Bill asked another question as well, about water sources and purification. Yet again, a topic very close to some of our tasking, as the islanders are very interested in watershed reforestation and source protection.
Much of Panamá, including our training site, runs off an aquaducto system, which is a series of PVC pipes serving all the houses in a community, coming from a big tank somewhere higher up, which in turn is fed by a PVC pipe from a quebrada (stream), fuente de agua (water source), or ojo de agua (spring) even higher up. Here on the island, as you can imagine, there isn´t too much room for that "higher up", and as spread out as the houses are, there are numerous separate aquaducto systems and associated sources. (In our current host house, this has led to the water not quite having enough pressure to reach the house, and so we have a pluma - spigot - in the yard about 25 feet from the house, and haul water for cooking and cleaning dishes, and do bucket showers and laundry there in the yard.)
As for cleaning the water, well, supposedly you cholorinate the system regularly or give it a thorough cleaning every three months or so, but of course nobody pays for the water (generally the gov´t set up the aquaducts at some point in the past, but there is no Water Maintenance office) so there is nobody to do that sort of preventive maintenance. But, being on an island, as I said there isn´t much room for the streams to run before they are tapped, and we´ve been drinking water at our host houses and at houses as we pasear (walk around and chat) and haven´t gotten sick yet.
However, there are pastures above some of the sources, so the chance does exist. And apparently in the summer months (mid-December to April), when it is hotter and there isn´t rain, they sometimes run out (more often the houses farther from the sources or on higher ground) during the day. Both of these issues we hope to address while here with protection of watersheds and reforestation, as well as possibly talks about maintenance (preventing leaks) and conservation of water. (Yes, it is hard to believe as I listen to the past 45 minutes of heavy rain, but there are times here in Panamá that are dry and they actually run out of water. More on that in the future, when we encounter it, I´m sure. :)
Again, thanks for the questions and feel free to post more or ask for clarification.
April and Kevin in Kuna Yala, the northeast coast of Panamá
Sunday, September 2, 2007
What the corn told me
We recently stayed with a wonderful family that produces the majority of their own food through farming and fishing. They live in a beautiful spot that overlooks the water to the south of the island. They occasionally get beautiful sunsets to the west. They are also shorter than us, so all of their clotheslines are low enough to be a walking hazard.While we lived with them we tried to pitch in regularly with their daily work – both to be a part of the family and to learn more. One night we shucked a saco (a large sack a little bigger than the size of a large bag of dog food) of maiz (field corn) and then sat around companionably talking as we removed the corn kernels from the cobs. Removing the kernels can either be easy or hard to do depending on how dry the ear of maiz is. We sat and worked together, 4 of us, for about an hour all told in order to fill a 5 gallon bucket with corn kernels.
Chickens huddling under the eaves to stay dry while it rains.
They go through this process every couple of days to provide enough food for their flock of chickens and ducks. That moment, after completing the work to feed the poultry for 2 days, is when it struck me the amount of work that goes into meat production here. They use about 2-2.5 gallons of corn kernels (in addition to 3-7 coconuts) a day to feed the chickens and ducks in order to have meat available when they want it.
Feeding the chickens and ducks (should also say that the dogs howl when the chickens get fed which is very amusing.)
I have known for a long time that being a meat eater means that it takes more resources to feed me than it would if I were a vegetarian. I know the simple facts that animals eat plants and it takes a lot more plants to produce meat than it takes to fill my tummy with veggies. But I had never directly experienced the magnitude of work involved in these facts.
Suddenly I had a very real example to put those ideas into a new light. I could clearly imagine the work that they did to plant the maiz, and the work to tend it. I know the work involved to harvest it and haul it to the house and remove the kernels. The amount of labor, time, and their resources involved to produce meat is staggering. And they don’t eat poultry every day…at most once a week.
My experiences here have made it easier to understand the idea that, for some people, eating meat is a luxury. Some simply can’t afford the time that goes into producing or money that goes into buying meat. That doesn’t mean that they don’t eat meat; instead, because eating meat is a part of the culture, a large amount of their resources goes into obtaining meat even though it might be more efficient or healthier to use those resources differently.
I know that, back home in the States, much of the work involved in commercial production of meat is done with machines. The feed is not produced by hand, but the resources (land, water, plants, energy, etc) involved in meat production are still much higher than those needed to produce the same quantity of plant-based food products.
Feeding the chickens and ducks (should also say that the dogs howl when the chickens get fed which is very amusing.)I have known for a long time that being a meat eater means that it takes more resources to feed me than it would if I were a vegetarian. I know the simple facts that animals eat plants and it takes a lot more plants to produce meat than it takes to fill my tummy with veggies. But I had never directly experienced the magnitude of work involved in these facts.
Suddenly I had a very real example to put those ideas into a new light. I could clearly imagine the work that they did to plant the maiz, and the work to tend it. I know the work involved to harvest it and haul it to the house and remove the kernels. The amount of labor, time, and their resources involved to produce meat is staggering. And they don’t eat poultry every day…at most once a week.
My experiences here have made it easier to understand the idea that, for some people, eating meat is a luxury. Some simply can’t afford the time that goes into producing or money that goes into buying meat. That doesn’t mean that they don’t eat meat; instead, because eating meat is a part of the culture, a large amount of their resources goes into obtaining meat even though it might be more efficient or healthier to use those resources differently.
I know that, back home in the States, much of the work involved in commercial production of meat is done with machines. The feed is not produced by hand, but the resources (land, water, plants, energy, etc) involved in meat production are still much higher than those needed to produce the same quantity of plant-based food products.
Cecilia using a pilon (pronounced peeloan) to prepare maize for food. This process breaks up the corn to remove the casing from the kernals and facilitates faster cooking. She is MUCH better at using a pilon than I will ever be.
No, I am not going vegetarian, but I am thinking more about what I am eating and the labor that it took to produce it…it is easier to think that way when you know the people who did the labor. With this in mind, I will be eating a bit less meat here in Panama, and probably when I return as well. 2+ gallons of corn a day could more than feed me.
The Island – a better description
So what is this tropical paradise that we are living in really like? 
Please believe me that not every moment is spent sitting in a hammock with a great view...but those moments do happen occasionally. :)
The island is big… and hilly. We have hills reaching ~100m in height, and some parts of them are very steep. You can see the mainland and other islands all around the island. This makes for some great views and interesting weather watching. The water in the gulf is most often a pretty greenish gray color, not clear, but not murky either. After a hard rain the water will turn brown for a day or so until the sediment settles out again. We have been told that the water gets clearer in the summer season (Jan-April) when there is much less rain to cause the sediment.
Almost all of the people who live on the island live on the coast…within 100-150m of the water. There are about 77 households spread over 18+ miles of coastline (which makes visiting an all day proposition). Many houses can not see the nearest neighbor’s house. Most of the land is still owned by Panamanians….which is not true for all of the land nearby. Only one house that we know of is owned by a foreigner. There are lots of trees along the perimeter of the island around the houses.
The center of the island is mostly farm and pastures, and fairly deforested. There are tracts of forest still, but they tend to be in areas where the land is not suitable for farming or the land is not actively being farmed. In their farms, people grow yucca, rice, maize, banana, plantain, coconuts, and limited pineapple, and ñame. These crops are grown for use on the island, not for selling as they may or may not be able to raise enough food for their family.
The island pastures are used for horses and cattle. The horses are used for working the cows and transportation around the island. The cattle represent a major income source for the families who raise them…one cow can be sold for $200-$400+. Even though the cattle are raised for meat, there is very little consumption of beef on the island, it is to valuable as a product to sell to be eaten at home. (Below is a baby calf that my host family had to help with eating. When I took a good look at him I realized that he seems to be mostly or all blind...thus he was having trouble finding his mothers teats...and them being swollen huge with milk because he wasn´t able to dring regularly wasn´t helping matters at all.)
In addition to farming, fishing is a major source of food and income on the island. Many people fish for fish, shark, shrimp, lobster, and various types of shellfish. Some seafood is more commonly sold than eaten as it brings a higher price. Fried is the most common method of preparation for seafood, but it is also used in soups and smoked.
There are no cars or bicycles on the island, all of the paths are footpaths/trails. The paths can get quite muddy or feo (ugly- see photo above for post walking muddy feet). Going from place to place is like hiking, although not all trails are hilly. The beach is also used as a road, before you imagine us just strolling along the sand, many parts of the beach are quite rocky. In fact, we intend to take pictures and post about the different beach surfaces because it is quite interesting geology. The beach is a good route (sometimes longer, but always flat) unless it is high tide. You have to think about the tides when planning which way to go each day. High tide can completely cover the beach. Other types of transportation common around the island include horses and boats.
Electricity is only available on the island through solar power. Most houses (but not ours) have a 100W solar panel that was provided thought a NGO/government program. This is enough to charge a battery that can run several florescent lights or a small TV for several hours. It is not enough to power electric appliances such as refrigerators or blenders. So most houses have lights at night unless their battery has gone bad over time and they can not afford the $120 to replace it. We calculate that over the life of the battery light costs $2 a month.
Most houses have water running to them from an aqueduct system. There are 5 major aqueducts on the island…each serving a different community. The water is not filtered or chlorinated. There are some problems with water supply in the summer months when there is dramatically less rain. Some households have to haul water from the closest flowing creek during the summer.
Other notable island sites include:
· A small Catholic chapel that is visited by a priest (once in Feb and once in August so far this year).
· A primary school with grades 1-6 that serves almost 30 students. Two teachers live at the school Mon-Friday and go home for the weekend.
· A Puesto de Salud or health clinic that is staffed by a nurse. She is in the clinic 3 days a week and does home visits 2 days a week. A doctor comes to the clinic every couple of months. More serious or pressing health issues have to be taken off island.
Please believe me that not every moment is spent sitting in a hammock with a great view...but those moments do happen occasionally. :)The island is big… and hilly. We have hills reaching ~100m in height, and some parts of them are very steep. You can see the mainland and other islands all around the island. This makes for some great views and interesting weather watching. The water in the gulf is most often a pretty greenish gray color, not clear, but not murky either. After a hard rain the water will turn brown for a day or so until the sediment settles out again. We have been told that the water gets clearer in the summer season (Jan-April) when there is much less rain to cause the sediment.
Almost all of the people who live on the island live on the coast…within 100-150m of the water. There are about 77 households spread over 18+ miles of coastline (which makes visiting an all day proposition). Many houses can not see the nearest neighbor’s house. Most of the land is still owned by Panamanians….which is not true for all of the land nearby. Only one house that we know of is owned by a foreigner. There are lots of trees along the perimeter of the island around the houses.
The center of the island is mostly farm and pastures, and fairly deforested. There are tracts of forest still, but they tend to be in areas where the land is not suitable for farming or the land is not actively being farmed. In their farms, people grow yucca, rice, maize, banana, plantain, coconuts, and limited pineapple, and ñame. These crops are grown for use on the island, not for selling as they may or may not be able to raise enough food for their family.
The island pastures are used for horses and cattle. The horses are used for working the cows and transportation around the island. The cattle represent a major income source for the families who raise them…one cow can be sold for $200-$400+. Even though the cattle are raised for meat, there is very little consumption of beef on the island, it is to valuable as a product to sell to be eaten at home. (Below is a baby calf that my host family had to help with eating. When I took a good look at him I realized that he seems to be mostly or all blind...thus he was having trouble finding his mothers teats...and them being swollen huge with milk because he wasn´t able to dring regularly wasn´t helping matters at all.)
In addition to farming, fishing is a major source of food and income on the island. Many people fish for fish, shark, shrimp, lobster, and various types of shellfish. Some seafood is more commonly sold than eaten as it brings a higher price. Fried is the most common method of preparation for seafood, but it is also used in soups and smoked.
There are no cars or bicycles on the island, all of the paths are footpaths/trails. The paths can get quite muddy or feo (ugly- see photo above for post walking muddy feet). Going from place to place is like hiking, although not all trails are hilly. The beach is also used as a road, before you imagine us just strolling along the sand, many parts of the beach are quite rocky. In fact, we intend to take pictures and post about the different beach surfaces because it is quite interesting geology. The beach is a good route (sometimes longer, but always flat) unless it is high tide. You have to think about the tides when planning which way to go each day. High tide can completely cover the beach. Other types of transportation common around the island include horses and boats.
Electricity is only available on the island through solar power. Most houses (but not ours) have a 100W solar panel that was provided thought a NGO/government program. This is enough to charge a battery that can run several florescent lights or a small TV for several hours. It is not enough to power electric appliances such as refrigerators or blenders. So most houses have lights at night unless their battery has gone bad over time and they can not afford the $120 to replace it. We calculate that over the life of the battery light costs $2 a month.
Most houses have water running to them from an aqueduct system. There are 5 major aqueducts on the island…each serving a different community. The water is not filtered or chlorinated. There are some problems with water supply in the summer months when there is dramatically less rain. Some households have to haul water from the closest flowing creek during the summer.
Other notable island sites include:
· A small Catholic chapel that is visited by a priest (once in Feb and once in August so far this year).
· A primary school with grades 1-6 that serves almost 30 students. Two teachers live at the school Mon-Friday and go home for the weekend.
· A Puesto de Salud or health clinic that is staffed by a nurse. She is in the clinic 3 days a week and does home visits 2 days a week. A doctor comes to the clinic every couple of months. More serious or pressing health issues have to be taken off island.
Hope that helps to round out your imgained view of where we are living.
Photos to enjoy
The following are some photos that I wanted to share. Some of them are of things that were mentioned in previous posts...but we didn´t have the camera cord. Enjoy.
Photos of and from Panama Viejo....the ruins of the original part of Panama City. 
The scorpion that we found in our bedroom wall. First photo showes his hiding place -note the hook of my toiletry bag just below him. The second shot is post mortem and showes his size.
There is some goofing off. Kevin demonstrates that making a house of cards is much, much easier with ery old cards. Note the missing card on the lower right side, yup that is a gap without a card that you see behind the 9 of hearts.
The following are photos of the process of loading cows onto a boat so they can be sold. You can probably imagine how happy the cows are with this whole process. It took a couple of hours to load the 8 cows that day. Needless to say, it is a bit dangerous for the cows, people, horses and dogs involved.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
First two weeks...
So what exactly is it like to be a brand new Peace Corps Volunteer?? Well, I am sure that the expereince is different for everyone, but I can tell you about my first two weeks. Sorry, but no pictures today...I forgot the cord to the camera. We will try to post photos soon.
We headed to our site a day late, after I spent a day with enough diarehha to make me not want to travel (hum...7 hours in busses and boats with re-occuring diarehha was not my idea of fun). I was feeling fine other than the diareah thing. We arrived at the port for departure and spent about 4 hours waiting for a ride and talking with the port police and authorities...who are very nice and even willing to share their bathroom with us! Despite all of that we got to our site without any real difficulties. We are living with a host family just now. We will be living with host families for the next two or so months, every PCV does this as a way to adapt and intigrate into the community.
Paula and Ancelmo, the couple that we are living with, are very nice and very patient with our spanish. I find that with a day or two of talking to the same person we adapt to their accent and way of speaking and they adapt to ours and things get a little easier. Their house is in a beautiful location...right near the water with a wonderful view and good breeze.
They have an uncountable number of chickens and ducks, two dogs, three horses and laundry lines that make us duck when we walk outside the house. I have come to find that watching chickens is almost like watching fish in an aquarium...kinda relaxing and occasionaly amusing. Of course, you don´t often get offered a fish from the family aquarium for lunch....but I did get offered one of the chickens that I had enjoyed watching. Very sad.
So these two weeks we spent going to a meeting with the local equivalent to the PTA. (There was something going on at that meeting that I don´t quite understand...some sort of tension that I know that they were not addressing because we were there - they said that much in Spanish that I could understand...so I am not just making things up.) We walked around looking at were things are and saying "Hi" to everyone we met. We studied Spanish. We learned how to harvest rice. We visited the water source for the community that we are living in.
I made friends with the dogs. I saw my first snake...a 4 foot boa in a tree...and then watched it be killed. (yup...I will be thinking long and hard about how to be respectful of the people and still ask for less killing of local animals). I found a scorpion in the wall of our room (there are gaps in the motar between blocks sometimes) and watched it be killed. Have a photo of it to share when I get the cable. It was about 5 inches long including tail. It didn´t sting anyone. We went swimming and playing in the Gulf with some kids...some of whom were too shy to talk to us directly.
I did laundry twice by hand. I wrote in my diary. I re-read book 5 of Harry Potter so I can re-read book 6 so I can start book 7. We have HP 7 but have not started it. DON´T TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!! I am thanking God everyday that we are in a place were no one else has read them and can spoil the ending for us. I don´t think that we will start HP7 for another 2 months-when we get our own house. This is because I know once we start it we will want to read a bunch...and that doesn´t seem like a good idea right now while living with families. Plus, we will read it outloud for the first time...and that could look a little wierd to others.
So, there were busy times and times when I would say to Kevin "Now what?". There were moments when I found Spanish to be easy, and moments where we used the dictionary frequently. We had moments were we were sweaty and stinky, and moments when we were a bit chilly in the breeze (yup, you CAN be chilly in Panama - especially in the movie theaters and long distance buses). There were moments of real admiration for the way Panamanians do things, and moments of not understanding how or why they do things as they do. There were moments of no insects, and moments of many bites, but not horrible. There were moments of real fustration due to lack of clear information or understanding of Spanish. There were moments of just enjoying the beauty of where we are living.
All in all, they were two good weeks...not easy, but good. I think that it will just get better over time...but it will be as slow as my progress with Spanish (which means a decent speed but never feeling fast enough for me.)
Hope everyone reading this is doing well. Please go enjoy a good chocolate ice cream or some good cheese in my honor. Both are rare in Panama as a whole, but non-existant on the island. Love to all,
April
We headed to our site a day late, after I spent a day with enough diarehha to make me not want to travel (hum...7 hours in busses and boats with re-occuring diarehha was not my idea of fun). I was feeling fine other than the diareah thing. We arrived at the port for departure and spent about 4 hours waiting for a ride and talking with the port police and authorities...who are very nice and even willing to share their bathroom with us! Despite all of that we got to our site without any real difficulties. We are living with a host family just now. We will be living with host families for the next two or so months, every PCV does this as a way to adapt and intigrate into the community.
Paula and Ancelmo, the couple that we are living with, are very nice and very patient with our spanish. I find that with a day or two of talking to the same person we adapt to their accent and way of speaking and they adapt to ours and things get a little easier. Their house is in a beautiful location...right near the water with a wonderful view and good breeze.
They have an uncountable number of chickens and ducks, two dogs, three horses and laundry lines that make us duck when we walk outside the house. I have come to find that watching chickens is almost like watching fish in an aquarium...kinda relaxing and occasionaly amusing. Of course, you don´t often get offered a fish from the family aquarium for lunch....but I did get offered one of the chickens that I had enjoyed watching. Very sad.
So these two weeks we spent going to a meeting with the local equivalent to the PTA. (There was something going on at that meeting that I don´t quite understand...some sort of tension that I know that they were not addressing because we were there - they said that much in Spanish that I could understand...so I am not just making things up.) We walked around looking at were things are and saying "Hi" to everyone we met. We studied Spanish. We learned how to harvest rice. We visited the water source for the community that we are living in.
I made friends with the dogs. I saw my first snake...a 4 foot boa in a tree...and then watched it be killed. (yup...I will be thinking long and hard about how to be respectful of the people and still ask for less killing of local animals). I found a scorpion in the wall of our room (there are gaps in the motar between blocks sometimes) and watched it be killed. Have a photo of it to share when I get the cable. It was about 5 inches long including tail. It didn´t sting anyone. We went swimming and playing in the Gulf with some kids...some of whom were too shy to talk to us directly.
I did laundry twice by hand. I wrote in my diary. I re-read book 5 of Harry Potter so I can re-read book 6 so I can start book 7. We have HP 7 but have not started it. DON´T TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!! I am thanking God everyday that we are in a place were no one else has read them and can spoil the ending for us. I don´t think that we will start HP7 for another 2 months-when we get our own house. This is because I know once we start it we will want to read a bunch...and that doesn´t seem like a good idea right now while living with families. Plus, we will read it outloud for the first time...and that could look a little wierd to others.
So, there were busy times and times when I would say to Kevin "Now what?". There were moments when I found Spanish to be easy, and moments where we used the dictionary frequently. We had moments were we were sweaty and stinky, and moments when we were a bit chilly in the breeze (yup, you CAN be chilly in Panama - especially in the movie theaters and long distance buses). There were moments of real admiration for the way Panamanians do things, and moments of not understanding how or why they do things as they do. There were moments of no insects, and moments of many bites, but not horrible. There were moments of real fustration due to lack of clear information or understanding of Spanish. There were moments of just enjoying the beauty of where we are living.
All in all, they were two good weeks...not easy, but good. I think that it will just get better over time...but it will be as slow as my progress with Spanish (which means a decent speed but never feeling fast enough for me.)
Hope everyone reading this is doing well. Please go enjoy a good chocolate ice cream or some good cheese in my honor. Both are rare in Panama as a whole, but non-existant on the island. Love to all,
April
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