friends and family and all that support me. Without all of you, my life outlook would be a bit gloomier.
The last month has been a little hard due to some issues within my community, a few health problems and now the current situation. It has been raining in the province for the past two weeks. All of this rain has led to intensive flooding, landslides, crop loss and more. My community did not flood, since we are on the side of a hill, but many people lost the cacao that they were drying to sell, as well as all of their bananas and platanos fell over in the mudslides.I, just by coincidence, left the province the day before the roads closed to attend a seminar on the other side of the country. We as volunteers will be helping out with relief efforts for the upcoming week and much longer depending on the status of communities. This has been the worst flooding in 40 years in the country. Only certain communities were badly damaged, but many were left without food due the closing of the roads. Looking at all the work to be done here, I can only imagine how hard it must be in countries were hurricanes and floods hit hard every year. But we will work through this. We are looking at how we can help our communities be more prepared for the next natural disaster as well as how we can take this experience to help empower our communities to help themselves not only in times of disaster, but through all challenges.
Beyond these hard times, other things have been going well. I have been helping a new group of community members make chocolate to sell and although they have a lot more to learn, it is a fun process. In order to make the chocolate, we harvest the cacao pods and then open them and take the beans out to ferment. We then dry them in the sun ( which becomes much harder when there is no sun, only rain). We then toast the beans in a giant pot over a fire. After pealing them by hand, we grind them up with a hand grinder and add in sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. And my oh my does it smell good. I have also been teaching how to make organic fertilizers and helping teach english in the school. Every saturday I work with the women's group to sew beautiful geometric designs to create traditional dresses called naguas. I just finished my second skirt. And we are working on selling these cultural beauties.
Before the rains started, we had some beautiful evenings with the full moon. It is quite lovely to live a life where you know the cycle of the moon and the exact time the sun rises. My favorite new panamanian Ngobe story is the superstition that if you point at the moon, a gigantic blister will grow on your finger, the size of the moon (ok well, not quite). So of course I pointed at the beautiful full moon and all the children shrieked in response. In order to avoid the growth of the blister, you must tap your finger on a rock 5 times (somewhat equivalent of knocking on wood). So luckily I don't have a blister growing on my finger, but instead I do have a few worms in my tummy. Asi es la vida.
Despite the tummy, I did have a fabulous thanksgiving in which I got to celebrate with many friends to a feast of turkey, mash potatoes, cranberries! And although I miss friends and family at home, I also have a home here with friends to share these experiences. So I am thankful to all of you at home and all of my wonderful friends here too.