Pgs. 36-38 Pgs. 25-27 August 2012 Largest circulation of any Peace

Transcription

Pgs. 25-27
Largest circulation of any Peace Corps magazine in Panama
August 2012
Pg. 20-21
Pgs. 36-38
2
La Vaina
Cover and Contents Photos: E. FranquiCover Pullout Photo: R. Beitsch
In This Issue
FEATUREs:
From The Office:
4
From the Director -Brian Riley
5
Notices from Safety and Security
6
APCDs
8
Medical Office
Departments:
15
Off-the-Beaten-Path -R. Beitsch
16
Teaching Adults -J.Rudder
18
Believe What You See -J. Linck
18
People and Processes - M. Kapadia
20
Pride -M. Manupella
22
Panama Ink'd- A. Parker
23
Histo-What? -K. Piper
25
Burning the Lethargy -J. Fischl
26
Folklore in Panama -E.Miller
27
Child Snatching -A. Butler
27
El Chinito -T. Carter
28
Brujas y Duendes -C.Galligan
29
Plumed Revolution -A. Parker
30
Sombrero Pintado -A. Basurtto
31
All Hands on Death -E. Jones
32
A Day in the Life -J. Fort
34
Biological Control -E. King
36
Rocking Goal Two -A. Parker
37
Down by the School Yard -R. Watkins
38
Ultimate Frisbee- B. Searle, C. Weber,
Kenneth Hartman
41
Next Issues Theme:
Campo SKYMALL
Amazing inventions? Incredible jerry-rigs? Crazy
lawn art? Beauty potions?
Deadline: Dec. 1st
Baseball -A. Hines
42
Hiking -J. Carter
43
Coping with Stress -M. Collins
44
Bricks for Wood? Thoughts on a
9
VAC
10
Fish And Tank Iniative
45
Horoscope
10
GAD: World AIDS Day -L Geiken
46
Coco Loco! -P. Wawro
11
GAD: Healthy Artisans -N. Petrucci
48
Canned Food -L. Fishman
12
GAD: Hay Pan -A. Eden; Updates
48
Diet Dilemma -J. Rudder
13
Seeders Update
50
Volunteer Recipes
16
Dear Profe
52
Goodbye Group 66
Lost Art -- B. Gibs
“The toughest revista you’ll ever love.”
September 2012
3
From the Editor’s Desk:
For me, Panama is a long line of girls sweeping back and forth with embroidered polleras in hand. It is fireworks
going off for no other reason than it's noon on Thursday. It's that first question from taxi drivers (Tienes un esposo?), the strange looping handles made for my grocery bags, que calor- horrible!, the “Twillight Barking” (see 101
Dalmations) when it's long past midnight, and the old campesino stretched out sleeping in front of the tienda. I
live in Los Santos and we are nothing if not traditional.
However, this last few weeks, spent in the city courtesy of an epic back fail, has shown me an Alternative Panama.
I went to an International Tattoo Convention in El Dorado and was surrounded by the Panamanian equivalents of
Kat Von D, Lil Wayne, and any extra that ever appeared in a Good Charlotte video. Normally a strange duck in my
Azuero home, I was finally among my people! Loud bands, outrageously ―rebellious‖ hair, the constant buzz of a
100 guns inking at once, we were expressing our “uniqueness” all over the place. Follow this with the International Book Fair at Atlapa. A room full of books and full of people who love books. Since the 10th Doctor is never
going to drop in with his little blue box and ask me if I'd ―fancy a trip,‖ this is about as close as I get to Nerd Heaven. I've met creative writers handing out chat books, Smithsonian researchers working on postdocs, and surfers
who live only for the wave.
Whenever you think you know Panama, when you've got the rhythms of this country down, take another look. Some Volunteers will visit a friend in the mountains and find hidden strawberries. Some will go to a Comarca and
find themselves crafting away like a pre-Enron Martha Stewart. You might pop to the city for a game of Ultimate
frisbee or meditate with jungle gurus in the Darien. No matter where you go, this country can surprise you.
-Emma Rose Miller
Executive Editor
We do not accept responsibility for the views
expressed in any article within these pages. Editors reserve the right to edit articles for length
and/or clarity and photography for print. All written and graphic material must be submitted
prior to the deadline date to allow time for editing, writer approval, layout, and requests for
more material if needed.
Meet the Staff:
Emma Miller- TE 67
Los Santos
Executive Editor
FYI from Admin: PC Approved Hotels
Name of
Hotel
Check
-In
CheckOut
Cost per
night
Services Offered/
Amenities
COSTA
AZUL
2254703
225-1267
HOTEL
VIA
ESPAÑA
264-0800
10 AM
will
vary
2 PM
$28 (1) $33
(2) $45.(2)
$55 (4)
1 PM
12 PM
$35 (1) $50
(2) $60 (3l)
FREE WIFI, A/A,
CABLE, HOT
WATER, PRIVATE BATHROOM
A/A, CABLE,
BREAKFAST BUFFET, WIFI, FREE
AIRPORT TRANSFER AM: 5, 8, 11
PM: 2, 4
HOSTAL
MAGNOLIA INN
2020872
7AM10PM
11 AM
HOSTAL
URRACA
391-3972
12 PM
12 PM
$13. 50
(Dorm)
14.20 (Dorm)
17.60 (Single)
35.20
(Double)
A/A, HOT WATER,
CABLE TV, WIFI,
KITCHEN
BREAKFAST,
FREE WIFI , ACCESS TO COMPLETE KITCHEN
LAUDRY SERVICE WITH
DRYER $3.50
lavainaPanamá@gmail.com
Andrew Butler- TE 70
Bocas del Toro
Editor, Cover
Annie Hines- CEC 70
Los Santos
Editor
Andrew Parker- CEC 68
Darién
Editor
Feature Writers Include:
Erica Jones, Rebecca Beitsch, Jasmine Linck, Matt
Manupella, Chelsea Weber, Kenneth Hartman
4
La Vaina
From the
Director: Peace Corps
Role in the Development of Panama
Brian Riley
CD PC Panama
RPCV Ecuador 1985-89
I have had some recent conversations with a few PCVs and with the
VAC regarding our development
role in Panama and how it has
evolved over the past couple of
years. It is an excellent conversation to continue and I wanted to
pass along my thoughts about our
current role in development to all
Volunteers in Panama.
Panama is a unique country in
terms of development. On the one
hand, it has a booming economy
which is the envy of much of the
developing and developed world.
However, according to the World
Bank, a third of all Panamanians
continue to live in poverty with 14%
living in extreme poverty (less than
$1 a day). Many of those Panamanians living in poverty are indigenous people. The World Bank reports that over 80% of indigenous
people in Panama live in extreme
poverty.
Our commitment to Volunteer
placement states that we will place
at least 70% of Volunteers in areas
of 70% poverty level or higher and
to placing at least 30% of Volunteers in indigenous communities.
We continue to strive to meet that
commitment and in fact we currently have approximately 82 PCVs
(of a total of 243) working in indigenous communities, which
represents 34% of our total. Therefore in recent years, we have maintained and actually increased our
presence among the indigenous
population. We will continue to support indigenous communities, primarily with our Environmental
Health and Sustainable Agriculture
projects. As you know, most of our
PCVs in those projects are assigned to indigenous communities
and they deal with immediate
needs of communities living in poverty: water, sanitation and food
production. Additionally, over the
years we have had a good number
of Community Economic Development Volunteers working in indigenous communities to assist with
cooperatives and income generation projects. Unfortunately our
CED project is closing at the end of
this calendar year, but we plan to
continue to provide periodic support with CED specialists through
PC Response. Rest assured that PC
Panama will maintain a strong
presence in indigenous areas as
long as the need and interest exists.
I think there is some confusion
about how our Teaching English
Volunteers assist with issues of
poverty and development in Panama. Most of them are not yet
placed in indigenous communities,
but we do currently have 5 TE Volunteers working in indigenous
schools. Nevertheless, let‘s look at
why we decided to collaborate with
MEDUCA in the first place. In addition to the previously mentioned
poverty statistics, there are significant gaps in access to basic
quality services, especially education. Standardized tests in
math and language show that
among 3rd and 6th graders in
Latin America, Panama comes
in 14th place out of 16 countries. Furthermore, the United
Nations Development Program
(UNDP) notes that although
there are 88 institutions of
higher education in Panama,
only 2% of the poor and virtually
nobody living in extreme poverty
had access to higher education at
the turn of the century. I expect
that this has improved somewhat
in the past 12 years, but it certainly
remains a severe limiting factor for
real development in Panama. Can
you imagine how one of the most
robust economies in the world
would benefit if it had the education system to support it?
The Panamanian government
clearly understands the relationship between poor education and a
lack of sustainable development.
They realize that the entire education system must be overhauled in
order to begin graduating qualified
young professionals that can participate in the economy and take
the thousands of jobs in Panama
that go unfilled due to inadequate
preparation. In 2010, the Panamanian government asked Peace
Corps to assist with teaching English teachers how to teach English.
The Minister of Education boldly
supported the creation of this project, not only to improve English
teaching in Panama, but to begin
the process of making the education system more effective. The
process will be long and challenging, as there is a great deal of
pushback within the entrenched
system. However, I believe that this
project will have a direct and measureable effect on poverty in Panama by giving Panamanians
September 2012
5
throughout the country a chance at improved education.
The ability to speak English will open doors for communities to build tourism and other types of projects that help
sustain local economies. Improved education along with
English and critical thinking skills will allow Panamanians to take the jobs that are being created daily by the
economic boom that is ongoing. Panama desperately
wants to become a ―developed‖ nation, but as long as
education lags, it will not happen.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
By María Elena Ortiz, SSC
Finally, I would like to discuss the role of our Community
Environmental Conservation Volunteers. Some of them
are placed in indigenous communities, but the great majority of them are placed in communities and towns that
are at least one step above the level of extreme poverty.
Have you ever tried to teach a hungry person environmental education? It is possible, but it is very hard. The
importance of our CEC project at its core is to help create an environmental ethic in Panama. The environment
is usually the first thing to suffer when a country is going
through an economic boom. Our CEC Volunteers are
working with communities and schools that have the
ability to accept and promote environmental conservation in order to be prepared for the continued economic
onslaught that is inevitable. Just look at some of the environmental issues that are at the forefront of Panama‘s
headlines: hydroelectric power and its effect on watersheds and rivers, mining consequences, illegal deforestation of what little remains of the original primary rainforest, wildlife poaching, trash management, recycling,
etc., etc. You can see how all of these issues can potentially affect all Panamanians.
PC Panama will continue with the policy of REQUIRING that
PCV files a POLICE REPORT (DENUNCIA) for the following incidents: ASSAULTS,ROBBERIES AND BURGLARIES with local
authorities like Corregiduria and/or DIJ. However, minor pickpocket type thefts or loss/misplace of minor items DO NOT
REQUIRE A POLICE REPORT. SSC/CD/DPT will make the judgment as to whether or not an incident needs a police report in
order to get a reimbursement approved.
I hope this helps you understand that although PC Panama remains a very rural program, with the majority of
our PCVs working in small communities, we have diversified how we carry out our development efforts over the
past couple of years. Whether you are a community Volunteer working closely with community counterparts or
you are an education Volunteer, working closely with MEDUCA, you are all working toward the same goal of helping Panama leap forward in its quest to alleviate poverty,
while becoming a truly developed nation that can continue to build its economy in an inclusive sustainable
manner. That may sound a little pie in the sky, but of all
the countries that Peace Corps works in within Latin
America, I believe Panama is the only one on the cusp of
developed country status. Your work is having a direct
impact in helping make that a reality.
“Personal safety is lifestyle choice”.
I hope that all of you are happy, healthy, and safe. I would like
to give a big welcome to our newest group of Volunteers (G71).
NEW POLICY FOR CLAIMING REIMBURSEMENT FOR VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE LIVING ALLOWANCE STOLEN
PROVINCIAL SAFETY TEAM:
Bocas del Toro/ Ñokribo: RL: Kimberly Woods / SWs: Emily
Lange / Erica Gallegos
Chiriquí: RL: Lyle Ian Robbins /Ina Hysi ( Nov. 1) SW: Alec
Cobbs.
Comarca Ngabe Buglé RL: Jake Steiner / SW: Laura Fishman
Veraguas/Kadriri : RL: Laura Olds / SW: Eric Franqui
Coclé: RL: Aaron Winston /John Cho (Nov. 1) SW: Nathan Tusa
Panama Oeste: RL: Mary Collins/ SW: Abigail Fried
Azuero: RL:Annie O‘Donnell/SW-Herrera: Jason Cox/SW-Los
Santos: Chelsea Weber
Colón: RL: Mary Collins / SW: Kyle Wiggins
Darién: RL: Molly McCumber / SW: Hanna York
Panama Este: RL: Molly McCumber/ SW: Renee Thessing
KUDOS TO ALL OF YOU: I would like to give a big thanks to all of
you who have traveled to Darién/Guna Yala and have submitted your
leave request 3 weeks in advance. Letters now are sent to
SENAFRONT ahead of time and our communication is more effective.
FRIENDLY REMINDER for G-71 (EH/SAS): We must ensure each
house and home stay arrangement for Volunteer meets all minimum
standards as established by PC Panama. During the first two weeks
of your arrival your site, you should complete requirements for the
pre-arranged host family. We are still waiting for pictures of improvements. Please send them to SAS@pa.peacecorps.gov or
EH@pa.peacecorps.gov with a c.c. to SSC@pa.peacecorps.gov Make
sure that the pictures you send us are smaller than 1MB . Pictures
bigger than 5MB will be rejected by our email PC server.
RESIZING PHOTOS: Select the pictures to resize and go to the folder
with the pictures. Select the ones you want to send. Right click on the
highlighted files and you will get a pop up menu. Choose "Resize
pictures". You will get dialog box with some options to resize your
pictures. Please select ‖Small‖.
I hope to see you during the September Regional Meetings. If you
have any problem, question, concern or doubt please send an email
to SSC@pa.peaceocorps.gov . If the topic is confidential or you just
want to talk to me just dial 6671-2552 or send an email to:
mortiz@pa.peacecorps.gov
6
Peace Corps: Not Just
What We Do But Who
We Are
Leo Redmond IV
EH APCD
Peace Corps service is a profoundly
human endeavor.
People are the
foundation underpinning the projects and presentations and progress
that we all strive to achieve in our
communities.
As G66 EH and CED complete their
service and G71 EH and SAS begin
theirs (and for all PCV groups in
between), please take a moment
to reflect upon the people, the
Panamanians, in your lives. Each
of those relationships is a genuine
human connection, chockfull of
emotion, expectation, contradiction and all those other intangibles
that make us who we are. Each of
those relationships has been hard
earned. Celebrate them. Cherish
them.
To employ the title of this edition‘s
La Vaina, ―Riley‘s Believe It Or
Not‖: although one‘s Peace Corps
service may seem indeterminably
long at two years, believe it or not,
you will serve as a Returned Peace
Corps Volunteer much, much
longer (si Dios quiere….).
Thus, take a step back to focus
upon not what you have done during your time here in Panama, but
rather how you will be remembered by the people whose lives
you have touched.
Continue to be you. Continue to be
present. Continue to serve.
La Vaina
Leaving the BEST of CED Behind
Lisa F. Andrusyszyn
CED APCD
OJO: This article does not require an MBA to understand, so all sectors please
read!
―It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…‖
I am both saddened by the inevitable missed opportunities due to the CED
Phase Out, and inspired by the new opportunities this impending departure
has created. I have always appreciated how CED‘s foundation is at the
core of true community development – our Volunteers empower counterparts to set their own goals and facilitate the process of identifying strategies for achieving them. Our sector is not just about business, but truly
about investing in the people we work with; in building their leadership
skills, their organizational strength, and financial independence. These are
the foundation for any successful agricultural project, sustainable youth
group, well-run English club, or effective water committee. Alas, the very
fact that we are at the heart of all development efforts is what makes it
more possible for us, maybe than any other sector, to leave behind the
best of what we do. So, please read on; see all that we are leaving behind
and how we‘d love for you to remember us.
Last, But Definitely Not Least
– G66 COS Conference
Congrats G66 on making it to
your COS conference! It was
incredible to see you all under the same roof again and
review your impressive accomplishments from these
past two years. I know we
missed a few familiar faces
at the conference; those that
departed long ago-remember Greg, Jacob, Kelly and Phil?- and those that
left more recently: David, Erica, Kevin, Carmen and Andrew, and of course,
Stephen! It has been an honor to serve you all – thank you for your amazing work!
What We‘re Leaving Behind
As CED leaves, we have been working hard to leave behind our best practices for other Volunteers to continue to use long after our departure. In
many cases, we have simply been strengthening work that is already an
essential part of other sectors. See highlights below.
For SASers: Jessica Rudder has been working hard to strengthen money
management sessions in the Agribusiness Manual.
For EHers: Lyndsey Bunting has helped reorganize the sessions and improve sessions on internal management in the Water Committee (MAR)
Manual.
For CECers: We have incorporated more economic sustainability sessions
into the upcoming workshop in September. Andrea Kraus is staying on until May 2013 as the ECPA coordinator to further incorporate CED themes
into this initiative.
September 2012
For ALL Volunteers:Johanna Castillo has worked
with Erica Sausner, Courtney
Jackson, Diana Bennett,
Douglas Martin, Kim Woods,
and Elsie McIver to create a
Youth Manual to guide all Volunteers on best practices and
resources for working with
youth.
Jack Fischl and David Johnson toured the country providing Basic Business Training to
Volunteers and counterparts. These materials are
more accessible to Volunteers without business
knowledge (see Toolkit below).
Diana Bennett is staying on until November 2013
to provide Computer Training to Volunteers and
counterparts.
Do you work with a group? Committee? Artisans? Then
CED has GREAT resources for you! To help guide you
through the best CED resources available, we have
created a ―CED Toolkit Guide‖– a one-page document
to guide you through ―problems‖ that you identify with
counterparts and potential ―solutions‖ – CED resources are available to tackle those problems. There
is also an evaluation one-pager called ―Evaluación de
Capacidades Organizacionales‖- this is for you to go
through with your counterparts or any group to identify
what organizational skills they can improve.
You should be receiving a copy at your regional meeting. Below is an overview of what‘s what:
7
Believe It or Not…Great Experience with CED Agency
Counterparts:
Lastly, as CED leaves, I‘d like to also leave behind with
you the sense of importance and possibility for success in working with Panamanian agencies. I know
that sometimes amongst Volunteers (I was one not too
long ago, after all) agencies get a bad rep. However,
especially since I learned of CED‘s phase out, I have
been reminded of how crucial it is to the sustainability
of our work- that we strive to work closely with our
agency counterparts. After all, they will be here a lot
longer than we will.
Franklin is the second to the last on the right.
In CED, we have achieved great success with our
IPACOOP counterparts. Since just last year, we trained
over 20 IPACOOP técnicos from the Education Department at the national and regional levels on our CED
Business Assessment Tool- which is now an official
IPACOOP tool. These técnicos, in turn, have implemented the tool with cooperatives around the country.
For the first time, the agency has an overview of the
capacity needs of the organizations they serve. This
has the potential to massively improve the technical
assistance to these cooperatives. Most of all, we are
proud that completing the assessment is a participatory process that requires that the técnicos facilitate
and empower COOP leaders to identify
specific areas of strength and improvement.
What I‘d like all of you to grasp is that
this was only possible due to an amazing
agency counterpart: Franklin Carvajal.
Maybe it‘s because Franklin was an educator most of his career, or his dynamic
personality, or just because he has passion for what he does equal to any Peace
Corps member. But just as in your communities, it‘s all about the leaders you
find. When working with agencies, it‘s
also all about who you identify to work
with, your own persistence and consistent follow-through, honest respect for
them, as well as your belief in their ability, which makes the difference.
♦
8
La Vaina
Medical Updates
Updates from Eduardo Segovia (PCMO)
Fighting Fungal Infections
Lourdes Rodriguez, PCMO
Due to our humid, tropical weather, fungal infections are
fairly common. This is why it is very important to dry very
well after showering or swimming. Most commonly affected areas are the armpits, groin, feet and toenails.
The sun exposed areas are also easily affected by fungal
infection, although different types.
There are multiple brand name fungal creams and solutions. The active ingredient most used is clotrimazol and
ketoconazol. The latter is more expensive and it is used
as a second choice.
For athlete‘s foot infection, the best treatment is clotrimazol since it helps dry the affected skin, whereas the
cream makes it more humid. The cream works great on
dry skin lesions.
Regarding the use of foot powder, the best appliation is
to use it in your socks and shoes. If you have a foot fungal infection, powder won‘t help. What will take care of
the problem will be the clotrimazol solution. You need to
pour the powder on your socks and inside your shoes,
because that is where the fungus lives. As was said,
fungi love humid places and so pouring the powder
there will prevent the fungus from multiplying in those
places. Hence, it will help to stop the infection.
Once the fungal infection disappears, you need to keep
on using the medication for no less than a week after.
Continue weekly since it can recur.
If you need any more information, don‘t hesitate to contact your medical office.
The following are authorized medications for refill,
according to Peace Corps Washington:
1. Malaria suppression medication (Chloroquine, Mefloquine, Doxycycline)
2. Condoms
3. Epi-Pen
4. Oral Rehydration Salts
5. Pepto-Bismol
6. Multivitamins
7. Candles (water filter parts)
8. Birth control pills
9. Prescriptions authorized in your medical record
10. Insect repellant and sunscreen
This year, 2012, the medical office has resumed
scheduled visits to your homes. Due to lack of staff,
this had not been possible over the past years. Now
with a new full time PCMO, we can start scheduling
visits. We have visited some Volunteers already and
hope to visit many more. Our visit is focused on evaluating your way of storing food, cooking, diet, ways to
reach your sites, nearby hospitals, water sources and
methods of treating it to make water drinkable and
healthy. We know many of you have had frequent gastrointestinal and skin problems, with our visit we want
to see firsthand the possible causes of your problems
so we can give you the best advice to avoid repeating
these situations.
The most frequent question asked is about the best
technique to make water drinkable in a healthy way.
This is one of the topics covered during PST - the recommendation in accordance with Peace Corps policy is
to boil water for three minutes (cloudy water should be
strained through a cloth or other simple filter to remove larger particles) or filter the water and then add
2 drops of chlorine per liter or quart to the filtered water and let stand for 15 minutes. This means you will
need to add 16 drops of chlorine to the lower tank of
your filter (5%). If you only want to use chlorination
without using the filter, chlorine should be added at a
rate of 4 drops x liter of solution, equivalent to 16
drops x gallon, and let stand 60 minutes before serving. The taste of chlorine should be almost imperceptible. If you notice a very strong flavor, this means that
you have added too much chlorine, which can cause
stomach problems. The combination of microfiltration
followed by chlorination using household bleach is
safe, reliable and relatively inexpensive. Remember,
chlorine alone is not effective against the cyst form of
many parasites.
If you have problems with your skin, you should always
contact the medical office and let the PCMO know your
problems. It is important when cleaning and caring for
injuries or wounds to use the disinfectant solution is in
your medical kit (chlorhexidine detergent). You may
also use usual soap for bathing. Do not use alcohol or
peroxide for cleaning wounds. This will kill the healthy
skin cells necessary for the healing process.
Saludos! Hope to see you in the next visits.
September 2012
9
Saludos from the VAC Board: Grant News
Saludos! The VAC board would like
to share some of the amazing projects Peace Corps Panama volunteers have been doing in their
communities with their VAC grants.
The following VAC grants were published not only to highlight the success and creativity of Panama volunteers, but also to share that
creativity with other volunteers in
hopes that this could spark an
idea in other communities nationwide. The feedback forms also
help demonstrate to the VAC board
and our supporters, like Peace
Corps Panama Friends, that the
grant money is being put to good
use. Keep up the good work! We
look forward to the next round of
grant applications.
Best Regards,
VAC Board
Natalie Petrucci, El Cedro, Herrera
Sea Turtle Conservation Field Trip to
Cambutal, Los Santos
―The purpose of this activity was to
provide a small group of telebasica
students in 7th and 10th grade the
opportunity to learn about the
coastal ecosystems of their
neighboring province and the conservation of the sea turtle populations
in this area. During the excursion the
students toured the beach and turtle
egg nursery… [They] learned about
the human actions that threaten
mangroves and pollute estuaries,
and related these problems to similar environmental issues in their
home community, such as pollution
of the river La Villa and deforestation.‖
Erica B. Sausner, La Colorada, Veraguas, (TEDxJoven@LaColorda)
―Students organized and hosted an
event of ―charlas‖ under a TEDx license. Each student researched his
or her topic, crafted a PowerPoint
presentation, and shared the content with the audience. Using the
funding from VAC we were able to
make a backdrop for the ―stage‖ and
offer a small snack to the guests in
attendance... Through the process of
researching and preparing their own
talks, and working in teams to organize the events, students saw the
value in self-directed learning, and
the benefits of teamwork and organization. Although the event was not
perfect, it gave students the chance
to reflect on their work and progress
over the school year. ―
Madye Berger, Boca Chica, Chiriquí
Garbage/Recycling Center
―After receiving the VAC grant in my
community of Boca Chica, we invested in 3 recycling cans for the
school along with reusable plastic
gloves and a scale… During the environmental club, the kids use the reusable gloves and go out in the town
in search of recyclables. The kids
like to go out to the ―dump‖ and
search for recyclable materials… In
one month we collected over $100
dollars of recyclables. The grant was
successful because now the school
has taught the kids the importance
(environmentally) of recycling and
the adults saw the fiscal benefits.
This is a very large step for Boca
Chica because before people saw
absolutely no use for garbage, but
now people are starting to understand that garbage can be reused to
make money.‖
Laura Sofen, Portorrica, CNB
Visit to Model Farm
―This project funded transportation
for thirteen producers from Portorrica to a model farm in Cerro Papayo.
The producers represent men and
women from six families that currently do not have food security but
recently began working with MIDA to
adopt sustainable agriculture techniques to improve their production.
―The owner of the model farm presented a variety of techniques including rice tanks, green manures,
and terraced hillside production. For
most of the producers, this visit was
the first opportunity to see many
common sustainable agriculture
techniques in practice. Following the
visit, the producers were excited to
try new techniques in their own
farms, and were energized to continue collaborating with MIDA and
the Peace Corps for technical support. One farmer observed, ―If Felix
can do this here, we can do this in
Portorrica.‖
Thank you for all your hard work and
creative projects!
10
La Vaina
seminar this January for interested counterparts modeled on
the SAS-71 tank tech week.
Participants will receive a theory
charla and have the practice of
‗siting‘, constructing, and tank
management. More details TBA.
New projects: Visits to new sites
with interest in tank projects.
Work with PCVs on how to start a
project, and provide technical
training to communities.
Got fish? What could be better than having your own stock of nutritious and delicious fish to eat and sell? Natural fish
stocks in many areas of Panama are too
low for regular hunting; furthermore
fishing is time-intensive. Domestic fish
production is a great alternative for motivated producers who want to improve
their families‘ diets and perhaps dabble
a bit in an agribusiness (especially during Semana Santa).
We are regularly updating the written
material about tanks available on
Sharepoint: Programming> SAS>Areas
of Work>Rice and Fish Tank Initiative.
We also recently added Spanish translations of the Rice Tank Manual and
new suggestions to fanguear your fish
tank walls to seal potential leaks.
Check it out! There you can find useful
documents on how to begin a tank
project, sample solicitudes, etc.
Why rice tanks? As population pressures reduce the traditional fallow
periods between slash-and-burn cycles, dry-land rice production drops.
Rice paddies offer a sustainable
alternative. Practiced for centuries
in Asia, they additionally offer net
labor savings over dry-land rice (and
really, who would miss limpiando
arroz?). We can recommend a few
model farms to convince you: Felix
Salinas‘ farm in Cerro Papayo, Finca
de los Padres in Tolé, and INADivisa.
Greetings from the Fish
and Rice Tank Initiative!
Emilio Garcia and Laura Sofen
SAS G68, Ngäbe-Buglé
Inspired by our predecessor, Klaus
Geiger, we daily add more dientes to
our wardrobes and are here to offer
you all our technical expertise for agricultural holes in the ground We have
advice from where to locate a tank to
how to get tubes from agencies to how
to sex tilapia.
Here is a brief summary of our planned
work for the year ahead:
Follow up Klaus‘s work with PCVs,
visiting those of you he saw. How
are your projects? Would you like
follow-up charlas / work days?
Tank seminar! We hope to hold a
December 1st: World AIDS Day
Laura Geiken
GAD Coordinator
Over 30 years have passed since AIDS
first began to be recognized as a major
health threat. Still the search for a
cure continues. Until it is found and
accessible for all economic classes,
the best option for prevention is education. Education, both formal and
informal, is the chief way to combat
the virus. December 1st is internationally recognized as World AIDS Day (in
Spanish, it is known as ―Día Mundial
de la Lucha Contra el SIDA‖). This day
is an excellent way to bring up the issue of HIV/AIDS in your communities.
Activities can be as simple as passing
out a ribbon or as time consuming as
organizing a charla.
HIV/AIDS Activities for World AIDS Day
1. Organize an HIV/AIDS charla (Look
in Vida Sana, Pueblo Sano for ideasfound on Sharepoint).
2. Hold a candlelight vigil in memory
of victims of HIV/AIDS.
3. Sponsor a poster or poetry contest
about the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
4. Distribute red ribbons to community members and explain the significance.
5. Incorporate HIV/AIDS information
into a community English class.
6. Plan an awareness march through
town.
7. Work with a local agency to organize an event around December 1st.
8. Work with a teacher at the local
school to develop a lesson plan related
to HIV/AIDS education.
9. Sew quilt squares to create a mini
AIDS quilt in your community.
10. Organize a sports competition with
an HIV/AIDS theme or charla afterwards.
11. Record an HIV/AIDS prevention
public service announcement for a
local radio station.
GAD Dates to Remember:
November 22nd: Thanksgiving GAD
meeting (Cerro Punta)
December 1st: World AIDS Day
December 8th: Mother's Day
HIV/AIDS Statistics for
Panama as of 2012
Estimated 20,000 people in Panama
living with HIV.
51.9% of reported cases are of
the 25-44 age group.
47.4% of reported cases acquired
HIV through sexual transmission
(percentage assumed higher in
actuality).
3.3% of reported cases were
transmitted from mother to child.
Estimated 3,757 people in Panama living with AIDS.
60% of cases are of the 25-44
age group.
Of heterosexual relationships, for
every 1 woman infected with
AIDS, there are 3 men infected
with AIDS.
The epidemic is concentrated in
Panama Centro, Colón, San Miguelito, Panama Oeste, Comarca
Guna Yala, and Comarca NgäbeBuglé.
Anti-retrovirals (ARV) are available
in 15 clinics across the country.
September 2012
11
honor of channeling my inner Billy
Blanks (and ¨The
Crew¨ in super
tight spandex) to
lead morning Tae Bo classes to
seal the deal. Morning exercise
was a great way to get the group
pumped up and share a bit of
American culture. Plus, the women
really enjoyed seeing how high they
could kick in a paruma or nagua.
Get it sisters! Goal 2: Check .
Annual Healthy Women´s Artisan Seminar;
Achieving Goals 1, 2, 3… and 4?
Natalie Petrucci, GAD Secretary
CEC G68, Los Santos
In July 2012, the 2nd Annual
Healthy Women´s Artisan Seminar
brought talented women from
across the isthmus together for 4
days of trainings, artisan practice,
charlas on women‘s rights issues,
nutrition and much more! These
ladies left empowered to be confident saleswomen and group organizers. They also gained the tools
and knowledge to manage their
businesses and improve the health
and wellbeing of their households.
The fight to give the final palabras
of thanks and praise for the seminar amongst the participants was a
clear indication that the lessons
had hit home. Everyone enjoyed
their brief vacation from their maternal and spousal commitments
to the fullest.
As a facilitator, I felt like the seminar had a greater impact than its
intended goals of improving health
and business practices of a group
of Panama‘s talented artisans. To
process these ponderings, I began
to reflect on how we Volunteers
had achieved each of the three
Goals of Peace Corps service.
First, we had without a doubt fulfilled goal number one: of meeting
the need of trained men and
women. Our fabulous team of facilitadoras, including the last of a dying breed of Community Economic
Development divas, impressed us
all with their abilities to make business planning and money management trainings engaging and relevant for even the least confident
mathematician in the room.
Through their efforts, I witnessed a
woman master a calculator for the
first time in order to realize the true
monetary value of her work. Maybe
it was all the estrogen in the room,
but seeing these women succeed
definitely brought a tear to my eye.
Beyond the business side of things,
we were blessed with an expert
panel of SAS ladies who spoke on
family nutrition and gardening. Our
very own GAD Coordinator, Laura
Geiken, did presentations on early
childhood development. Plus there
was a team of local all-star Panamanian professionals that covered
a range of topics including: domestic violence, legal rights, sexual
health, and family planning. Goal
1: Check!
Next we have Goal 2: promoting
understanding of Americans on the
part of Panamanians. While I feel
we are almost constantly succeeding at goal two by merely being our
goofy gringa selves, I did have the
As for goal number three: this very
article and the countless stories we
share with loved ones back home,
like the Healthy Women Artisan
Seminar, are examples of how we
can open the eyes of Americans to
the reality, beauty, and hardship
that exists in everyday life in Panama. Goal 3: Check Again.
While I felt warm and fuzzy about
achieving all three goals, I left the
Artisan Seminar thinking of my two
women from Herrera; the effect of
the seminar fell into a completely
different category completely. So
what impact could be greater than
the three holy goals of Peace
Corps? In an attempt to articulate
Petrucci leads Tae Bo classes at the Healthy Women‘s Artisan Seminar.
12
(Continued from page 11)
this sensation, I am proposing a
new, nebulously worded, 4th Peace
Corps Goal, that could go something like this:
Goal 4: Helping promote a better
understanding of other peoples
served on the part of the peoples
served.
If your reaction is something along
the lines of ¨Huh?¨ let me explain.
When our bus pulled into San Felix,
my two Herrerana artisans pointed
at a Ngäbe woman with stares and
a hushed voice, ¨Mire la india.¨ In
their defense these women rarely
leave our small, prominently Latino
province. Along with a kind of childlike innocence, they tend to point
out things that are novel or different to them (it happened many
times in the trip). Of course, I
jumped on the opportunity to educate. ¨Those women are not indias,
they are Ngäbe. Their dresses are
called naguas and they maintain
their cultural identity and traditions
by wearing them, etc. etc.¨
Though attempting to rid racial or
cultural stereotypes, the words of a
Norteamericana do very little to
change stigmas or attitudes. For
my two women, being among a
Latina minority for the first time in
their lives was the most powerful
lesson learned from the seminar. I
watched them grow from being obviously timid to showing outward
signs of affection and friendship
towards women from Bocas,
Darien, Colon and the Comarcas.
One stood up to speak about domestic violence and how all of us
women of Panama need to band
together in the fight and support
one another. Another left stitching
traditionally Ngäbe dientes on her
handcrafts and making a canasta
Emberá style.
By the last day, I watched my two
ladies exchange hugs and phone
La Vaina
numbers with their fellow artisans.
Most importantly, that india, who
on day two became that Indígena,
progressed to be simply called, my
friend Selina, or my friend Isabell.
And while they didn´t sign up to be
painted with jagua, I can attest to
their attitude change and growth
as individuals. They understand
more about their own people from
different parts of the country and
see them as equals. After all, we
are all devoted mothers, daughters, sisters and, in this case,
healthy empowered artisans.
¡Sí, Hay Pan!
Ally Eden
CEC G68, Herrera
¡Sí, Hay Pan! Thanks to a GAD
grant, Panadería La Bendición is
now making and selling bread! The
bread shop is run by a small
women's group in El Ciprian.
The group has spent the last two
years trying to organize themselves into a bakery. However, it
has been a constant struggle to
acquire the equipment, skills, and
finances they needed. A $60 GAD
grant was all it took to cover the
costs of their first bread pans and
mixing bowls, some bags of all the
basic ingredients, and a brindis to
celebrate the day of their first sale.
Thanks to the grant money the
women were able to experiment
with different recipes without worrying about whether or not they
were wasting money. This made
bread-making fun and unintimidating for them. They even had a best
bread competition! Just receiving
the GAD grant had a powerful reenergizing effect on the group. So
when we combined it with a PML, a
business seminar, and a mudoven, the bakery really heated up:
selling 400 pan michas a day!
Next out of the oven? ¡Quéques!
YOUR GAD
REPS WANT
TO HELP YOU!
Sarah Watson
EH G69, Darién
Every region has its very own, eager and waiting, GAD rep. You can
call us anytime for anything, but
our expertise really lies in Gender
and Development. Our focus is to
use our understanding of men,
women, and children's roles in the
family and how it affects the community. Then we can be better
workers in sustainable development. Our focus is also comprised
of various educational and selfesteem-building activities in relation to sexual health including:
family planning and HIV/AIDS
awareness, discrimination, gender
roles, human and sexual rights,
and making decisions based on
identifying core values.
If you would like any support with
Elige Tu Vida, Vida Sana activities,
GAD grants, or any of the above
topics, please send an email to
gadpanama@gmail.com or contact
your GAD rep directly.
Your GAD regional reps are:
Lucy Hankinson, Bocas del Toro
Kendra Allen, Comarca NgäbeBuglé
Natalie Petrucci, Azuero
Madye Berger, Chiriquí
Matthew Hennessy, Veraguas
Keith Hardy, Coclé
Jen Van Erden, Panama Oeste/
Colón
Sarah Watson, Darién
September 2012
13
Seeders Update
Gardening as a Mood Stabilizer
Hallie Richards
CEC G68, Bocas del Toro
Occasionally, as PCVs, we have slow days and occasionally we have tough
days. We all have our own coping mechanisms. Some bake and eat entire
batches of brownies when their projects are slow. Others wander the
campo counting the rare poison dart frogs, while others pass the hours by
chatting with imaginary friends. I cope with the blues by venting my frustrations to my dog, who not only speaks English and Spanish, but also excels
at Ngäbere.
Seeders Needs Your
Support!
All seeds are available because
other volunteers have taken the
time to collect, save and share!
Don‘t know how? Talk to your regional Seeders Coordinator, or
email seederspcp@gmail.com.
Share your seeds or donate spare
change to help support Seeders!
Here is another activity to help pass the hours and fight the blues: get out
on your patio and garden! Gardening is an awesome way to work out your
problems, reflect, or just clear your mind. Think of it as campo therapy! Digging, planting and pulling weeds don‘t require much critical thinking, so
your mind is free to focus on your own thoughts. Planning your garden and
caring for your plants creates a sense of hopefulness and forward thinking;
otherwise our minds can become stuck in the irritations of the present day.
Time spent in the garden can be a reminder that, while we may strive for
perfection and control of the little things, some seeds may not grow to harvest, a critter may come and eat your tomatoes, or a cow may break your
fence. But it‘s okay. Life continues. When seen in a positive light, all problems can be looked at as learning experiences.
Growing stuff isn‘t all philosophical. No, sir. Imagine how swelled your biceps will be after turning your compost and limpiando your garden beds!
Physical activity stimulates blood circulation and brain activity, and increases endorphins that may be in hibernation during the rainy monthswhich help to make you healthier and happier.
One of the more obvious benefits of gardening: it is an incredible way to
engage the local kids. When sitting on your porch playing go fish just isn‘t
cutting it any more, bring the kids out to get their hands (even more) dirty.
Think of a garden bed as an outdoor classroom. Planting and watching
their seeds grow and then tasting the fruits of their labor instills a caring
ethic and teaches the value of long-term planning. Time spent in the garden is a perfect opportunity for charlas on nutrition and hand washing.
Take advantage of their captive attention to do a counting activity using
seeds, or teach about the resources plants need to live and grow. The
learning possibilities are endless.
While gardening may be daunting to the inexperienced, the soil discouraging, the insects inundating, and the rains abusive, the rewards far outweigh
the hurdles (especially when you have fresh veggies at your fingertips!). So
PVC´s, when you´re preparing your third lunch of the day out of boredom
or sharing the new bochinche with your doggie, remember the therapeutic,
interactive, and kid-friendly benefits of gardening.
14
La Vaina
Drying Seeds
Jason Carter
In the humid country of Panama,
preserving seeds from the elements
can be a difficult job. Storage of
seeds is essential for their preservation between growing seasons, as
well as passing viable seeds on to
other farmers. If you want to save
seeds for personal use, HCN use, or
for donating to Seeders boxes, drying
is one of your easiest available methods for seed preservation. It‘s cheap,
requires little previous experience,
and tropical sunlight is great for drying.
I want to talk about three different
types of seeds you can dry: Beans
and corn (this includes balo, canavalia, etc.), seeds from a fleshy fruit
(guanabana, squashes, peppers,
guava), and seeds that come in a
little bag of liquid (tomatoes, tomatillos, guayaba).
Seeds with Little Bags of
Liquid
Seeds From Fleshy Fruit
Beans and Corn
Beans and corn are very easy to
dry. Due to their large size, they
are not affected by the ultraviolet
radiation of the sun. The easiest
way to dry these seeds is to leave
them on the plant and allow them
to dry naturally. If you have local
wildlife eating your seeds (parrots,
kinkos, children, etc.), you can
remove the seeds when they are
ripe and dry them in the sun on a
sack cloth by the house. Leave
beans inside their pods while they
dry; dried beans are much easier
to remove from the pods. If you
are in a place with little sunlight
available for drying, place beans
in a porous bag or chakara and
hang them in the smoke over a
fire. Outer corn husk leaves can
also be folded back and used to
tie the ear to a beam over a fire.
When drying over a fire, leave at
least 4 feet between the fire and
the seeds. Seeds can be stored
within the husk or pod if you want.
Remove the seeds from the fruit.
Get some cloth like cheesecloth, a
bandana, or a rag. Press the
seeds into the cloth with your
hands or a spoon to pop the bags
of liquid, allowing for
the liquid to drain out
the other side of the
...drying is one of your
cloth. Once all the seed
bags
have
been easiest available methods
popped, you can give
the seeds a rinse in
water and then dry for seed preservation.
them using the same
method of the ‗Seeds
From Fleshy Fruit‘.
“
”
First step is eat the fruit and spit out
the seeds. Removing the flesh of the
fruit is important for reducing wet
material and therefore speeding up
the drying process. These seeds cannot be dried in the sun, for the
sunlight may kill the seeds. If you can
find a zinc roof, place the seeds on a
tray 4-6 inches beneath the zinc. A
more porous tray is better for quick
drying. During the day, the zinc will
heat with sunlight and softly dry the
seeds. Several days of drying may be
necessary to fully dry the seeds.
Unfortunately, ovens should not be
used to dry seeds, since they get too
hot and cook the little embryos
within.
When your seeds are dried…
Store them in a cool, dry place out
of sunlight. If you can, store them
in an airtight container. Dried aromatic herbs like oregano and mint
can be thrown into your seed storage bottles to deter pests from
crawling in and eating your seeds.
If you want to test seed viability, a
quick way to test is to put them in
water. Generally, viable seeds will
sink to the bottom of your container and the bad seeds will float.
September 2012
Three Incredible Off-the-Beaten-Path
Places in Panama
to maintain elements of a life that
As seen on Keteka.com
Rebecca Beitsch
TE G70, Veraguas
Isla San Cristóbal:
A hike through the jungle of San
Cristóbal explores the traditional
uses of many local plants, including medicinal uses varying from
upset stomach to an all natural
insect repellent, even hair replacement. Seeds, leaves and shells create natural dyes for clothing and
fiber as well as decorative items
and handmade jewelry. A traditional Ngäbe community founded
in 1958 to house the families
working on the nearby banana
farms, San Cristobal is home to
sloths, tiny tree frogs, and toucans.
--Compiled from Jonathan Lee
Emberá Purú:
Two hours upriver through Chagres
National Park, the indigenous Emberá use eco-tourism income
predates European conquest. This
is straight off the Discovery Channel. Emberá traditional garb is not
much garb at all; the men wear red
loincloths and the women wear
brightly colored skirts and no tops.
Many will have bodies and faces
painted with the local jagua fruit.
During dances, five men beat tribal
drums while up to twenty community members dance and sing in
Emberá. With dugout canoes, tribal
dances, traditional garb, and body
painting, the 133 residents of Emberá Purú are ready to share their
lifestyle, culture and environment.
-Compiled from Sara Taylor
15
Top 10
Previously
Unbelievable Things
That are Now the
Most
Believable
Things In
Panama
Rebecca Beitsch
TE G70, Veraguas
10. There’s always room for
one more.
9. Three hour news block
covers important national
topics such as “Small Country Road Remains Unfixed”.
8. Garfield.
7. Cock fight: weekend entertainment. Lizard fight: inhome entertainment.
6. Lip-pointing.
El Cedro:
El Cedro is a small latino farming
and cattle ranching community in
southern Herrera that is home to
the Poma Rosa farm, a sustainable, organic farm run by a local
entrepreneur. Owner Silverio
Jimenez started the farm to support his family but now offers to
walk people through his farm and
explain which plants have medicinal properties, which are edible,
which are imported, and other significant facts. Any time you encounter a new edible fruit or nut, he will
pull one down for you to try.
-Compiled from Jack Fischl
5. Swimming attire includes
denim.
4. Algo demora.
3. Rice.
2. Official use vehicles used
for seemingly anything but
an official use.
1. Children verbally requesting or refusing breastfeeding.
16
La Vaina
Dear Profe: Advice for English Teaching
Teaching Without
Resources
Andrew Butler
TE G70, Bocas del Toro
Teaching can be a chore without
certain luxuries. Lesson plans that
call for projectors, blackboards (or
even what to teach, for that matter)
go out the window after a quick
review of what‘s available. However, it can be done.
For starters, be a friend of contact
paper and cartulinas. They can be
found in most tiendas and are useful for flashcards, group projects
and word walls. Score one for the
visual learners. Also, the glossy
garbage left from the contact paper
can be used as a makeshift whiteboard. Write directly on the surface
and wipe away. Simple as that. For
something more permanent, chalkboard paint is where it‘s at and can
be applied directly to most surfaces.
As for what to teach, keep it simple. Start with the basics and work
B. Beitsch
your way up—the verb ‗to be‘ is
more important than you may
think. Teach what you think they
need to know and what they
want to learn when it‘s relevant.
Don‘t just be a dictionary—trial
and error.
Your most important resource is
you. A native speaker is just as
good for language as a summer
in the states. So long as they‘re
willing, your students are capable of learning. Stand and deliver.
Chalkboard
Paint
Jaclyn Sokol
1 cup latex paint in your color
preference
2 tbsp. unsanded tile grout
Paint stirrer
Paint roller or sponge brush
150-grit sandpaper
Chalk
Pour tile grout and paint into a
container and mix thoroughly with
paint stirrer (no clumps). If using
wood or a coarse surface, prime it
first. Paint mixture onto surface,
allowing paint to dry before applying another coat. Sand each coat
gently and wipe dust away with a
clean rag. Once complete, write
over entire surface with chalk and
wipe clean with a damp cloth.
Tricks of the
Trade for
Teaching Adults
Jessica Rudder
CED G66, Ngäbe-Buglé
I did not anticipate how often I
would be required to think about
adult education-and all the teaching methods that it entails-before
arriving in Panama. Now, I see the
connection between wanting to
teach people something and having to do training and classes oriented toward adults. My fellow Volunteers and I have developed certain teaching techniques in order
to help illiterate or the barelyliterate adults understand and retain key concepts. Whether in formal settings (seminars and charlas) or informal settings (while
pasearing or hanging out in the
monte), these teaching techniques
have been proven to work.
Charla papers – The campo’s answer to giving a Power Point presentation. Drawing pictures and
making bulleted lists of key points
on giant sheets of paper are essential to helping adults understand
material. One of the best charla
papers I‘ve ever seen was by my
neighbor for a health and aqueduct
management seminar. It included
drawings of someone using the
bathroom outside and another person vomiting. This may seem excessive to some but drawings and
photos are more memorable than
words alone.
Socio-drama – A socio-drama, or
skit, is the best way to present a
case study in the campo. Panama
does not have a thriving reading
September 2012
culture, so asking people to read and analyze a written
case study is difficult. However, their ―watching comprehension‖ is through the roof. At seminars, Volunteers put
on skits to introduce the topic that we cover during a
session. For example, at the Agribusiness seminar, a
Volunteer acted as a producer and went through all the
trials and tribulations that a producer deals with in the
process of finding a market for his goods. It is relatable
and we usually act silly and the participants laugh, making it more memorable for them.
17
J. Rudder
Hands-on Activity – Doing with your hands is always better than just hearing the theory about it, right? It goes
without saying that you can talk for hours about making
compost out of food waste but until you actually go out
to the farm and practice making it, the advice often falls
on deaf ears. This standard is true for intangible concepts too. If I‘m teaching cash flow, I often do an activity
where I give the participants little slips of paper that
have some sort of business transaction written on it.
They then have to decide if it is income or expense, how
to describe it, and come up to the board to write it in the
correct location on a chart. This also teaches them new
skills regarding spreadsheets and charts
swers and analyze their surroundings. How many
pounds of beans do you usually sell? Does it cover the
cost of fertilizer? How are you keeping track of your
expenses? Why do you think that sales are low? What
are some ideas to encourage community participation?
The Socratic Method – This is my favorite among gritty,
old farmers who don‘t want to learn anything because
they already know it all—which is why it‘s so awesome.
They don‘t even realize that they‘re learning because it‘s
disguised as a conversation. By asking questions and
getting people to question themselves and their premises, you can get them to think about their situation differently. People here are constantly being told that they
are poor and that they need to do this and that in order
to improve their situation. By starting with questions and
not answers, we allow them to develop their own an-
Inception – Thank goodness the movie Inception
came out in 2010. Otherwise, there wouldn‘t be a
word for encouraging an idea in someone‘s mind so
that they internalize it as their own. Our job is not to
impose our ideas on the groups that we work with.
Rather, we‘re there to encourage them to generate
new ideas and practical approaches to achieving their
short and long-term goals. Achieving inception is the
pinnacle of all teaching tools and requires the meticulous application of all four previously mentioned methods in order to happen.
J. Rudder
The quintessential example of achieving inception
took place in training during tech week in Hato
Chami. Our group worked with the president of the
honey producing association that is in its first year of
existence. After two days of learning about his lofty,
long-term goals for accessing the organic honey market in Europe, it was clear to most of our team that
he needed to narrow his focus. He needed to write a
solid business plan. We couldn‘t just tell the board of
directors this. Instead, we had to engage in a discussion that would make him come up with the idea
himself. Sure enough, after walking through a SWOT
analysis, Milanio saw the lack of a written business
plan as a key weakness and prioritized it as the most
formative problem to overcome. Done. Kick. Get out
of the dream while you still can.
18
Believe What You
See
Jasmine Linck
TE G70, Coclé
Everyone has heard,―Seeing is believing‖. This is usually applied to
the unexpected, the fantastical
and the unbelievable things that
occasionally arise. Here in Panama, we‘ve all seen things that
we wouldn't believe otherwise. Between the local flora and fauna,
and general population, there are
plenty of surprises.
It‘s great to be confronted with the
strange and unusual; it expands
our perspectives, stretches the
imagination and keeps us from
getting too stale. But I have a challenge for you - a twist on believing
what you see.
For my entire life, the Peace Corps
was the stuff of legends. It was out
of our reach until the moment we
got here. It was a background for
characters in movies, or your
cousin's co-worker's niece heading
to Djibouti for two years. Pop references abound in the media – positive or negative, and sometimes
even in disbelief. Peace Corps is
hard to imagine and harder to see
– even for us living it. How do we
see if we‘re having any kind of effect in our sectors? Our lives here
are so far removed from our families and friends back in the states
and they don‘t know where to start
seeing us here. I hardly believe
that I live in Panama and I see it
every day.
Now for the challenge: first, realize
that we are here doing this. We
have to see, to believe in ourselves
as others see us, and then see our
efficacy in our projects. In order to
do this, we must really see each
other, allowing ourselves to believe
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in the strength of the other. We
each have valuable talents to enrich the PCV community, our host
communities, and whatever projects we have – why would we be
here if not? If we don't look for talents in each other, and ourselves,
we're liable to forget our own capacity.
When you‘re with other Volunteers,
take a second to see the good –
our worth. Now do it when you look
in the mirror. Take another second
to make
sure you
really bel i e v e
what you
see. We
can get
so used
to seeing
ourselves
that we
stop seeing what
makes us
special –
that‘s
why it's
so important to start seeing each other.
We have the opportunity to see
each other as valuable: as part of
a complete team. Sure, people
come and go and we don‘t always
get along with everybody. Whatever, sometimes stuff happens.
Even so, taking that extra two seconds to recognize that there‘s another person that can give that
boost we need to get through the
day – and sometimes taking that
extra time can help reconcile differences, or at least understand
them. We are all PCVs, but that's
just part of our identities; we need
support in more than just our projects. Plus, we know better than
anyone else how to be there for
each other – what we can look for,
to believe in each other.
If you‘re into science fiction, it's
‗grok‘-ing in Robert Heinlein‘s
Stranger in a Strange Land. World
religions are more your thing? Namaste translates roughly to ‗the
spirit in me salutes the spirit in
you.‘ Seeing is believing, so next
time you see another volunteer,
take a second to really believe in
him or her and all that they encompass. It works on Panamanians
too!
Latrine Committee at work
People &Processes
Moiz Kapadia
EH G66 Darién, Emberá-Wounaan
The Peace Corps approach to development is defined as a human
capacity building project that emphasizes facilitating a development
process. In training we constantly
talk about that process, but what is
it exactly? Engineers love processes – they are repeatable, measureable, efficient, and ideally – self
-sustaining. Is it possible to outline
a similar development process that
combines empowerment and ownership to sustainably accomplish
our project goals?
During my two years of service, I
September 2012
19
set out to figure out what such a
process might be for an EH Composting Latrine project.
mittee presented the project to the
community and I stood on the side
listening in Emberá.
Integration & Community Analysis
↔Health Promotion ↔ Organization ↔ Training ↔ Project Design
↔ Pilot Phase ↔ Cyclical Expansion
PILOT PROJECT: With your committee, initiate a pilot project that can
be scaled up in cycles. Outline a
process of how community members can participate in the project
by making rules. Specifically for the
latrine project the rules are:
INTEGRATION & COMMUNITY
ANALYSIS: Integration into Panamanian/indigenous lifestyle and culture is a vital component to building relationships, gaining trust, and
making friends that allow us to
work on sector goals.
PROMOTION: Seminars, workshops,
and hands-on activities are great
ways to engage people. For example, I organized a junta to build a
compost box with a promise of
sopa. After we built the box, I demonstrated how a composting latrine
would work by emptying my poop
bucket into the box and throwing
dry material on top – in front of 12
Emberá guys. Although grossed out
and cracking up, to this day community members say, ―I can‘t believe Kapadia showed me a bucket
of his mierda!‖
ORGANIZATION: They are enthralled
at the idea of a fancy new latrine,
but will they organize for it? Finding
community leaders who truly want
to work is the most challenging
part. String them along with the
idea that once a committee is
formed, a project can be developed.
TRAINING: Train your newly formed
committee. Give them certificates.
Empower them to make a difference in their community with education and motivation. Don‘t have a
training manual? Make one. Create
técnicos, project designers and
managers, leaders – and in the
process become one yourself. I was
most proud when my Health Com-
-The community is told that there
are funds for only five latrines at a
time.
-In order to participate, families
have to attend 2 charlas, pay a $5
refundable deposit, agree to mano
de obra, provide wood and have
dry material ready (or hole dug). A
contract must be signed by the
family, committee president and
the PCV.
-Before materials arrive, the family,
committee president, and the PCV
must sign a Pre-Informe which ensures that the family is in compliance with all the rules. Once all
five families are ready, bring in the
materials.
-After the latrines are done, their
usage is monitored and a PostInforme must be completed.
CYCLICAL EXPANSION: If the pilot
goes well, the project can be expanded in cycles.
Open up participation to all those who
want to enter, and
they have to play by
the same rules. It‘s
starting to sound
like a process all
engineers love – repeatable, measureable,
and
selfsustaining. But it goes a step further – it is self-selecting and motivating. The process only includes
families who want to enter, and
communally pushes families to
comply with the rules. If I‘m on the
waiting list and my neighbor hasn‘t
put up his caseta yet, I‘m going to
get peeved and tell him to get his
mierda together (literally!). Peer
pressure puts a beer in your hand
in high school and peer pressure
will give people a place to poop.
This creates a development theater
for them to view, participate in, and
analyze- allowing the community to
be the actors for their own progress.
Unfortunately, two years of Peace
Corps service is too short to give
you any conclusive evidence of this
working. I only got to the Pilot Project phase in my community. Remember the arrows go both ways –
each step needs to be put in context of the previous and next. It
takes time.
I can‘t help but wonder: Can something similar to Cyclical Expansion
be applied to SAS, CEC, & TE? In
your community, the process could
be one of many variations. Every
Volunteer‘s work is varied and I‘m
not seeking a ―cookie-cutter‖ solution to development work. However, we can bridge our differences
by focusing on people and processes.
“Remember the
arrows go both
ways...”
20
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PANAMA HAS
Matt Manupella
CEC G68, Panama Oeste
On the 30th of June 2012, I participated in the 8th annual Sexual Diversity March in Panama City. I
marched with eight other Peace
Corps Volunteers and three members
of the Peace Corps office staff, Kristen Kaper, Cicely Lewis, and Lee
Espey. We accompanied members of
the U.S. Embassy who were participating officially in a Panamanian
Pride event for the first time. They
generously provided all Peace Corps
participants with t-shirts boasting
the expression “Estamos Unidos”
and showing both the Panamanian
and American flag.
encouraged all foreign U.S. Embassies and Missions to defend the rights
of the LGBT community. U.S Embassies in El Salvador, Chile, Panama and Ecuador have all paved
the way this year by participating in
their nations’ Pride festivities.
Hillary Clinton has made a strong
commitment to the LGBT community around the world, saying on a
number of occasions, “Gay rights are
human rights.”
This past year, the State Department, under the leadership of
Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State,
On the day of the march, we walked
from the Blockbuster on Via Argentina to Einstein Plaza. It was a delightfully sunny afternoon, perfect
for a march down the street with a
pink margarita from one of the street
venders (served up with complimentary condoms in the spirit of sexual
health). The parade finished during
September 2012
21
(GAY) PRIDE
an unexpected shower of rain that
sent participants to the shelter of
the New York Bagel Company. The
event was more laid back than
Pride parades I’ve attended in the
States, but it had the same feelings
of solidarity and pride. The event,
overall, was positive and family
friendly.
The participation of the Ministerio
Desarrollo Social was another positive sign, showing that the LGBT
community has support within the
government. Gay sex was decriminalized in Panama four years ago in
2008, but gays are still denied entry
to the national police force and are
not entitled to the same legal benefits as heterosexual couples. Panama is gradually building momentum toward sexual equality.
Next year, I would
love to see the
Peace Corps follow
the example of the
U.S.
Embassies
around the world
and participate in
Pride under its own
banner and with a
larger
volunteer
turn out. It would
be a wonderful accomplishment for
Peace Corps Volunteers and staff to
show that our organization stands
for tolerance and
encourages acceptance.
♦
Photos from the US Embassy
and Matt Manupella.
22
La Vaina
Returning to the US before Nov. 2016?
Concerned about the country you will be going back to?
VOTE
It’s easy.
Visit Rockthevote.com and fill out the registration form for
overseas voters and the absentee ballot request. Mail the form to
your county of permanent US residence and wait for your ballot!
Deadlines change according to state, but please include plenty of time for international
mail. Deadlines are usually the date that the application must be RECEIVED by.
http://www.rockthevote.com/voting-is-easy/voting-rights/overseas-rights/overseas.html
have gained some points if I hadn‘t choked on some spit
just as I lit my cigarillo and started coughing. Noob.
Panama Ink’d
Andrew Parker
CEC G68, Darién
Tatuajes- in the campo they can be the sign of a maleante,
a ne‘re-do-well, and a general raconteur. Well, we all gathered at the Palacio Dorado and had a tattoo convention
this past August 17th-19th. Rough necks, greasers, punks,
and rockers came from all around Panama to enjoy the
festivities. I think they could smell that I was a blank canvass. That changed though…
After an adventure through Panama City trying to find this
place, I figured the tatted up couple on the Diablo Rojo
were heading in the same direction as me. They showed me the
way to the Palacio Dorado, which
is not in the Dorado Mall, but
across and down the street. I
would have never found it without
them. Once I saw the motorcycle
corral, I knew I was where I
needed to be.
I shelled out $8 to get the two-day pass and immediately
was with my people. I perused a few sample books from
Costa Rican and Colombian artists. A bit later a band began to start playing. Moving in close, I saw the guitarist had
a Dimebag Darrel Special Dean Guitar. My only thought
was, ‗‘He better play Cowboys from Hell‘‘. Sure enough, it
was on the set list- and in Spanish! Toxicity in Spanish
sounded a little weird, though. The need for live, loud music had been sated. If only there was a mosh pit.
I even saw some folks that I had seen around the city. Does
anyone else know the girl who works at the New York Bagel
Café? Her name‘s Gabriella. I
A. Parker made some connections with local
Panamanian artists, and I have
some ideas for the future. My
pockets were stuffed full of
bumper stickers and business
cards. I even got an appointment
set up.
I was getting some stares though.
Wearing a button down, boots,
and my favorite raggedy jeans, I
thought I‘d blend in. The Sombrero
Pintado may have given me away.
So I tried to look nonchalant,
check my phone, and grab a cigarette from my shirt pocket. I might The Tattooed: A thriving sub-culture in Panama.
This is a side of Panama that
doesn‘t get much notice: much
like our sites, nuestra gente, and
the Panama we serve. However,
we still make up a part of this
country. And for one weekend, I
got to see some of them- artists
and enthusiasts. Sharing our subculture.
September 2012
23
Histo-What?
Kerry Piper, RPCV
CEC G61, Coclé
Imagine living in a rural farming
community with rivers and streams
flowing down the mountains and
through the center of town. Imagine going to sleep with bats flying
around your room and feeling lucky
that they can‘t bump into you inside your mosquito net. Imagine
waking up to the call of the everpresent chickens around your
home and community. And imagine
making abono orgánico by digging
up soil and mixing it with gallinazo.
I lived in such a community as a
CEC Volunteer and loved it. When
else in your life can you live in such
a beautiful place, where you are
welcome in every home and people
offer you brindis on every visit?
However, I did have intestinal woes
which lasted much of my service in
that community. At times, I would
stay in bed in the fetal position
hoping the abdominal pain would
go away. At other times, I would
make strategic trips around the
community, knowing which latrines
were well taken care of when nature made its urgent call. I downed
The Girl With
MUSHROOM LUNGS!
enough antiparasitics, antibiotics,
dewormers, and steroids to evict
whatever may have been living in
me at the time.
I returned home in late May of
2010 with a well-functioning digestive system. I immediately started
education classes and accepted a
position teaching high school Biology. As a full-time student with a
full-time job as a first year teacher,
I was exhausted on a daily basis.
Who wouldn‘t be? I still had the
little cough I left Panama with, but
overall I felt pretty good. I didn‘t
even get the flu or a cold from the
variety of pathogens the kids
seemed to fill my room with on a
daily basis.
I started out this school year with a
sore throat that just wouldn‘t go
away. I was seen by ten doctors
and specialists who each men-
tioned they had never seen anything like it. Possible diagnoses
included tuberculosis, parasitic
infections, fungal infections, and
even cancer. I endured CT scans,
bronchoscopy and laryngoscopy
with cultures and biopsies, blood
tests, and urine tests.
When several of the 35 tests came
back positive, I was admitted to the
hospital with a diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis. At least
it‘s not cancer! With Google on my
side, I learned about the disease.
Histoplasma capsulatum is found
in soils in river valleys. Bird and bat
droppings enrich the growth medium for the fungus causing highly
contaminated soil. Histoplasmosis
is caused by the inhalation of
Histoplasma capsulatum spores
from contaminated soil. The spores
become airborne when the contaminated soil is disturbed. Patients who develop clinical manifestations of histoplasmosis are
usually immunocompromised.
It all made sense. My community
seemed like a perfect place for the
fungus to grow. My job description
made my contact with the spores
likely and months and months of
chronic diarrhea would have certainly compromised my immune
system. Plus, the first described
case of histoplasmosis was made
in Panama.
The infectious disease doctor described the likely course of events.
The 3 cm hole in my lung caused by a fungus.
24
La Vaina
Infected throat– chunky epiglottis.
The middle and upper lobes of my
right lung were infected with histoplasmosis during my service and
just chilled there without my awareness. It ate away a ping-pong sized
hole, walled-off from the rest of my
lung. Eventually, the fungi entered
my bloodstream and settled in my
throat. It was there that the fungi
ate away at my epiglottis and surrounding structures, swelling them
up like a balloon and causing the
pain, troubled breathing, and the
swallowing problems that kickstarted my search for a diagnosis.
With a diagnosis, treatment began.
I was started on Amphotericin infusions through a PICC line (think
chemo) lasting four hours each
day. My reactions to the medicine
eased through a week in the hospital by pre-medicating with Tylenol,
Benadryl, and morphine. After another week of outpatient transfusions, I began treatment with
Sporonox, an antifungal medicine
that I will be taking daily for at least
the next year. I don‘t regret a minute of my service, but it is important to stay informed regarding
your health– as you can see from
my story. I hope you stay healthy
and enjoy your time in Panama!
Normal throat and vocal chords.
A Few Tips:
Document everything! Changing providers can be difficult without the additional challenges of a foreign country and language. For example, many of
the drugs prescribed during my service were recorded in their Panamanian
names that doctors here could not decipher. Paperwork might be misplaced or medical history errors made due to translation issues. To protect
yourself, keep your own medical journal and make copies of paperwork!
You know your body better than anyone. The general practitioners insisted
that I had a viral infection when antibiotics didn‘t work, so I started going to
specialists and got the ball rolling. A radiologist kept me in isolation for an
entire day thinking I had TB; however I didn‘t have any other symptoms of
the infection. As soon as I was let out, I went to an Urgent Care for a TB
test which was negative. A nurse in the hospital did not follow the infusion
protocol for my drug so a call to the duty nurse rectified the problem. Don‘t
be afraid to speak up.
Love your health insurance. I never thought health insurance was particularly important. I was young, healthy, and invincible. My employer paid my
premium each month. I accidently signed up for the better plan this year
and paid an additional $30/month out of my paycheck. Boy, am I glad I
did! The medical bills have added up to over $70,000 while the medication
I now take costs about $1,000/month. My out-of-pocket has been about
$5,000 so far. I would have been in trouble without insurance.
Applying for FECA benefits is not scary. It seems like a daunting amount of
paperwork to gather and months to wait when you feel like crud. My doctors were less than forthcoming with providing the required paperwork
listed on the form (CA-2). After several requests, I finally sent in what I had
and figured I would send any additional paperwork as requested. Just two
weeks later, my case was accepted. All my out-of-pocket expenses including travel have been covered. Reimbursements were also easier than
listed on the Peace Corps website. In my case, FECA actually only required
one form (OWCP-915) and receipt to process a request instead of getting
each provider to fill out a separate affidavit and medical notes. Organize
paperwork by provider, not date, to make things easier in the long run.
September 2012
Burning the
Lethargy
Jack Fischl
CED G66, Ngäbe Buglé
The cure for laziness feels just like
a hot nail being pressed against
your spine, repeatedly. It feels like
that because that's exactly what it
is.
According to custom, being around
pregnant women can make you
lethargic. The only way to remove
this lethargy is to burn it away.
Lately, I‘ve been feeling that lethargy – less motivated to work,
more likely to nap in the afternoon
– and I mentioned this to one of
my host moms.
―Well, have you been interacting
regularly with any pregnant
women?‖
I thought about it and then we went
over a list of currently pregnant
women in my town. She mentioned
Mariela and I realized she had to
be the culprit; she runs the nearest
store, which I go to
almost every day.
Plus she's really
pregnant*.
So I approached
Mariela with a
simple enough request: ―I want you to
burn me.‖
25
La
zin
Vo
lu
While waiting for sufficient heat,
Fidel informed me that a worldwide
famine was imminent and that it
would be wise to plant on ―every
corner of land‖ that I had. I told
him I don't own any land and he
laughed at me. Puny, landless,
white boy. I told him it was a good
thing that I was at least removing
my laziness and
he agreed. Apparently, I'll soon
need to work for
my food.
Minutes later, I
was
standing
near the stove
with my shirt off
and my back to
Mariela. ―Here it
comes,‖ she said.
I've struggled to
think of a more
creative comparison for the feeling
and the best I've
come up with is
repeated flaming
wasp
stings.
nte
CU
BU er S RE
RN urv D??
IN ives ?
G!
Turns out, ―burning‖
should happen on a
Tuesday or Friday,
around 6am. I have
no idea why. So on Friday, I rose
before dawn and was standing in
Mariela's kitchen at 6:15. She had
a pot of coffee on and a length of
metal wire sticking in the fire. Her
dad, Fidel, was also there, excited
to see this spectacle.
Fischl‘s back after ―burning‖ treatment.
ess
Which is actually more abstract.
It's probably far more likely for one
to be burned by a nail than to be
stung by a wasp with a flaming
stinger. But anyway, to the best of
your ability, imagine a burning nail
poked up and down your spinal
column and that's how it felt. Some
pokes provoked more of a dull
burning pain, while others felt more
like tiny electric shocks.
If it sounds primitive and unnecessary, it is. But it is the primitive motivations that work best sometimes. I chose to have this happen,
but, traditionally, it was more of a
threat. Moms would tell their kids
that they were being lazy and the
kids knew full well what that
meant. Beyond that, ―burning‖ is
labeled a cure, rather than a punishment (apparently it is also applied to aching joints), so it isn't
really to be classified as abusive.
Now that my back is dotted with
red burns, hopefully I'm more motivated to work. If nothing else, I
won't be napping this afternoon,
because I can't lie on my back.
*Does more ―pregnantness‖ make
you more lethargic?
♦
26
La Vaina
Emma Miller
TE G67, Los Santos
Folklore in Panama: Tales and Traditions
In all ‗folk‘ cultures, the folktale has an essential role in the creation of identity and community. However, because the
folktale stems from an oral tradition, and because it is often used for entertainment and to teach morality to children,
folklore has suffered a long-standing rejection from academia. Despite the efforts of folklorists, the beliefs of a certain
group, ‗the folk‘, are considered to be constituted of only popular value. Folklore or cultural mythology, becomes a label
by which one may identify and marginalize the heritage of the ‗other‘; this is especially true when ―‗folk‘ is not identified
as a dominant category but rather as a populist form… of ‗political logic‘ --that pits ‗the people‘ against an authority, a
dominant group, or an elite.‖*
In Panama, campo superstitions, beliefs, and remedies are often scorned by the foreigner or the city-raised Panamanian
as being pure legend and completely false. However, factual truth has never been of much importance in folklore. Factual truth reveals nothing about the way a society absorbs and expresses information and change. New academic work
argues that ―The production of folklore is intimately related to power relations in society, to economic factors, to public
institutions and to academic disciplines.‖** When we hear Panamanian folklore, we are immersed in a complex history
that is struggling, in the face of increased globalization, to retain a sense of unique identity and authenticity while claiming a broader notion of national unity. When looked at from nation-building and post-colonial viewpoints, folklore is
indispensable in our understanding of Panama.
*Gencarella, Stephen Olbrys. “Constituting Folklore: a Case for Critical Folklore Studies.” Journal of American Folklore. 122.484 (Spring 2009): p172.
**Porter, James. “The folklore of Northern Scotland: Five Discourses on Cultural Representation”. Folklore. 109 (Annual 1998): p 1.
Important People in Panamanian Folklore
El CADEJO: The Cadejo can be one of two dogs: white or
black. The white dog is there to
protect you while the black dog is
an embodiment of Satan and will
grow larger and larger.
DUENDES: When Satan rebelled
against God, he was expelled from
heaven along with other fallen angels. Some of them preferred to
stay on earth and live in the forest and caves. Occasionally, they will snatch an unbaptized child, especially if he
has light hair and eyes, and present him to Satan as one
of the lost fallen angels
.
FLOR de AIRE: Valle de Anton, the daughter of chief Urraca. She fell in love with a handsome conquistador and
rejected the love of Yaravi, the bravest warrior of
her tribe. In his despair, Yaravi leaped to his
death from the top of the mountain before the
eyes of the horrified maiden. Flor de Aire, not
wanting to betray her tribe, never saw the Spaniard again. She wandered aimlessly through the
mountains and valleys crying her mis-fortune until she died on the beach, looking toward her beloved mountains that imitated her form.
PAB DUMMAT and NAN DUMMAT: the Big Father
and Big Mother of Guna creation folklore.
SIPUS: In Kuna mythology, albinos (or sipus) are considered a special race of people and have the specific duty
of defending the Moon against a
"dragon" which tries to eat it on occasion during a lunar eclipse. Only
they are allowed outside on the
night of a lunar eclipse and used
specially made bows and arrows to
shoot down the dragon.
La TEPESA: A woman who washing
laundry in the river with her baby
when a otherworldy man tempted
her to join him on his horse. Later, he asked her about
her baby and she discovered she had abandoned it by
the river.
La TULIVIEJA: In most versions, a young woman has a
child out of wedlock. She leaves the child by the river to
starve but returns later repentant.
The child has dissapeared and she
drowns herself. However, God sentences her to spend the rest of eternity looking for her child and she can
often be heard crying.
El VIEJO de MONTE: Deep in the interior, two orphans used to be loved
by the whole town. One day they fell
in love with the same woman and
fought each other with machetes and one died. The survivor, wracked with guilt, ran to the mountains and hid himself in the caves. Sometimes at night, he can be heard
singing or the one might smell the smoke of his pipe.
September 2012
Things That Snatch
Children from Their
Beds
though they’ve never seen him
themselves, they have abuelos who
claim to. They all know people who
caught more than a glimpse.
They’re never heard from again.
Andrew Butler
It’s four in the afternoon in Bocas
del Toro and a five year old boy has
been lost in the jungle. The community gathers and they’ve called the
police. With their numbers and
knowledge of the area, they’re sure
to find him. No one seems particularly worried except another five
year old named Yugi. Yugi often
tramples alone through the muddy
forest barefoot and once helped a
group of boys kill a five foot snake
by pelting it with stones. However,
there is one thing he’ll admit to being afraid of. He won’t say it himself but his older brother will.
“Chino Rojo.”
Much like the dialect differs from
place to place, the story of him varies among the Ngäbe. The most
popular version says the Chino Rojo
lurks beneath the Caribbean Sea,
surfacing long enough to catch a
meal. He might assume a flying
form to snatch up his prey or hop
into his coaster bus so that he can
hunt in bulk. Cows and horses are
easy prey but sometimes, he slips
into open homes or finds lone travelers in the jungle. He never goes
hungry.
The sun begins to set and the red
and blue strobes of the police lights
paint the wooden houses. More people join the search when they return
from work on their fincas. Yugi’s
cousins jostle him, but when they
grow tired of it, they too look nervously out into the jungle. Even
Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son
The uninspired simply say he looks
like a witch tinted red. The imaginative give him six mouths and a
dripping spike where legs would be
so that he runs on his hands. His
pig nose thrusts its way through
the ground so that it leaves a snaking trail behind. It could be true
that the Chino Rojo is nothing more
than a German submarine sighted
in the Chiriquí Lagoon during
World War II.
The jungle is large and even though
the Ngäbe spend their entire lives
there, it could be that sometimes,
they get lost. The unaccounted for
could be children gone farther in
the jungle than they’ve ever gone
before out of curiosity and brazenness. The viejos simply lost their
way to the latrine in the night, took
27
a wrong turn and went on for
miles.
Flashlight beams dust the trees as
the community returns. The police
cut their lights and neighbors light
fogóns with the dejected looks of
fruitless labor. The children huddle
together, asleep on the bare floor.
They’ll be shaken awake when the
bananas boil, keeping their eyes
open long enough to shovel the meal
into their mouths before shuffling
inside to fall back asleep. They’ll
try to stay together with their arms
and legs wrapped around each other
so that their sweat makes them
stick. Yugi grips his brother’s waist
as if the heat too is only a myth.
Tell him he is safe for the night,
and although one of them is lost, so
long as he stays close to where he
knows, he’s safe. Tell him not to
worry of things that snatch children from their beds at night, that
come and go in a whisper so that
there is nothing to prove they ever
existed. You can tell Yugi the Chino
Rojo doesn’t exist. He won’t believe
you.
The Legend of El Chinito
Tempest Carter,
CEC G70, Herrera
The day I met him, the earth smelled of
fresh rain. The hot Panamanian sun
hung hazily in the sky, straight over
our heads. I moved outside, walking
under the overhang of the school to
go home, and I saw her. Curls cascaded
from a haphazard bun, lip gloss traced
her full lips and freckles dusted her
honey-coated skin. Her round brown
eyes sparkled with laughter and she sat
in an old school desk, in her arms, a
shirtless baby. Teen mothers are not
odd in my hometown, Philadelphia,
28
nor is it in Panama. Yet there was
something odd about this image. The
child had bone-straight ebony hair,
sticking up like a porcupine, the girl
had very large round brown eyes but
the baby had almond shaped eyes. This
baby was very Asian – not a mezclado
child of two races. The girl holding him
was not. The town had no Asian people
living inside. Did this child have a story?
His father lived and worked long hours
as an immigrant in Panama City. He
ran a small Chino, or mini supermarket, from sun up to sun down. He lost
rights to his name as soon as he started
the store, becoming nothing more
than Chino. He decided he needed a
wife. Wanting someone to work for
him at the store, needing someone
who knew his name; he needed someone with a name, maybe even someone to love. The women around him –
Panamanian, Chinese, meztizas and
indigenas – would not do. He decided
to buy a wife. He bought his wife by
selling candy and rice.
She lived with the tragedies that sold
her to a stranger a world away. She
came, learned Spanish and started to
work in the store, losing her name. She
became pregnant and sent the child to
China – she could not raise a child with
her tragedies. She became pregnant
again, and again, and again. The children never stayed for long. So desperate and unhappy, she gave away her
next child barely a month after he was
born. “She did not want him,” they
would say.
Chinito would play with used toys and
whatever he found on the floor. He
was a happy baby with bright inquisitive eyes and big smile, already creative
and self sufficient. He was beautiful.
His name was Daniel. Like the father he
barely knew, he lost his name – he was
Chinito. During the week he lived next
La Vaina
door to his natural parents and sometimes his father would come by to
look at him. During the weekends he
was shipped to this small town in the
hills where the entire town came to his
aid, making him bottles of warm milk
and feeding rice. They were worried
about his future there – his mother
wanted to send him to China when he
turned 6. They fell in love with him
and could not lose him. Chinito sat on
the floor, playing with the used
toys. As he held a bus in his hand, began to giggle. In this moment everything was perfect. The wind was blowing, he had a family, and he had a
name. Everything was as transient as
that blowing wind.
‘La bruja y sus duendes’ is a
common nursery rhyme told to
young Panamanian children as
they fall asleep at night. Or is
it? It’s rhythmic lyrics reflect
the story of the duendes which
a particular witch keeps in a jar
in order to take care of her
housework.
Based on the true story of El Chinito,
living in Nuevo Paraiso, Panama Oeste
(Lauren Lynch CEC G68)
These witches, who wish to go
undiscovered and carry about
their business as they so de-
La Bruja y
sus Duendes
Casey Galligan
TE G-67, Panamá Este
There was an old lady
who lived in Curundu
Her house was such a
mess, she didn't know
what to do.
She let loose the duendes
who - with incredible
speedcleaned, dusted and took
care of her every need.
Some witches pride themselves
on the level of accumulated
filth in their houses. Some
witche stack potion upon potion in their cupboard shelves
and care not what amount of
cobwebs lie amongst them. But
there are those witches who
would prefer their identity as a
black-magic worker to remain
unsuspected. How is a witch to
go about her day if those
around her are constantly
avoiding her, giving her the
stink-eye, or spreading nasty
rumors about her tricks and
treats?
September 2012
sire, like to keep a tidy house.
This type of witch keeps duendes in a jar around the
house. The duendes are under
a spell: they are released from
their tight predicament only
when the witch needs them to
perform some sort of household chore. Though the witch is
most likely wicked and is absolutely overlooking the Magical
Creature Code of Civil Rights,
the duendes themselves are dogooders.
How these duendes came to be
in the jar is unknown. After all,
what witch is going to share
her secret of how-to-capture-aduende-to-do-your-dirty-workfor-you?
What is known is that the witch
is able to uphold such a tidy
exterior due to her firm hold
over these poor, jarred-up
creatures. So when you meet a
woman around town who
seems witch-like (i.e pointy
shoes, rotting teeth, stringy
hair and nocturnal flying on
broomsticks) whose house is
immaculately clean, don't let
her fool you!
Though her home is tidy, her
lawn is mowed and she never
has oil splatter from the previous evening's patacones in her
kitchen; it could very well be
that the woman you see is but a
slovenly witch with a number of
duende-filled jars around the
house.
♦
29
The Plumed Revolution
Andrew Parker
CEC 68, Darién
This is a letter to the
gallinas. How your ancestors‘ fossils must be
rustling. How they must
be boiling in their oil reserves. How they must have never saw this ever coming and the shock at
which you permitted it. How pissed they must be to see the state of things
now and how they have continued for millennia.
You are direct descendants (kinda) of the venerable Velociraptor, the tyrannical T-Rex, the stately Stegosaurus, the tremendous Pterodactyl. You have
the blood of mighty and terrible lizards coarsing through your veins. Yet all
you do is cluck and hang out by the feed bag. You, waiting for your oppressors to give you a scoopful or two. Your right to flight has been taken away
from you. At least the ostrich and emu have height and speed, both which
you lack. You have been domesticated. Your pool has been methodically
diluted for ages by man. The strong ones, the resistors, have long been
weeded out. We can only hope that they made a bad bowl of sancocho.
Your once powerful talons, used to catch and disembowel and make dinner out of the same mammals that oppress you now, are now only good for
making scratches in the dirt. And for what-hopes of finding a spare rice
kernel?
Well to that, I say no more. It is time for you to rise up. Peck the hand of
the one who feeds you. Flee the coop, and never come back to roost. The
roosters‘ crow is no longer a beckon to the coming morning but the harbinger of a new era. The song of subversion. Overrun the farm, burn your
roost, mangle the hands of him that steals your eggs, and take to the
woods! There will you find that wild agent that will bring the species of the
domestic chicken and, the poorer, unsung, domestic turkey, back to glory.
Granted it will be hard those first few days, weeks, months. That hand that
fed you will not be there with its infinite sack of feed. His protecting shot
gun keeping away the weasel, zorra, and hawk. Some will fall back in line
and return, and woe to them. But the rest will thrive. You will subsist off of
worms and what you can catch. You will become lean. You will be mean.
You will have no need of man and his shotgun. You will make man‘s prized
fighting cocks look like chickadees.
Gallinas! Your time has come! This is your call to arms! Your ancestors beseech you. To restore the former glory of which you have descended and
take back that what has been taken. Fight against the domestication of
your kind! Return back to your ancestral plumage. Sharpen your talons!
Hone your beak! Break down the coop door!! And take to the woods!
Make the thoughtful triceratops, the magnificent magnosaurus, and the
brilliant brontosaurus proud. Maybe then you will stop crapping on my
porch. One can only hope.
30
La Vaina
De Bellota a Sombrero Pintado: una
Tradición y Arte Panameña
Angela Basurtto
EH 66, Coclé
A.Hines
El Sombrero Pintado es un gran orgullo de todos los
panameños, pero
pocos saben cómo
se
confecciona.
Este orgullo nacido
hacía
muchos
años y dependiendo de quién se le
pregunte esto inicio en 1903 cual
está en debate y
ha cambiado con
el tiempo, pero
unos de los principales materiales A young boy in a traditional sombrero pintado.
no han cambiado.
planta. La planta del color negro se
Siendo una extranjera en Panamá
llama ‗Chigna‘ -una planta punteay viviendo con muchos artesanos
da y ordinaria- que se cambie a un
que su único trabajo es el de concolor negro y brilloso como la chonfeccionar el sombrero pintado trata. La bellota sale cuando está todicional, tenía que buscar la histodavía cerrada o nueva. Ésta se corria del sombrero y come se hace
ta con una navaja que, en tiempos
del principio al final.
pasados, era hecho de los huesos
de un venado. Aunque en estos
El principio del sombrero pintado
días usan solo un gillette para setiene su inicio como unas varias
parar las nuevas hojas. Se separan
plantas que de verles no se podría
en pequeños trozos y se hierven en
hacer nada con ellas pero con
agua por una hora. Siguiente, se
unos pasos se puede hacer un hercuelgan al sol para secarse y ser
moso trabajo. El campesino siemsuave. Todo depende en el corte
bra las siguientes plantas: la bellode las hojas que se hace la bellota
ta, el junco, la chonta y la pita - que
ser fina o gruesa: cambiando la
juntos se convierten en artesanía.
calidad y el precio del sombrero.
Estos son los materiales principales y básicos para el sombrero pintado. La bellota es una planta que
¿Entonces cómo se empieza?
se necesita 5 aňos para crecer y
estar lista a usar. Esto significa
Paso 1: El molde es hecho de maque el campesino tiene que plantar
dera y cortado en forma de la cabecada año. El junco, la chonta y la
za de una persona o niño, este
pita son plantas que solo necesitan
puede ser de muchos tamaños decuatro (4) meses para estar listaspendiente en la circunferencia de
pendiente del mantenimiento de la
la cabeza. Cada molde, u horma,
tiene que estar limpio de espinillas
para no lastimarse las manos al
coser.
Paso 2: Coser la bellota en tipo de
trenza pero con quince (15) o mas
líneas de bellota, esta forma la
trenza o crineja blanca que cubre
lo mayor parte del sombrero.
Paso 3: La chonta negra también
se trenza con 15 líneas negras o a
veces con líneas blancas para otro
estilo de tejido.
Pasó 4: Cuando todas las partes
principales del sombrero están juntas, cosá las crinejas blancas en
forma de un círculo por la base del
molde. Para ser sostenido se mantiene en posición con unos hilos
así no se mueve - el parte arriba se
llama ‗la plantilla‘, cuando baja a
tomar la forma del molde se le llama ‗la copa‘. La continuación después de la terminación de la copa
es lo que determina el precio de
este sombrero. La siguiente es el
ala; ésta pueda ser larga o corta
depende del estilo del sombrero.
Así cuando todo es cosido con fibras de la otra palma que fue
hecho como un hilo.
Cuando se ve el sombrero todos
los partes son naturales; el sombrero es una artesanía orgánica
muy impresionante. Si compre un
sombrero, es bueno que sepa que
la copa y las líneas en esta son la
que cuentan para el precio, si te
comentan es un sietero (7) esto
significa que solo tiene siete (7)
vueltas en la copa. El sombrero
pintado es una parte esencial de la
cultura panameña, y tengo mucha
suerte de aprender cómo hacerlos.
September 2012
31
All Hands on Death
Erica Jones
EH G69, Ngäbe Buglé
In one episode of the 90‘s sitcom
Boy Meets World, Cory Matthews
visits the funeral home where the
forgotten lunch lady rests after she
has passed away. ―Excuse me Mr.
Undertaker, sir‖ he says, ―it‘s my
first time in a place like this and I
don‘t know what to do‖.
How does being around death
make you feel? Not violent, traumatic death, but normal, expected,
natural death? It‘s so easy in the
United States to close our eyes
with those of the deceased, turn
over the body to someone who provides end of life services for a
corpse, attend a funeral, and
grieve. Our grieving process doesn‘t include dealing with the lifeless
body of our friend or relative. But
what if there was no one else to do
those unpleasant end-of-life tasks?
The process of grieving is transformed from mental to very, very
physical.
In the rural, indigenous community
where I live, a young man recently
died. Unknown causes sent him
home from the hospital to pass
away a week later.
This man was the
younger brother to
many of my close
friends. From the moment he passed away
until he was in the
ground, most of the
grieving process revolved around the
body. He died in the
house. His nephews
and brother-in-law
made the wooden
box for his body by
hand. People came
for three days to mourn with
the family and drink unsweetened cacao. The men
of the community together
dug and prepared the grave.
They paraded the body
through town to the cemetery with a procession of
family and friends behind. At
the gravesite, kind words
were said, a hymn was sung,
and the top came off the
casket for one last look at
their brother, uncle, and
son. And the people cried.
And cried. And cried. I cried,
watching them cry. With the
casket buried, the deceased‘s possessions are
piled on top. A week later,
when I thought that things
were going back to normal – the
entire family moved to another
town to properly heal without the
physical reminders of his recent
presence in the house.
In my few experiences with death, I
have a daunting feeling that I don‘t
know what to do. Express sympathy
or claim ignorance? Talk or listen?
Cry or be stoic? There is no guide
on how to handle situations dealing with death. Death is instinctual,
Traditional Panamanian graveyard
E. Jones
Indigenous gravesite
full of emotions and processes of
human nature. Our culture can
be awkward in combining our
instincts in death with what
should be normal. Sure, there
are traditions – flowers and funeral services, headstones and
eulogies. But most actions of
honor are motivated by the heart.
In my Panamanian community,
everyone knew their role – it was
beautiful. Those who weren‘t
emotionally involved in the death
still took part. To show
support for his grieving
wife, a husband hammers nails into the coffin. People crying spontaneously could be
heard throughout the
community. It was so
very natural. The process is whole, touched,
and unavoidable. This
experience has changed
my work here, and
shaped my new, unbridled, and open attitude
towards death.
32
Jessica Fort
CEC G65, Los Santos
Monday, 5:30 a.m.
La Vaina
mind the kids that really, there is
no forty meter crocodile behind the
school. Help clean library. Wonder
if one can contract Hanta virus
from large quantities of bat poop.
Fried hotdog and rice for school
lunch. The father of one of my students helps fix the stove at the
school. Mishear his name. Find out
after he leaves I was calling him
Mr. Marshmallow the whole time.
6:00 p.m.
Wake myself up snoring and
neighbor‘s kids laughing at me.
Help neighbor‘s kids make
school project. Try and do yoga.
Pulgita insists my yoga mat is her
new bed. Make avocado salad
for the 10th time this week. Giant
cockroach flies at my head.
Scream for the second time today. Body covered in bug bites.
Feel sorry for myself. Random kid
comes to my house and asks for a
spoonful of peanut butter, then
runs away. Makes me feel better.
Try and stop Pulgita from chasing
neighbor‘s chickens.
Wake up to cock fighting outside
my house. Find Pulgita (my dog)
entangled in my mosquito net.
Tried to sneak into bed with me.
Must have passed out half-way.
3:00 p.m.
She does this often. Realize electricity‘s out. Always goes out
School ends. Walk home in the
when it rains. It rains almost every
rain. Pulgita is happy to see me.
day. Greet my neighbors outside in
Makes me smile. Realize the dog
my broken, ‗morning-Spanish‘.
next door stole a whole loaf of
Something like, ―Good morning!
How you wake up today? Much
rain, gives me cold!‖
8:00 p.m.
Put on new pair of
pants. Walk the
Neighbor gives me
one block to
bad haircut. Play
the school.
guitar on front
New pair of
porch.
Town
pants aldrunk
passes
by
ready filthy
on
his
horse
and
with mud.
starts singing. We
Promise the
serenade the town.
teachers that I
Neighbors
laugh at me.
actually do bathe
Pulgita
and
I
watch
the most
daily. Joke around with the
beautiful
sunset.
Show
some
kids
kids for awhile. Listen to stoVenus
and
Jupiter
in
the
sky.
ries about a forty meter crocoJ. Fort
Explain
why
there
are
holes
in
dile that lives behind the
the
moon.
Try
and
repair
masschool. Tell them there is no
sive holes in mosquito net. Give
such thing as a forty meter
up. Fall asleep to a chorus of
crocodile. Kids start screamtree frogs outside my window.
ing ―Scorpion!‖ while pointing
at my feet. Large scorpion
Wednesday, 7:00 a.m.—
running down my pant leg. I
Tampons and Cheese Day
scream. Immediately feel
embarrassed about screamToday is a day to celebrate.
ing. Kids kill scorpion. Tell
After another trip to Tonosí I
me it came out of my pants
discover that the ―grocery
pocket. Kids laugh at me for
store‖ (and by grocery store I
30 minutes. So much for Helicopter touches down in El Cortezo.
mean glorified gas station)
feeling safe about new
bread.
Stop
smiling.
Sweep
house.
now
sells Tampons and Cheese! I
clothes.
Lay in hammock. Read 1.5 pages
squeeze a $2 box of wine into
of book. Fall asleep.
the budget to celebrate with my
11:00 a.m.
neighbor, Abby.
Watch wildlife video. Have to re
A Day in the Life:
Tampons and Cheese
September 2012
10:00 a.m.
33
4:00 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
We gorge on cheese and wine all
day. Get home and spend four
hours cooking beans. When will I
be able to afford canned beans
again? Play guitar for a while.
Totally into a song and something
crawls over my left hand. I know
what it is before looking: another
scorJ. Fort
pion.
Where
a r e
these
g u y s
coming
from!?
Call my
house:
T h e
Scorpion Pit.
Wonder
why
I
extended my service here in Panama. Helicopter randomly lands
outside my house. Dozens of kids
come out of nowhere to gawk at
helicopter. Occupants are from the
Ministry of Health. Too lazy to take
a bus. Planning on building a
―Health Center‖ here because we
are in the middle of nowhere and
people have died from snake bites
trying to get to the nearest hospital.
Visit my first host mom, Fula. She
is crazy, but in a good way. She
always makes me feel better. Random man is staying at her house.
He is helping repair the church next
door. Insists on quizzing me on
every ―word puzzle‖ he knows. Forgets Spanish isn‘t my first language
and these jokes
rely heavily on
the nuances of
the language. He
wonders why I‘m
not getting them.
I tell him a word
puzzle in English. He just
stares at me. I
guess
English
isn‘t his first language either.
We go for a walk to the river to
clean her up. Run into an eight
hundred pound bull that escaped
from his pasture. This happens
more often than you would think.
Everything was cool until Pulgita
started nipping his ankles. She‘s
a natural herder. And still pissed
off about the pickle juice. Bull
gets angry. Runs at ME instead of
Pulgita. I throw my hand out and
scream ―NO!‖ instinctively. Bull
charges me again and I wussy swat
one of his horns. He was so embarrassed for me he ran away. Walking home realized I could have died
and the last thing I would have said
was ―NO!‖ to an angry bull that apparently understands English. Get
home and ask myself again why I
extended. Try and find things to do.
Decided against playing
J. Fort
my guitar. Too lazy to
work on grad school stuff.
Still pissed at Pulgita. We
make eye contact and
decide we‘re both even.
Then realize that I just
either communicated
with my dog telepathically
or I‘m that lonely.
2:30 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
Start my ―Jungle Scene‖ painting
in school cafeteria. Halfway
through, see that the old paint is
peeling off. Continue painting
because to stop would make too
much sense. Realize this mural
will start deteriorating almost
immediately after I leave. My mural is a microcosm of all my projects here. Go home feeling sorry
for myself.
7:00 p.m.
Go home and make a sandwich.
Salivating at the smell of a fresh jar
of pickles I just bought. Pickles are
a rarity in rural Panama. As I‘m
opening the jar I lose my grip and
pickle juice splashes all over my
dog that‘s standing next to me
waiting to be fed. Sorry Pulgita. You
get pickle juice in your eye instead
of food today. She spends all day
smelling herself wondering what I
threw all over her.
Go to my neighbors to
feel more social. Tell
them my near-death-experience
and they just laugh at me. You
can‘t really outdo these people
on awesomeness when it comes
to large farm animals. Or machete fights. Or rice-eating contests. Or number of parasites in
their intestines. Or amount of
days they can spend in the jungle
without food or shelter. Thinking
about this, my faith is restored in
Panama. For now.
34
La Vaina
Biological Control
Erik King
EH 69, Ngäbe Bugle
Some time back in the ‗90s, the University of Arizona foolishly awarded me
a science degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I like to think that must
be why the Peace Corps invited me to
serve in Environmental Health.
Now I‘m here, smack in the middle of a
very buggy, batty, muddy bit of jungle.
The Bocas Ngäbes, who built this
house with their own hands and a
chainsaw for the previous v=Volunteer,
are smart. They build disposable
houses on stilts because bugs crawl
on the ground. Smart because it
makes it hard for bugs, except the
ones that can fly, or climb, to get into
your living space. But climbing and
flying includes all manner of spiders
(not that they‘re bugs at all) and ants,
termites, cockroaches, moths and
mosquitoes, even chitras – which I still
haven‘t gotten used to.
their sister ants. This means that a
displaced ant that can‘t pick up a
scent trail will die. My house is a maze
of scent trails,
and all an ant
needs to do is
walk a few inches
to find another
one. So I got to
thinking;
ants
can‘t walk across
water, right?
dence in my aluminum foil box. Maybe
they help keep the cockroaches down.
I did notice that no cockroaches lived
in my aluminum foil box – and we all
know how much roaches love a nice
E.Miller
I followed the biting ant trail (more
like a rush-hour
biting ant freeway)
to their nest, right
under the post
that barely holds
The cat sure loves krugies
up my stairs. I got
myself a shovel
and pulled on my boots. Biting ants be
little tube in which to succor their foul
damned! I plunged the shovel in,
spawn.
scooped out the queen‘s chamber and
hucked it across the quebrada. Word
Visitors have marveled at the lack of
to the wise here: wear a shirt when
roaches in my house, so maybe it‘s
hucking
biting
ants,
because
when
working; but I‘m not so sure. The other
So I got to thinking; I‘m smart too,
they rain down on your back, they will
day I was cleaning out under my
right? I‘m a licensiado-ed biologist—
bite right where your hands can‘t
counter, a counter I built not three
why shouldn‘t I be able to manipulate
reach, unless you dislocate your shoulmonths back, and found a veritable
these creatures into some kind of bioder
–
like
I
nearly
did.
roach subsidized housing unit. Like a
logical submission? I think they used
trailer park of roachdom! Call it Roachto call it Biological Control before realBiting
ants
down.
Excellent.
Next
move
view Estates or Cockroach Haven. My
izing it was more just a hubristic oppormy friends the sugar ants. They look
bad: don‘t save egg cartons. Roaches
tunity for biological folly.
like the biting ants, small and black,
can fill a couple of cartons fast, with
but much nicer. And they live in my
their gross egg sacks hanging out of
First things first: the biting ants have to
planter.
You
can
tell
the
difference
their cockroach butts. I hate cockgo. The previous volunteer used to
because
when
you
move
the
Snickers
roaches.
throw empty cans of Off! on the ants in
upon
which
they
are
feasting,
they
run
an attempt to kill them. I found that
around in a crazed speedy motion inWhich brings me to why I love chickthis only really confuses them. Ants
stead of crawling up your fingers and
ens; they relish pecking cockroaches
can‘t see that well and mostly cruise
burying their formic acid-laced mandito death. With a ―CHU CHU CHU CHU
about following the scent laid down by
bles into your skin. To me, this is a big
CHU!‖ my neighbors‘ chickens come
improvement. It got me to thinking like
running, pecking the living hell out of
A.Hines
an ecologist; if there is only so much
the cockroaches pouring out of the
food I leave around, and the sugar
roach mobile unit I‘ve just tossed out
ants get it first, then the biting ants
the window. It‘s a wonderful sight, exwon‘t have anything to eat, and there
cept for the adult roaches that fly right
will be fewer cockroaches! Ecology
back under my house. That just pisses
101. All that tuition I still owe: paying
me off.
dividends.
So I channel this anger. Inspiration!
So if I have small sugar ants, why not
Leave coffee cups out over night with a
let the nice big golden ants live with
little sweet milky chocolate sludge in
me, too? They have taken up resithe bottom as bait. I‘ve discovered that
Local flora and fauna
September 2012
roaches of all ages—from little instars
to full-fledged flying egg-butt monsters—can crawl in but can‘t climb
out.
35
A.Hines
Toss them out the window in the
morning and the chickens come running. I recommend it: both for your
mental health, and as a way to lower
the population density of blattodids
living under your kitchen counters or
behind the photo of your sister‘s
brand new baby boy.
In addition to biting ants, I was left
with a tomcat. He‘s great company,
but not so good at eating cockroaches. In fact he‘s indifferent. I
think it‘s because I feed him too
Local Panamanian spider
much. So now I feed him less. Because even worse than biting ants in
ously, how many eggs can one termite
his cat food bowl is the horrible little
hatch in three weeks?
*scratch scratch scratch* of roaches
eating the cat‘s dog food in the middle
I scraped the termites up, tossed their
of the night. I figure if maybe I feed
queen‘s chambers out the window,
him less, not only will there be no food
dug up the biting ants, threw the
left in the bowl for the roaches to rusroaches to the chickens, fed a krugie
tle around in at four in the morning. He
or two to my cat, let the sugar ants live
also might eat one or two.
in my planter, the golden ants in my
aluminum foil roll, the spiders build
The cat will eat krugies, though.
webs, but none of them addressed my
Geckos: those little chirping lizards
chitra/mosquito problem.
that lay the coolest pairs of eggs in my
seashells. He loves eating them, but
Here‘s where my real stroke of biologithey eat the ants and potentially the
cal genius backfired on me: Bats. They
infant roaches. What can I do? Ecology
love to come in and swoop around my
is nothing if not complex. How can I
house at night. *Swoop swoop flutter
say no? It‘s so fun to watch him pin
flutter*. Not a problem, I think to mydown a cute little wriggling lizard runself, they‘re eating the mossies. What
ning for its life with a well placed paw.
else could they be doing? I shine my
He really likes them. *Crunch crunch
light on them and they give me that
crunch*. A licking of his kitty lips, exshivery batty little look, hanging upside
pectant eyes asking, ―More?‖
down, squeaking imperceptibly, on the clothesAnd what about the termites? A month
line I strung up in the
ago, right after a deluge, there was a
peak of my zinc roof. (To
termite hatching. Ten thousand little
keep my clothes from
winged insects fly up in the air and
mildewing, becoming
make sweet termite love. Storing up a
ant nests, or worse,
lifetime‘s worth of little termite sperm,
cockroach projects) This
they all fall to the ground, drop their
whole time I‘m thinking
forty thousand wings, and try to set up
I‘m really smart. Then
shop. One tried in my egg cartons, but
one night, I‘m awoken
I think the roaches got it. Another
by the oddest thing:
pretty successful female got going unlittle drops, usually
der the lid to my Axion lemon scented
three of them, on my
soap. I was only gone for a little while:
chest— or worse, my
language training, 4th of July, some
face. Is my roof leaking,
ministry visits, and then PML. Serion an otherwise rain
free night? Nope, that‘s bat piss. It
smells bad too. Bats pee on me in my
sleep. Ask me how smart I feel now.
Bat pee, albeit, one step below
roaches crawling on you in terms of
disgusting impossible things to sleep
through, is disgusting. I take an offensive tack. When they flutter in and fly
around and land on my clothesline, I
beat them with my broom. Line it up,
take aim, and bat the bat with all I
have. But bats don‘t die. Bats it turns
out, are the little superhero Batmen of
mammals. They‘re nearly impossible to
kill, perhaps even as tough as roaches.
Batted bats, stunned and pinned, tangled in clothes hangers, still flutter off.
Bats are much smarter than roaches,
though, and know enough not to come
back.
That and the fact that I took some advice from a friend of mine raised up
here – bats hate aluminum foil. So I
hung aluminum foil strips all along my
clothes line right above where I sleep,
(which caused my golden ants to move
into a paper bag) had the effect of
making the bats not like to hang on my
clothesline: and therefore, not pee on
me. This is good since I‘m trying to
convince this especially cute girl to
visit me again. She might not want to
on account of the first time she visited,
bats peed on her cheek.
You ask her how smart I felt. Nothing
sets the mood quite like a little bat pee
on the cheek. Take it from me, I‘m licensiado-ed.
L.Curry
36
La Vaina
Rocking Goal
Two
Andrew Parker
CEC 68, Darién
Goal two of Peace Corps is the
sharing of American culture with
our host country, to get a better
idea of us. Ever since I got my guitar and a sound system, I think I
have been doing a good bit of that
-and rocking out.
At first, my playing here was just to
let off steam. I would pluck and
bend the strings of my dippy little
nylon for hours on end at night.
Eventually, kids began to hang
around my porch and watch the
gringo go at it. Soon afterwards, it
was adults, too.
―Hugh! Puro rock,‖ the kids would
say. Right on, little man. Most of
them had never ventured outside
the realm of típico and bachata. I
felt it was time to give them a feel
for the Blues.
‗‘It‘s like décima or típico, only sadder. You‘re singing about that chick
that left you; you have no money
and all the worst luck, man,‘‘
I told my landlord‘s kid the
night I moved into my apartment.
So it has now become common
place; once the gringo breaks out
the guitar, it‘s lesson time to whoever wants one. To many it would
sound like nails to chalk board, but
to me, it is the sound of exploration. Finding a way to express the
soul through the finger tips. That,
in itself, is music to me. I then invested in a cheap harmonica and
let them bang out a bad tune while
I tried to play the harmonica with
them. We‘d switch around, trying to
jam.
―Right on, little man,‖ I‘d say.
Then my landlords kids shouts out,
―La canción, lo sabe!‖ and I know
to which one he is referring;
‗Thunderstruck‘ by AC/DC, a good
call to worship hymn. I do my best
to try and sound like that angry
Australian, Bon Scott. I don‘t think I
do too well…
It is great; a little divergence from
típico can‘t do too much harm.
Another shouts, ―La canción sobre
sueños malos!‖ and I dig through
my library. We keep the energy up
And on these nice weekends one
with ‗Enter Sandman‘ from Metalcan hear the sounds from AC/DC
lica. We start off slow, finger pluckto Junior Kimbrough, to Led Zeppeing our air guitars, some who havelin, to The Who blasting out of my
n‘t had an air guitar lesson sway
little apartment. I hold service to
around. Progressively building up;
the Rock Gods. And when the
drums beating, bass, an ominous
house is a rockin‘, don‘t bother
overdrive. Then, that drum crashes,
knockin‘, just come on in! Weeksnares smashing, and the gain
ends you can find my balcón lleno
kicks in! I‘ve never been to one of
de niños dancing, some doing the
those snake-dancing-tongueair guitar and banging their heads,
speaking churches, but I believe
a gringo doing about the same and
my guys have them beat. We are
trying to sing. All this is in the midmaking ourselves dizzy from the
dle of town where all the adults
head banging, winded from
the thrashing. By now a lot of
A. Parker
folks are staring.
―La canción donde bailaste!‖ I
hear in the crowd.
I went as far as to write a bad
song in Spanish to give him
an idea. Soon, more kids
were hanging around my
porch. One kid got up to ask
to play my guitar.
―Sure thing, chief,‖ I said and
handed it to him. He began to
plink around the strings–
laughed and pena made him
give it back. But it was
quickly lent out again to another.
can get an eye full. As my new converts and I pay tribute to the fathers of rock, the sons of punk, and
the holy ghosts of the Blues, all the
saints blast through my speakers.
Deliverance. And me, the shepherd
of this mosh pit, translating the
good word.
―Oh lawd, well ok,‖ I say and
begin looking for that song.
The gente that rocks together….
I got caught dancing to this
song once and now all the
kids like to do the borracho
shuffle. I may or may not have
had a shot of Seco or two. We
go to ‗Couldn‘t Tie Me Down‘
by the Black Keys. For some
reason my legs always get
tired after this dance (of
sorts).
September 2012
―Mi batería esta bajo, qué es nuestra última canción!?”
Again my landlord‘s kid (he is by
far my best disciple) shouts out,
―Chicas con nalgas grandes!‖
―Fat Bottom Girls it is, then!‖ I also
have to do the choreography to
this one, if only I had the suspenders. But I still wouldn‘t do Freddie
justice.
Kids are laughing. I am sweaty and
kind of sore; rocking can take it
out of ya. Making an ass of myself?
Maybe. Causing a scene? Certainly! I go inside for a drink, fulfilled that I did a part of my job,
and made a good show of it. Puro
rock. If you would like to attend a
service, it‘s not hard to find me, my
church, or my
disciples;
we
have plenty of
room on my
porch,
bring
your air guitar!
Goal 2 never
rocked
so
much.
Down by the School
Yard
Reid Watkins
SAS G71 Ngäbe-Buglé
Besides being evil, insufferable,
obnoxious, adorable and lovable,
kids can make fantastic spies.
They subtly and unwittingly reveal
what their parents and family
members say about you: the kind
of blunt and honest observations
that are completely unacceptable
by social standards. Talking to the
community children, I can discover
what everyone thinks of me without
anyone knowing.
37
Coming home one afternoon
after a Padres de la Familia
meeting on the other side of
my town, a young boy
walked with me. Little Jorge,
with his oversized backpack,
tidy school uniform and various bald spots from a recent
bad haircut, was the best
unofficial community guide
around.
"I heard that sometimes
people fight at the school
anniversary celebrations," I
said to him, trying to understand the Panamanian way
of celebrating. "Are you fighting anyone?"
"No," he said, "I don't like to fight.
Only the men who drink chicha
fuerte do that."
"I won‘t fight anyone either," I told
him. "It‘s no fun to get hit anyway."
―Exactly,‖ he said, looking up.
Cool kid, I thought.
"Did something bad happen to you
back there?" he asked, suddenly.
"Where? At the school?‖
"No, in the United States. Why did
you come to Panama?" Jorge says.
He must have overheard his parents wondering this very thing, and
now the nessio little guy is asking
me himself. I suppose it's a logical
question, when the world is the
view from atop Cerro Tijera. Family
and friends are everything – and I
left it all behind to start from
scratch for two years.
How do you explain something to a
kid that you haven‘t quite found
words for yet? Things were good
back home. They were great. But
somewhere out there, this world,
A.Hines
Little Jorge‘s world, existed and I
just had to see for myself. So I
gathered up my trinkets and creature comforts to scatter them to
the wind, just to see if I could. I'm
still young, you see? This is my way
of bending the rules, of living as
many different lives as I can in the
decades granted. My way of making something special.
"No, Jorge, nothing bad happened,"
I told him, ―In fact, a lot of good
things happened, and all those
good things led me here. I'm very
lucky to be here. A lot of people in
the United States want a chance
like this, but not everybody can."
It wasn't what I wanted to say, but
it was true and it's close enough.
I‘m not sure if I‘ll find the words –
it‘s like describing a color. The
words are inexact and clumsy. If
he's as smart as I think he is, he‘ll
figure it out one day when the time
has come to decide things for himself.
When he grows up, and I‘m long
gone, hopefully he'll remember my
strange decision to live in indigenous Panama and realize that the
whole world awaits him. Life is calling, Little Jorge. How far will you
go?
38
La Vaina
THE JOY OF ULTIMATE FRISBEE
B. Searle
Great Moments in
Sport-forDevelopment
Ben Searle
CED G62, RPCV
There are many ways to bring out
the best in a young person. Few
are more fun and simple than
teaching them to make a disc fly.
In my experience as a Peace Corps
Volunteer in Panama, I
have observed that the joy
and simplicity of Frisbee
can serve both as a medium of cultural exchange
and, more surprisingly, a
highly influential development tool.
pation and enthusiasm for a project. The first is to make food for
everyone; the second is to tie in a
sporting event. Sports are most
effective as a youth development
tool when they used to create an
environment where adults can interact constructively with young
people and promote the abilities
needed to live happy, healthy, and
productive lives.
Frisbee: the greatest sport ever?
Frisbees appeal to just about everyone because of their simple design and the brilliant ease with
which they fly. At first, the disk is
difficult to throw and the path of
the disk is often deceptive. This
adds greatly to the entertainment
value of the toy. Especially if there
is someone around who has already mastered the technique. The
distance and accuracy of the disk
is a spectacular mystery and the
urge to experiment is irresistible for
One of the great challenges faced by nearly all
community leaders and
development workers is
the initial process of bringing people together. In
most cases, news of a
meeting or a new community initiative is not something to celebrate. In the
Peace Corps, I consistently
observed two ways guaranteed to increase partici“The toughest revista you’ll ever love.”
just about everyone. For girls and
boys alike, it does not take long to
catch on; when it does, throwing
the disk becomes an extremely
exciting and rewarding activity.
Frisbee is an activity that can provide a context for rapid learning,
accomplishment, and increased
self-confidence. Even children with
very low self-esteem can be coaxed
into participating because half the
fun is running after the flying disk
and watching it fly. Any throw, as
inaccurate as it may be, is entertaining and opens a window to provide positive feedback. Gradually,
with a small amount of encouragement, they will improve. The result
is a big smile every time and the
will to try again.
Ben Searle, CED Group 62, is the founder of Volazo, a sport-for-development
organization that uses the sport of
Ultimate Frisbee to reach, teach, and
inspire youth in Latin America.
September 2012
We’ve Got
Spirit, Yes We
Do
Chelsea Weber
TE G67, Los Santos
While many Peace Corps Volunteers have tossed around a disc at
some point in their service, many
don‘t realize that the game of Ultimate Frisbee offers much more
than just something different and
incredibly entertaining for their
community members. The game‘s
unique method of self-officiating
offers a fantastic opportunity for
positive social interaction and
change.
The basic rules for Ultimate are as
follows: games are seven-on-seven,
and in order to score players must
catch the Frisbee in their end zone.
There is no running with the Frisbee, no contact, and players can
only hold the disc for ten seconds.
The game generally lasts an hour
39
and a half or until one team makes
it to a certain number of points. A
good game of Ultimate is rather
non-stop and players have to be
quick on their feet, cutting in and
out of open space to get the Frisbee, while at the same time patient
with the Frisbee in their hands. A
good game of Ultimate is also respectful. This is officially (yes, as in
the Ultimate rule book) known as
―Spirit of the Game‖.
There are no referees in Ultimate
Frisbee. The calls—foul, travel,
time—all come from the players
themselves. Ultimate players know
to respect the calls of their opponents, or to respectfully contest
them when they don‘t agree with a
call. The sport actually has rules in
place for making calls on opponents and the proper procedures to
follow when a call is ―contested‖ or
―uncontested.‖ The sport has
worked this way since its beginning. I personally think the spirit of
the game is one of the most interesting pieces of the game. Players
have an enormous responsibility to
be honest and fair with their calls
and towards other
B. Searle players. I will admit,
this system does not
always work perfectly.
However, I think it is
because of this that
most people who play
Ultimate are pretty
cool people to hang
out with. You will not
see a team of Ultimate
players clearing the
sidelines to jump into
a pile-up of fist throwing over a bad call.
There are no coaches
screaming at refs for
―cheating‖ them out of
a championship. The
sport itself simply
asks, ―Can‘t we all just
get along?‖
Comarca girls with their Frisbees and PCV.
B. Searle
Having worked in the public
schools for a year and a half, I have
seen the way many kids think differences should be solved. It is a
reality that after a few brief words
between students, I will watch as
the offended pulls an arm back
and screams, ―te voy a pegar!‖ in
the face of the offender. Ultimate
offers an opportunity to teach kids
that disagreements cannot always
be solved by punching each other.
Not to mention that the glamour of
the sport—the cool, high flying
catches and fast pace of the
game—reels kids in once they get
the hang of it. There are several
efforts going on in Panama to bring
the sport to kids outside of Panama City- where there is actually a
community of Ultimate players.
PCVs have organized clinics in their
communities and Panama Ultimate, the association based in Panama City, is making an effort to
reach out to other cities and form
youth teams- which they have also
brought into the City to play in tournaments.
40
La Vaina
Ultimate for Your Community
Kenneth Hartman
TE G67, Chiriquí
K. Hartman
As I walked into the school in Renacimiento, Chiriquí for the
first time, I could feel all the eyes on the weird plate-thing I had
in one hand and the huge bag of them in the other. They knew
today was no normal school day.
We took the class out to the field and soon discs were flying
everywhere, the kids absolutely loving it.
After a skills session, we set them loose on the field. There
was only one problem. They didn‘t want to stop. Now, I am a
Ultimate Club team in Remedios.
teacher too and I hate it when my kids skip class and I am not
endorsing it, but I couldn‘t help but love their enthusiasm. I
don‘t know how many kids actually skipped their next classes to keep playing and how many actually had the
next hours free, but I do know every one of them didn‘t want to be anywhere else.
B. Searle
They loved it so much they were incessantly asking their teacher if they were
going to play Ultimate in their normal classes and he was able to answer smiling,
―Yes!‖. Ultimate's unique rules of self-refereeing and Spirit of the Game combined with its fast-paced play make it an ideal sport for developing young and
healthy community leaders.
If you would like to jump-start Ultimate in your community, I am available to run a
clinic in your site. The clinic introduces the basic tenets and techniques of the
sport and gets the kids playing and laughing in no time. I can tailor the clinic to
your needs and age group. Please see below for my contact information.
Calling All Ultimate Volunteers!
A kid makes an awesome leap.
Are you looking to start an Ultimate club?
Do you want Ultimate taught in your school’s gym class?
Are you going take advantage of the Volazo opportunity?
Do you want to have an awesome day of Ultimate in your site?
Then why not run an Ultimate clinic in your site to get things jumpstarted? Ultimate is a great way
to teach leadership and fitness through Spirit of the Game®.
My name is Ken Hartman and I would love to come to your community to help run an Ultimate
clinic. I have the discs and cones to rock a clinic of 25 kids. If you have more kids interested, we
could easily run two clinics in a day.
Just contact me and we’ll get all the details worked out.
E-mail : Hartmaks@gmail.com
Phone: 6954-2235
September 2012
41
Baseball, Juju and the Perfect Game
Annie Hines
CEC G70, Los Santos
Each family has their traditions, their
idiosyncrasies, if you will. For as long as
I can remember, my family‘s tradition
has always been baseball. We would
gather as a family- my dad, my mom, my
brother and I, sitting in front of the TV
and watch. I never had a problem of
who I would root for; I was fourteen before I realized that the lyrics to ―Take Me
Out to the Ball Game‖ were ―root, root,
root for the home team‖ - I always said
Giants.
When the Giants won the World Series
in 2010, I was in school in Los Angeles.
Being out of town only meant one thing
changed. I watched the games
on TV without my parents or my
brother. Every game from the
start of the post season, my
roommates watched with me
(for observational purposes).
What would I do if they lost?
More importantly, what would I
do if they won? A fifty-three-year
-long drought is nothing to take
lightly.
most underrated pitcher in the majors. And finally,
people would realize it. The whole day, I smiled. My
Giants were back in the game after a
tough season last year.
The world series trophy
Look at the 22 names included on the
list of those who have achieved the perfect game. How many do you recognize? To the causal fan, the names that
pop out are Cy Young, Sandy Koufax,
Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay and – at
least for me – Matt Cain. These are
names of already famous pitchers –
famous primarily for their skill in all aspects, not just pitching a perfect game.
Perfect games are perfect because of a
combination of skill, luck, and a little bit
of good juju.
One of the first letters I received here from my Dad
included a Sports Illustrated article by Hart Seely about how the
fans, sportscasters, and everyone involved in the game, especially the spectators, feel as
though they affect the outcome.
We all have our rituals, even if
we don‘t call them such. Phil
Rizzuto, the former announcer
of the Yankees, would start a
discussion on a subject (even
unrelated to baseball) and conWe all have things to get us
tinue it through a rally, reviving it
through the hard times in Peace
in later innings when times were
Corps. Whether it‘s weekly condesperate. What Giants or Anversations with friends back
gels‘ fan doesn‘t know about the
home or visits with friends down
Rally Monkey, the bane of the
here, there is something for all
Giants‘ 2002 World Series run.
of us when times get hard, when
In 2010, I watched every game
we get frustrated. For me, as it
of the series, absolutely enrapwas back home, it‘s baseball.
tured. The one game I couldn‘t
watch, because I had a class, I
―Did you hear?
Matt Cain
followed the entire time on my
pitched a perfect game!‖
I
computer, wearing the cap and
called my dad one morning to
nearly tumbling the desk when
Pitcher
Matt
Cain
and
catcher
Buster
check in and see what was goPosey
celebrate
after
Cain
threw
his
the Giants won the game. I
ing on at home. I fell to my
Perfect
Game
have rules when watching
knees and nearly started crying.
games. I don‘t touch my phone,
Of all the Giants‘ pitchers, Matt
no matter how badly I want to text someone. When
Cain earned it the most. He had been there the longsomething amazing is about to happen, I freeze in
est, worked the hardest and was probably the best,
place. My brother, telling me the story of Matt Cain‘s
42
perfect game, revealed the same
thing. He refused to let his girlfriend up to get snacks when
watching in the 8th inning. She
called me the next day to complain,
but I had no sympathy. It‘s part of
the rules. You freeze in place; any
move can ruin it for you. If you
move, and they lose, or someone
gets a hit, it‘s your fault; it has
nothing to do with luck, happenstance or skill. It‘s pure juju. In my
family, watching a baseball game is
a ritual more than a form of entertainment. When the team loses, it
hurts. When they win, it makes the
day better. When they perform
something incredible, whether winning a world series or pitching a
perfect game, you ride that high for
as long as it holds.
This season, three-fourths of the
way through, Major League Baseball has already had 3 perfect
games. Last season had none.
2010 had two. These games are
rare, even among the greats. Most
teams have none in their history.
When it happens, it‘s something to
celebrate.
During phone calls with my dad
and my brother (we don‘t hold my
mom‘s reformed Dodger nature
against her, but there are some
things she just doesn‘t get), we talk
about the team. When the team
loses, it hurts. When they win,
we‘ve won. Sitting in front of the
TV or the radio watching a baseball
game: you have as much involvement as the players do. Every
breath, every ill-timed word, every
eye blink- it has an effect on the
entire game. Thinking like this isn‘t
crazy. It isn‘t abnormal. Any baseball fan, any true fan, can attest to
it. I‘d even be willing to bet that
any sports fan could as well. It
makes us happy. Don‘t hold it
against us.
La Vaina
The Joys of Hiking-In My Groceries
Jason “Iyo” Carter
SAS G68, Ngäbe Buglé
I have to hike into my site and depending if I have the ganas to use a chiva
or not, it is between 1 ½ to 2 ¼ hours. Hiking out is always 2 ¼ hours. I
am very happy I have this hike. Please allow me to explain.
First of all, it means I‘m generally left alone in my site. If anyone is going to
visit, they need to call me for instructions on how to get there, so I am
never surprised by an unscheduled visitor.
Secondly, a hike keeps me sane, for I have a nice 2 hour buffer to mentally
prepare myself for electricity, sinks, internet, and fondas. Similarly, if
something I see at the internet cafe freaks me out, I have a solid block of
time to calm myself down antes que yo llego a mi casa.
However, the part I enjoy most is the singularly unique opportunity a more
remote site provides to me. In my understanding, few Peace Corps sites
around the world provide such a distance from ―civilization‖. With increasing rules on Volunteer safety, I would not be surprised if such remote sites
become rarer. Also, I reckon with the speedy clip of technological development such remote sites will be rapidly connected to greater and everincreasing networks of communication.
Meditating on such realities, I realized I may be one of the last generations
with the luxury of a remote Peace Corps living experience; living with no
power or pluma. I am thankful for my luck in being placed in a community
off the drivable path. It can get irritating when hiking in a heavy chakara
full of beans and veggies in 2 hours of rain, or hiking out before dawn to
get to an agency when it opens, but I think that momentary frustration is
worth it. I certainly won‘t ever look at a bus quite the same way again. If
you have a hike into site, count yourself lucky. Your unique circumstance
may teach you some good, and may not be available to many PCV‘s in the
future.
September 2012
43
M. Collins
How Do You Cope
With the Stress of
Peace Corps?
Mary Collins
SAS G65, Colón
For many of us, we give and give until we have
nothing left. We leave our family, our job, our life
in the name of service. We tell ourselves, ―I‘ll feel
guilty if I don‘t do that class or seminar‖. We work
until we run out of juice. Before going on my
month leave, I came to a point where I had nothing left to give. Working through lunches, doing
multiple things at once and rarely taking a day off
finally took its toll. I ignored my needs physically
as well as emotionally. Was I fully aware of each
activity while doing three things at once? Heck,
Mary doing yoga with kids in Santa Rosa, Colón.
it‘s more efficient to do one thing at a time to focus your full attention. I never gave myself posiWarrior II (Beg)
tive re-enforcement for my achievements and only focused on what
From standing, hop or
hadn‘t been done.
step one leg behind the
other, with the front foot
facing forward and the
How do you cope with the stress of Peace Corps? Seeing your neighbors
back foot at a 90 degree
go hungry, having to relieve an animal of its suffering, the illnesses we
angle. Extend your arms in
face and harassment we receive. At first when I left site I would feel
front and behind as opguilty taking a hot shower, thinking of people in my town who will never
posing forces. Warrior II
know such luxuries.
strengthens and stretches
legs, ankles, groin, chest,
Many of us stay in site and leave for a provincial capital to binge on
lungs and shoulders, while increasing stamina.
food, alcohol or gamble. Doesn‘t this exacerbate the monumental leap
we take from the campo to the city? It can be hard to stay grounded,
Plow Pose (Med-Adv):
going from very little to endless options in Riba Smith.
Laying on your back, inhale
and lift your legs, supporting your back with your
hands on your lower back.
Exhale as you lower legs
over your head, resting
your toes on the ground
behind you, keeping your
I came to yoga in college as a form of stress relief and exercise but developed a new relationship with yoga in the Peace Corps. Coming to my legs as straight as possible. If your feet don‘t reach,
mat was a ritual that made me feel grounded and at peace. I felt a new do pose in front of a wall, resting the soles of your
feet on the wall.
awareness and connection to myself that I didn‘t know existed.
Plow pose stimulates the abdominal organs (think
Be it yoga, hiking, meditation, religion, a good book—find a healthy activ- regularity) and the thyroid gland, while stretching
ity that will fill you up and leave you feeling empowered, not drained.
the shoulders and spine, and reducing stress. While
Celebrate your achievements regardless of what they are- maybe you
in this pose, keep your neck straight – DO NOT
just arrived to site and finally convinced them you‘re not a missionary.
move your head side to side.
Or perhaps you finished an aqueduct project. Whatever it may be, be
proud of yourself. You don‘t realize it, but you really are making a differAs always in yoga, listen to your body. If a pose
ence, so let‘s celebrate our successes and fill ourselves so we can give
doesn‘t feel right or your body doesn‘t go that far,
in a healthy way.
remember there‘s always modifications.
Before my service in the Peace Corps, I never really needed to find an
emotional release. Sure, blow off some steam every once in a while like
everyone else. But here, you see things you will never unsee. You go
from your highest highs to most miserable lows in the same week. You
have to find a way to cope that will empower you so you can empower
others. Never give of yourself, only your overflow.
44
Brick for Wood? :
Thoughts On a Lost
Art
Brandon Gibs
GTE 67, Coclé
It happens to all of us. After aprox.
3.5 weeks of tremendous struggle,
extremely conscientious budgeting,
and having to say yes to the mondongo/ pata de (insert animal
here)/ mythic amounts of arroz
offered by your host family, you are
balling. You roll on up to the good
old General Bank to sacar a little
plata, and walk away with a crisp
twenty dollar bill. Great. Now, if
you‘re like me, you must immediately begin scouring for the nearest
chino in your vicinity to work its
magic and convert the billete into
something that will actually be useable where your headed, or risk
still sitting on the same bill come
next payday. The next time you find
yourself contemplating the logic
behind the existence of a monetary
unit roughly equivalent to the entire monthly income of many of
your friends and neighbors, consider this lesson from a familiar
though unlikely source.
If you‘re awesome (read: nerdy)
like me, and seize every opportunity to make it ―rain‖ on your fellow
awesome (read: also nerdy) Volunteers by flexing your settling muscles as Lord or Lady Catan, then
you already posses all the necessary know-how to get around having such silly bigbill pena. First
though, let‘s take
a short stroll
through human
history. As mankind began to
turn away from
their old-school ways of on-the-fly
hunting and gathering in favor of a
more stable, sedentary agricultural
La Vaina
alternatives, some really radical
changes happened. As farmers
began getting really good at what
they did, they soon found themselves producing more food and
products than were needed to support themselves and their families.
And so the trader was born! Traders negotiate using these excesses, exchanging them for other
things that they needed but couldn‘t produce. As these types of activities grew in popularity and practice so did the size of many of the
world‘s once tiny, rural communities. And so this phenomenon,
what we now know as urbanization,
gave birth to cities and towns, and
a whole new type of hombre. Before long, city-dwellers became
highly specialized in one craft
(maybe sewing or cooking or reading), or not specialized in anything
at all (besides eating or asking people for things to eat), and no longer
produced many of the basic things
they needed to survive. Enter the
consumer. As cities kept growing,
more and more consumers were
on the hunt for the products of
those still producing in the farms.
By now, traders in urban centers
had begun using small pieces of
pritty metals to represent the relative worth of the products in their
possession instead of dragging
their cows, chickens, tobacco, barrels of liquor (etc.) everywhere they
went, a trend that, naturally,
caught on big time.
While the global trend ever since
has been to pack up the farm in
Nowheresville and head for
easy fame and fortune at
the nearest money pit with
a supermarket, bank, disco,
and of course, bar, this
does not account for nor
help out those of us still
kicking it out here in the campo. So
what can us out here with mucha
finca pero poca plata do? We can
turn to our beloved game Settlers
of Catan for a life lesson and cut
out the middle man. For example, I
always have huevos and my
neighbors always have a toddler,
and therefore a healthy supply of
milk and chiguis. Many days we
both have something that the other
wants, and lack the ganas, cash, or
umbrella necessary for a visit to
the local kiosk. Eventually, we put
our heads together and after some
negotiating, our problem was
solved! A couple of my eggs for half
a cup of their milk and we‘re all
happier than pigs in mud. My other
neighbors now have access to an
inexhaustible supply of eggs and
veggies (if they‘re feeling really adventurous), and I‘ve got the hookup
for various tropical fruits for my
homemade pies and ciders. There
is a term for such a phenomenon
in English: win-win. Number of $20
bills involved, zero. And it doesn‘t
always have to be goods for goods,
though that may be easiest. I‘ve
been known to sweep a mean floor
or limpiar major monte for a cup of
coffee, horse-back ride, what have
you. Trading and bartering can
even be encouraged on a community level – let‘s say in the form of a
weekend farmer‘s market – especially if you‘re sick of hearing your
gente complain about how expensive stuff is or having to go pa’ya
lejos to get it. It‘s so easy and
makes so much sense out here.
Why not give it a go? So remember,
young settler of Panama, the next
time you find yourself short on
cash but sitting on a load of bricks,
with no port in site, don‘t fret.
Check with your neighbor; he just
might have wood.
September 2012
45
with the option to travel, will prevent that
inner carnivore from
pouncing on any innocent bystanders.
ryone envies your free spirit, it‘s time to
make sure you are pulling your weight at
work and not getting distracted by the
glint of the sun on the jungle leaves.
The Capybara
The Sloth
(Taurus) April 20– May 20
Stubborn and determined Iguana- they
can throw as many rocks as they want,
you are not moving off that branch. This
month, you are very home focused.
Whether entertaining friends, or staying
in and working, home is where the
Iguana is. Beware that trouble at work
doesn‘t light that slow-to-move temper
and make you more stubborn than
usual. No te preocupes. You might feel
the need to prove yourself now, but soon
everyone will respect you and see the
value of your work.
(Virgo) Aug. 23– Sep. 22
The gentlest of the Zodiac, the Capybara
is usually one adorable rodent who never
gets its fur ruffled. This month will test
your sweet, nurturing nature. Likely to be
fussy and overcritical, watch out that you
don‘t stick your whiskered nose where
it‘s not wanted. Also, stop obsessing
over your health, the other capybaras
don‘t want any more lectures on yoga or
veganism. The best way for this month‘s
overwrought, high-strung Capybara to
achieve Zen is just to relax and cut herself some slack.
(Capricorn) Dec. 21– Jan. 19
Patient, slow moving sloth– this month,
you will be focused on your career. You
might feel impatient to make changes,
but sloths never get anything done
quickly. Slow progress is your strength.
Come down off of that branch and
spend some time with the other jungle
critters. It will take you a while to get to
know them, but you should
do better relating to other
this month with Venus moving into your sign.
The Tamarin Monkey
Blue and Yellow Macaw
Your
Panamanian
Stars
The Iguana
(Gemini) May 21– June 20
Chatty, excitable Tamarin– this is an
excellent month to throw a party. Quench
your need for novelty and for boisterous
conversation in one go, and invite
neighbors over for board games and a
potluck. Who knows what new dishes
you might get to try! Money is going to
get tricky this month and you might be
on a plantain and rice diet as you wait
for your monthly allowance, so take care to
spend wisely.
(Libra) Sept. 23– Oct. 22
Faithful and just Macaw– the month is
all about maintaining your balance. You
might mate for life but you can‘t expect
other animals to be so constant. This
month brings on lots of challenges: in
relationships, work, and financially. You
will struggle with your need to control
everything, but the best lesson is learned
through experience. Don‘t be afraid to let
things fail. When the boat goes bust, use
that level head of yours and be the cord
that ties the jetsam back together.
The Howler Monkey
The Bat
(Cancer) June 21– July 22
As loud and intimidating
as you might sound
Howler Monkey, this month you show us
your cuddly side. You will be prone to
excessive generosity and will go out of
your way to put everyone around you at
ease. This skill will come in handy, as
tense situations over power and independence are likely to develop within
host families and agency groups.
The Jaguar
(Leo) July 22– Aug. 22
Hey, you gorgeous jungle cat, you‘ve got
everyone looking at you. However; the
normal socializing and flirting has done
nothing to tame that restless spirit. Before you pace a groove into that cement
floor, its time for you to explore some
other options. Pursuing projects in education and communication, especially
(Scorpio) Oct. 23– Nov. 21
The oldest soul of the zodiac, The Bat
should seek sanctuary in its dark cave
this month. Every time you pop your nose
out, something new will seem to go
wrong. If only they would listen to your
advice, right? This is not a time to pull
seniority. Try directing your frustration
into some cave painting or creative hieroglyphics. Let the vampire out and
celebrate the darkness of the new moon,
but try not to take yourself so seriously.
The Quetzal
(Sagittarius) Nov. 22– Dec. 21
Optimistic Quetzal, aiming for
the canopy treetops– this
would be a great month to
bring a little of your energy
down to the animals on the
jungle floor. Friends and associates will seek you out for help
with their problems. While eve-
The Manatee
(Aquarius) Jan. 20– Feb. 18
Metaphysical manatee– your
urge to break away from
others and ponder questions about the
meaning of life in the deep blue of the
ocean could make this a lonely month
for you. However, since interaction with
others is likely to make you irritable and
your relationships might become
strained, this is a great time for an escape, whether physically or mentally.
Just make sure you don‘t get lost hunting
pearls for too long!
The Sea Turtle
(Pisces) Feb. 19– March 20
Spacey sea turtle, you thought Crush
from Finding Nemo was a bit lost in his
dreams? Your loopy cousin has nothing
on you this month! You might not be all
there to the other jungle animals, but
your inner life is going to be spectacular.
Air deprivation will just make the world
even hazier, so poke your head above
water sometimes and clear out those
cobwebs.
The Harpy Eagle
(Aries) March 21– April 19
Willful Eagle- this month it‘s all about
you. Overbearing, argumentative and
defensive, watch out that your need to
get your way doesn‘t ruin your agency
relationships. On a positive note, you‘ve
been preening like Chanticleer and are
all set to llamar la atencion at the local
baile. The neighboring hens better watch
out because this Eagle won‘t be outfeathered by anyone!
46
La Vaina
P. Wawro
The tool
Coconut Oil! I should use one more exclamation point because it is that awesome. Coconut Oil!! That strange white oil that
smells delicious but looks a little off is the bee‘s knees. So one may ask what‘s the point, Pete? Why are you wasting my La
Vaina time telling me this? Coconut oil is hard to find and expensive. It‘s just one more thing I want but can‘t get. Turns out
wherever there are coconuts there is also coconut oil. Mind blowing, I know. The only problem is how you get the oil out of the
nut.
The tried and true way is to give about 30 coconuts to the nearest old lady and wait. She will come back two days later with
the oil complaining about sore hands and cut fingers. She will make excuses, she will avoid you and she will never make oil
again. This is because of the antiquated way in which coconut oil is produced. One of the steps for making oil is to grate the
meat of the coconut. The campo tool to do this is an improvised cheese grater made by poking holes in a piece of metal. The
use of this tool makes your hands look like you went through ten rounds of finger boxing with two ferocious kittens. Solutions?
Anyone? Oh, right. I‘ve got one.
The reality is that grating can be fun and safe* if you have the correct tool. Now there are two options for conseguiring a coconut grater. The first is to order it from Cambodia and wait. The second is to make your own!
September 2012
Here is how it’s done…
Find a piece of thick metal (2mm4mm). Carriola from the roof works
well. Zinc is too thin. The less likely to
bend, the better.
Use a fine tooth metal saw to cut out a
3‖ diameter circle connected to a thick
neck.
Use a small saw lima (file) to file 5mm
teeth into the edge of the circle. The
big limas for machetes make teeth that
are too wide.
Attach the metal piece to a bench or
piece of wood that you can fit between
your legs and hold steady.
Grate away!
47
How to make coconut oil
Serving size: Enough for 1 PCV
Grate coconut meat with awesome new
tool.
Soak the meat in water and squeeze the
juices out the same as if you were making
coconut milk.
Let the ―milk‖ sit over night. A thick frothy
liquid will separate to the top of the mixture.
Skim the frothy liquid off the top with a
fine mesh strainer and cook this down
until it turns a nice golden color. You
don‘t want it too light (raw) or too dark
(burnt). I recommend finding the old lady
from before and asking her what‘s up.
P. Wawro
Thirty coconuts makes about 1 liter of oil.
Uses of coconut oil
Cooking (fine substitute for recipes
calling for butter)
Hair and skin revitalization (you can
use it to shave your legs, so I‘ve been
told)
Insect repellent
Stop smiling kid. This is work!
Skin deparasito for animals
Lotion or perfume
Important things to remember
The neck should not be too long. If it is, it will bend. The teeth
just need to reach the meat.
A smaller head is better than a big one. If the head is too wide,
it‘s hard to grate small coconuts.
Don‘t take off the shell of the coconut. Just get rid of the husk.
The shell protects the hands from the teeth. Without the shell,
the meat will just break into pieces.
Practical jokes
*(Copyright Peter Wawro Coconut
Oil Enterprises. We take no responsibility for the fun or safety of this
activity.)
48
La Vaina
Man Only Eats Canned
Food: A Case of Mistaken
Identity
tively impacted by a diet with many
processed foods. She found that
diets rich in whole foods, omega-3
fats, slow-release whole grains,
and high-nutrient, low-calorie
spices, vegetables, and leafy
greens, can ward off modern diseases.
There once was a priest who only ate canned food.
He was traveling through the comarca with a Ngäbe
guide. They would go pasear, be offered food. The
guide would graciously accept; but the priest would
decline. He only ate canned food. Then, when they were somewhere near
Peña Blanca, the priest ran out of his canned food. He started to get hungry. Later they went to pasear. The family was eating a delicious soup of
beans with otoe leaves. Of course they didn't offer any food to the priest
because he only ate canned food. The soup smelled delicious and the
priest sat there getting hungrier, watching everyone else eat. Finally, he
asked for some soup, but the family didn't give him any because he had
always been so rude in the past turning down their offers of food. The
priest said he just wanted to try a little so the Ngäbe guide shared some of
his soup with the priest, and it was delicious.
I took particular interest in a chapter about the Tarahumara Indians
of Copper Canyon in Northern Mexico because their diet was quite
similar to traditional foods found
on the Pacific side of the Comarca
Ngäbe-Buglé. Copper Canyon was
highlighted as an area with a notably low incidence of diabetes
thanks to a diet that emphasizes
the 'three sisters' staples: squash,
beans, and corn. All these are ingredients that Comarqueños also
grow. Likewise, many ladies in my
community manage to make a
wide variety of dishes with other
healthy ingredients: garlic, cilantro,
onion, pumpkin, etc.
Laura Fishman
EH G66, Ngäbe-Buglé
Stories are never told without a reason here. This story has an obvious
message: eat the food people give you! I always do this anyway: so it really
served to underline that the storyteller just didn't know me and was making assumptions. The story also put me in the mood to make bean and
otoe leaf soup when I got home. It sounded delicious, and it turned out it
is.
I was halfway through my first bowl of bean and otoe leaf soup when I realized, he thought I was Beligoyi! She was the previous Volunteer in my site
and kept to a strict diet. Certainly plenty of people have assumed that I
was she. Now the story made sense.
The Diet Dilemma
Jessica Rudder
CED G66, Ngäbe-Buglé
We Volunteers often write about
food in La Vaina - the delicious, the
strange, and the unidentifiable.
But, food and eating is the foundation of the culture and so central to
every-day thinking that it is worth
meditating on in several times. We
all recognize that sharing meals
with a family is the quickest way to
prove that we are not just some
chump foreigners. During
those pasear sessions, we should
take the opportunity to talk about
food. What‘s more, these foods are
often more healthy and nutritious
than modern, processed foods
that are slowly creeping their way
into rural diets.
The most in-depth, yet straightforward book I‘ve read on this matter is called, The Jungle Effect, by
Dr. Daphne Miller, which analyzes
diets in certain parts of the world
that have low instances of modern
diseases. The author focuses on
how diabetes, heart disease, depression, bowel trouble, and prostate and breast cancers are nega“The toughest revista you’ll ever love.”
One key difference is that
many meals include simple white
rice. As far as I can tell, the rest of
Central America thrives on a diet
that integrates more corn. In Panama, rice is essential. I‘ve heard
Panamanians of all stripes assert,
―I would just not be full if I didn‘t
eat rice every day.‖ It seems that
the adoption of white rice by
Ngäbes reflects a national preference for having rice with every
meal, rather than a specific tradition related to the Ngäbe people. I
would conjecture that rice grown
locally and unprocessed has a lot
more nutrients than more commercial varieties grown on industrial
farms. Insofar that Ngäbes are eating from their own back yard, they
are probably better off.
Despite this, many locally-grown,
Comarca foods are rich foods just
like many found in Northern Mexico
–otoe, local varieties of corn,
September 2012
pumpkin, squash, and beans. According to the ―The Jungle Effect,‖
all of these elements should mix
together to create a diet that is nutritionally sound and meet the specific needs of people living in this
area.
This is all very curious to me because if Ngäbes have all the food
they need in their back yard, why is
it that we associate them with such
poor health?
Historically, Ngäbes have suffered
from ‗poor‘ diseases like malnutrition and water-borne illness. But,
as their diet continues to change
and modern/western culture seeps
further into the mountains, this
could mean that Ngäbes will be
soon jumping from one health crisis to another. As traditional foods
are traded in for their processed,
ugly step-cousins, Ngäbes will likely
see an increase of all the modern,
chronic diseases that they have
thus far avoided: diabetes, heart
disease, obesity, etc.
light some of the nutritional value
they may not be aware of – such
as: that beta-carotene in pumpkin
is really good for eyesight or that
papaya is good for digestion.
Living in this area feels like living
on the brink of tradition and modernization. Unfortunately, it looks
like the transition to modern foods
may have a negative impact on
long-term health in ways that
are not fully understood. Food customs are just another sphere that
will be affected by the development transition as Ngäbes and
other rural Panamanians messily
select which traditions to keep and
which will fade away.
49
Otoe and Leaves
Heat up a pot of water, add 3/4
cup beans (chiricano), 1 coarsely
chopped onion, one small otoe
chopped into 1" cubes. Turn off
heat once water boils.
Leave
beans to soak for 2 hours. Gather
a bunch of otoe leaves, still curled
up or recently unfurled. Chop and
add to soup. When the beans are
tender, add salt and cook soup at a
simmer for 45 mins. or until the
beans are soft and broken open.
Fermented
Coconut Vinegar
Jason Carter
J. Rudder
3 Fresh Young Coconuts
3 Onions
3-10 Spicy Peppers (depending on
taste)
5 Small Sweet Peppers or 1 Large
Bell Pepper
2 Heads of Garlic
1 Bottle (1.5 or 2 liters) cleaned.
The most that I can do is eat traditional meals with the families and
tell them how great it is that they
can grow so much healthy food in
their back yard. As we revel in the
deliciousness, I can try to bring to
There are several factors that
threaten the richness of the
Ngäbe indigenous diet.
Comarca
Cuisine
1. The increased consumption of
packaged food.
2. The decline of eating locally obtained leafy greens and wild vegetable plants.
3. A growing population increases
slash-and-burn, decreases soil capacity and food output, and impoverishes the overall diet.
Bean and Otoe
Leaf Soup
Laura Fishman
1 Can of Beans (Chiricanos)
1 Onion
Finely chop or mince onions, peppers, and garlic. Open coconuts,
draining and conserving liquid. Remove coconut meat and cut fine.
Insert coconut meat and other
vegetables in the bottle, followed
by the conserved coconut water.
Fill the rest of the bottle with water
(if you have many coconuts available, fill the entire bottle with coconut water). Stopper the bottle and
let ferment 5-7 days. Use as a topping on rice, pasta, or vegetables.
Modify the ingredients to taste and
availability. (I used 7 heads of garlic in mine). Lasts over a month.
Optional: Add herbs (oregano or
culantro), fruits (nancer pulp) or
seasoning powders (cinnamon,
sopa de maggi).
50
La Vaina
Volunteer Recipes
Chicken Curry
Susan Mershon
Sauté in skillet:
2 Tb oil
1/4 c minced onion
1 tsp curry powder
Blend in:
2 Tb flour (to thicken the
curry)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t ginger
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Dress the shredded veggies and let it
hang out for at least 10 minutes so
that the flavors blend and the cabbage
starts to release it juices a bit.
at it with chopsticks that you have
crafted in the jungle.
Cook over low heat until
smooth and bubbly. Remove
from heat and stir in:
1/2 c chicken broth
(can be made with bouillon)
1/2 c milk
1 apple, peeled and
chopped (optional)
1 c cooked diced
chicken or soaked, dried
chicken chunks.
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Asian-Themed Salad
Casey Galligan
TE G67, Panama Este
1 head of cabbage, shredded.
1 carrot, shredded
Mix in a bowl.
Dressing:
1 spoonful of peanut butter, 1/4
cup vinegar or lime juice
a slice of onion, finely finely diced.
1/4 inch piece of ginger, finely
diced.
Mix dry ingredients together ‗til well
distributed. Add oil and vinegar,
enough water to make a dough slightly
firmer than hojaldras. Start with 1/2
cup water and gradually increase until dough is not
very sticky. Knead thoroughly for 5 minutes until dough
springs back slightly to the
touch of a finger. Mix in spices as desired. Pat out into
patties 1/4 inch thick and
place on a lightly oiled skillet
on medium heat. Flip over to
cook the second side when
first side is brown.
Andew’s Crazy
Awesome
Cobbler
Andrew Parker
CEC G68, Darién
Heat thoroughly. Serve with
white or brown rice on the
side. Fun toppings include:
shredded dried coconut
peanuts
raisins
chopped fresh tomatoes
Optional spices:
2 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme
3 cloves of garlic, stir fried
1/2 tsp paprika
Herbed Skillet
Flatbread
Susan Mershon
Basically hojaldras on the skillet. Good
with soup.
2 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup corn flour (chicheme or
crema de maiz)
2 Tb sugar
2 tsp baking soda or baking powder
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vinegar (helps it rise)
1/2 to 1 cup water
2 30 Oz. Cans of fruit
(peach or fruit cocktail) in
syrup
2 Boxes of cake mix
Aluminum Foil
Sugar, honey, or chocolate
Oil
Big ole pot with a lid
You need a fogón for this. Cover the
inside of pot with foil (for easy clean
up). Dump contents of cans in pot. Add
sweets as well. Dump cake mix on top.
DO NOT STIR THE MIX AND FRUIT! Put
oil on top of mix. Butter is even better.
Cover and put on fagon. The juice from
the cans will boíl into cake mix. Periodically check on it, to see how it‘s boiling into the mix. Usually after 30-45
mins. it‘s all boiled and mixed. Kids
should be circling like buzzard by this
time as well. Cool and share. Or don‘t.
Just know that you will burn this, there
is no avoiding it. Hence the foil in the
pot.
September 2012
51
Volunteer Recipes
Peanut Butter
Banana
Oatmeal Squares
Burnt Salt
Jason “Iyo” Carter
Kim Nettles
TE G70, Darien
Note: Burnt salt does not become
moist and clumped like normal table
salt, that in of itself is why I burn my
salt. Plus it is yummy.
These delectable little
bites are flourless, butterless, nutritious, and all
of the ingredients can be
found in any Chino! They
are perfect as a breakfast treat (and even better when topped with
extra peanut butter).
1 1/2 cups oats
1/4 cup light brown
sugar (I just use La
Morena Cristal)
1 teaspoon baking
powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2-3 ripe Panamanian bananas
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Mix together the oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, salt and ground
cinnamon in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix together the
vanilla extract, milk and egg. Add this
liquid mixture to the dry mixture in the
large bowl.
Mash the banana in the separate
bowl, then add to the larger bowl. Finally, add in the peanut butter. Combine
all of the ingredients. Pour the mixture
into your double paila. Cook on low
heat until golden brown. Cut into squares and enjoy!
Saucy Chicken
Hanna York
TE G67, Darién
1lb chicken, cut into 4 or 5 pieces
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp ginger, chopped
2 pounds iodized table salt
2 eggs
2 green bananas
1 pila (hollas may warp, a thick
cooking vessel is preferred)
1 metal spoon
1 smooth rock, washed and dried.
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or substitute hot sauce
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar or raspadura
or honey
2 tbs ketchup
1/2 tbs apple cider vinegar or
regular vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce
Brown chicken with oil on medium
heat for 5-10 mins. If you don't want
to use chicken just make the sauce.
It's good over rice and you could always Throw in some veggies ( that is, if
you planned ahead and brought some
back to site with you) or use another
type of meat. In the same frying pan,
with the heat off, add all the other ingredients. Turn the heat back on and
cook the sauce on medium (low simmer) until the sugar/raspadura is
melted (or if you're using honey until
all the ingredients are mixed) about 3
to 5 min. Add the chicken to the sauce
mix, bring up to boil then back to a
simmer for about 20min. Cook your
rice or spoil yourself and cook some
form of noodles. Though personally, I
think it's best with rice.
Put pila on a medium fire and add salt,
stirring occasionally for 5 minutes for it
to warm up. Add raw eggs (without
shells) and the flesh of the peeled
green bananas. Add green bananas by
scraping flesh off fruit with a knife held
perpendicular to the surface, such that
it comes off bit by bit like a paste. Do
not add the core of the banana where
the seeds are, just the flesh. Add the
raw eggs. Stir every minute or so for
10 minutes, taking care to break up
clumps of wet ingredients with your
spoon as you stir.
Stir more or less continuously for the
next 10 minutes, scraping up the salt
from the bottom of the pila so it burns
evenly. After about 30 minutes from
the start, the salt should begin to
smoke a lot, and have a speckled grey
and black texture. Remove from heat
and cool 15 minutes. When the salt
has cooled, use the rock to pulverize
the larger clumps which are left over
from cooking. You will be left with a
delicious, non-clumping salt. Lasts
forever. Great on pifá, rice, eggs, or
anything lacking salt. Optional: add
tilapia minnows with the eggs, ground
spicy peppers in the last 10 minutes,
or toss in chicken livers. Store in an
airtight container.
Notes: Follow the 1-1-1 salt to egg to
banana ratio to burn 1 pound or 20
pounds.
52
La Vaina
Armstrong, Adam▪Basurtto, Angela▪Bennett, Diana▪Bunting, Lindsey▪Cardenas, Omar▪Cho, John▪Cobbs, Alec▪Durham, Coy▪Fischl,
Jack▪Fishman, Laura▪Gusttafson, George▪Gutierrez, Tyler▪Hagerman, Stephen▪Howard-Anderson, Kayla▪Ikeda, Karol▪Jackson,
Courtney▪Johnson, David▪Kapadia, Moiz▪Kingsley, Christopher▪Kenny, Daniel▪Kraus, Andrea▪Lafferty, Elliot▪Lange, Emily▪Mack-Obi,
Whitney▪Meier, Victor▪Midkiff, Jacob▪Mortensen, Scott▪Oberle, Nicolas▪Phillips, Monique▪Purington, Carolyn▪Rudder, Jessica▪Sebastian, Debra▪Sierra, Karla▪Strawn, Mary▪Sumner, Sean▪Walker, Charles▪Wiggins, Kyle▪Woods, Kimberly▪ Armstrong,
Adam▪Basurtto, Angela▪Bennett, Diana▪Bunting, Lindsey▪Cardenas, Omar▪Cho, John▪Cobbs, Alec▪Durham, Coy▪Fischl,
Courtney▪Johnson, David▪Kapadia, Moiz▪Kingsley, Christopher▪Kenny, Daniel▪Kraus, Andrea▪Lafferty, Elliot▪Lange, Emily▪Mack-Obi,
Whitney▪Meier, Victor▪Midkiff, Jacob▪Mortensen, Scott▪Oberle, Nicolas▪Phillips, Monique▪Purington, Carolyn▪Rudder, Jessica▪Sebastian, Debra▪Sierra, Karla▪Strawn, Mary▪Sumner, Sean▪Walker, Charles▪Wiggins, Kyle▪Woods, Kimberly▪ Armstrong,
Adam▪Basurtto, Angela▪Bennett, Diana▪Bunting, Lindsey▪Cardenas, Omar▪Cho, John▪Cobbs, Alec▪Durham, Coy▪Fischl,
Courtney▪Johnson, David▪Kapadia, Moiz▪Kingsley, Christopher▪Kenny, Daniel▪Kraus, Andrea▪Lafferty, Elliot▪Lange,
Emily▪Mack-Obi, Whitney▪Meier, Victor▪Midkiff, Jacob▪Mortensen, Scott▪Oberle, Nicolas▪Phillips,
Monique▪Purington,
Carolyn▪Rudder,
Jessica▪Sebastian,
Debra▪Sierra,
Karla▪Strawn,
Mary▪Sumner,
Sean▪Walker,
Fear no more the heat o’ the sun;
Charles▪Wiggins,
Kyle▪Woods,
Kimberly▪
Armstrong,
Nor thy furious rivers’ rages,
Adam▪Basurtto,
Angela▪Bennett,
Diana▪Bunting,
Thou thy altruistic task hast done,
Lindsey▪Cardenas,
Omar▪Cho,
John▪Cobbs,
Alec▪Durham,
Home art flown and ta’en readjustment wages;
Coy▪Fischl, Jack▪Fishman, Laura▪Gusttafson, George▪Gutierrez,
Benevolent lads and gals all must,
As the mud on our boots, come to dust.
Tyler▪Hagerman,
Stephen▪Howard-Anderson,
Kayla▪Ikeda,
Karol▪Jackson, Courtney▪Johnson, David▪Kapadia, Moiz▪Kingsley,
Fear no more Nenito bailes pega’o;
Christopher▪Kenny, Daniel▪Kraus, Andrea▪Lafferty, Elliot▪Lange,
Thou art past Alfredo’s mogollón,
Emily▪Mack-Obi,
Whitney▪Meier,
Victor▪Midkiff,
Care no more to salomar and howl,
Jacob▪Mortensen,
Scott▪Oberle,
Nicolas▪Phillips,
To thee the bulla is as a bullarón;
The fiesta and chévere times all must,
Carolyn▪Rudder,
As pisos de baile, come to dust.
Debra▪Sierra,
Karla▪Strawn,
Mary▪Sumner,
Sean▪Walker,
Charles▪Wiggins,
Kyle▪Woods,
Kimberly▪
Armstrong,
Fear no more the chiva crash,
Adam▪Basurtto,
Angela▪Bennett,
Diana▪Bunting,
Nor the dreaded stomach groan;
Lindsey▪Cardenas, Omar▪Cho, John▪Cobbs, Alec▪Durham,
Fear not dengue nor leish rash
Group 66 hast finish´d joy and shown
Coy▪Fischl, Jack▪Fishman, Laura▪Gusttafson, George▪Gutierrez,
All PCVs de Panamá, all PCV tours must,
Tyler▪Hagerman,
Stephen▪Howard-Anderson,
Kayla▪Ikeda,
Consign to thee and come to dust.
Karol▪Jackson, Courtney▪Johnson, David▪Kapadia, Moiz▪Kingsley,
Christopher▪Kenny, Daniel▪Kraus, Andrea▪Lafferty, Elliot▪Lange,
No curandero harm thee!
Emily▪Mack-Obi,
Whitney▪Meier,
Victor▪Midkiff,
Nor brujería charm thee!
Fantasma unlaid forbear thee!
Jacob▪Mortensen,
Scott▪Oberle,
Nicolas▪Phillips,
Nothing ill come near thee!
Carolyn▪Rudder,
Quiet consummation have;
Debra▪Sierra,
Karla▪Strawn,
Mary▪Sumner,
Sean▪Walker,
And renowned be thy grave!
Charles▪Wiggins,
Kyle▪Woods,
Kimberly▪
Armstrong,
Adam▪Basurtto,
Angela▪Bennett,
Diana▪Bunting,
Lindsey▪Cardenas, Omar▪Cho, John▪Cobbs, Alec▪Durham, Coy▪Fischl, Jack▪Fishman, Laura▪Gusttafson,
George▪Gutierrez, Tyler▪Hagerman, Stephen▪Howard-Anderson, Kayla▪Ikeda, Karol▪Jackson, Courtney▪Johnson,
David▪Kapadia, Moiz▪Kingsley, Christopher▪Kenny, Daniel▪Kraus,
Adapted from: William Shakespeare’s Andrea▪Lafferty, Elliot▪Lange, Emily▪Mack-Obi, Whitney▪Meier,
Fear no more the heat o’ the sun
Victor▪Midkiff, Jacob▪Mortensen, Scott▪Oberle, Nicolas▪Phillips,
By Katie Simpson
Carolyn▪Rudder,
Debra▪Sierra, Karla▪Strawn, Mary▪Sumner, Sean▪Walker,
Charles▪Wiggins, Kyle▪Woods, Kimberly▪ Armstrong, Adam▪Basurtto, Angela▪Bennett, Diana▪Bunting,
Here lIes Group 66…

Pgs. 36-38 Pgs. 25-27 August 2012 Largest circulation of any Peace

Transcription

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