Volunteer Visit - Noah & Karinne

Hello all,
We are sneaking in 20 minutes at an internet cafe (only cafe doesn´t seem quite right as there is no coffee or tea here). First off, sorry no photos this time...I have the camera but no way to make it talk to this computer.

We are in Santiago Panama...West of the capitol by about 4 hours on a bus. We just finished a volunteer visit about 3 hours North of here in the mountains. My rear end is sore from the bouncy ride. Think of the worst 4 wheel drive roads you can imagine...then ride over them on a bench in the back of a pick-up truck with 12 other people and you are getting close to imagining the trip to see Noah and Karinne.

Noah and Karinne are married PCVs who have just finished thier first year of service. Every trainee went out to visit a volunteer this week to learn more about what it is like to be a volunteer. Noah and Karinna were great hosts. They made us brownies! In addition to good food and great company we got to experience life with electricity and water that comes and goes at will. It is just a fact of life where they live because the systems that run the water and electricity are old, iffy and volunteer maintained at times. I have come to find that if I have to do with out either water or electricity in my home I want the water...it is heavier. :)

Noah and Karrine live in a cement block house with a zinc-coated steel roof. It is very typical of Panama. The windows are decorative cement blocks that have openings in them. Sometimes the windows are screens, often not. The houses are all painted bright colors, Noah and Karrine live in a bright peach house. They have an indoor bathroom with shower, but the water pressure is not always high enough to shower...so they often bucket shower. They always flush the toilet with a bucket...for those of you who don´t know this skill you should learn it because it is usefull whenever the water goes out. They also have an indoor kitchen with a propane stove, but many of the people in their area cook over wood fires and fogons (fagon= three rocks with a pot on top). Thier house was nice and cool because of the altitude and cloud cover, but there are some areas of Panama where the metal roof really heats up the house.

The weather at thier site was awsome, reminicent of warm spring in Maryland. The altitude (700m or around 2200 feet) keeps it cooler Cool to crisp in the evening, and warm to hot in the sun of the day. We went out for walks to see the counrty...lots of steep hills. We went swimming in a local swimming hole on a crisp stream with waterfalls. We also go to got to thier first ever charla - or talk. They got the community together to talk about coffee poroduction.

Coffee is the main cash crop in thier area and they are trying to get the farmers to focus on the quality of the product that they raise. It is hard for them to understand that the way they raise and process thier coffee could be important to the price that they get. This is impart because, while Panamanians drink a lot of coffee they sure don´t seem to care about the quality of it. It is roasted beyond dark and drunk with lots of sugar.

It is hard for them to imagine a culture like ours that has a segment of the population that are as coffee crazy and quality oriented as we are. There are about 8 steps in coffee harvesting and processing...and each of them can have a big impact on final quality. Attention to these steps can raise the price that the farmers get for thier products, but first they have to believe that it is important enough to invest the effort. Noah and Karinne´s community doesn´t have the prime coffee climate necessary to produce award winning coffees (altitudes above 1000m are best for coffee), but they can produce darn good coffee that will fetch better prices than they currently get.

Needless to say, we got to see coffee growing. We even got help with some production by helping Noah peal some of his beans. We roasted and drank coffee from local beans and had a generally good time. The scenery was simply breath taking in almost any direction. I have some photos that I will try to post next time. So, do I want to be posted in the Mountains? Part of me does, but part of me is wary of the chiva (truck for passengers) ride.

Hope all is well back in the States. I must admit to knowing almost nothing of what is going on in the world. I don´t know enough Spanish yet to easily read newpapers or follow the TV news.
Send your Panama questions in and we will try to answer them.
Love to all.
April

Thank you!

A quick thank you to all of the Volunteers at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. The camera that you gave me is responsible for all photos posted here! Thanks a bunch. I love it. April

Training - week one

Hello all,

So this is April, not Kevin like the computer thinks...he logged in, but I am the one doing the typing.

We are done with week one. One of the longest weeks of my life just because my brain is working hard. There hasn't been any time off at all...just a stolen moment or two laden with guilt because I know that I should be using those moments to practice my Spanish more. But sometimes the brain is just ready to quit.

Today we did a training with two veteran volunteers to learn how to get around Panama City. We finished mid morning and now are at the big local mall taking full advantage -food, internet and maybe even see Pirates of the Carabeen-before heading home- the photo above is of the wonderful house where we are living. I get a lesson in how to wash la ropa interior later this week from our wonderful house mother Marta.

Many of you had asked about what we were allowed to bring with us. I had been meaning to post the recommended packing list for you, but haven't had time. I may or may not get to it. But just to amuse you, I will say that we wieghed in with about 60lbs. luggage each -including carry on. Peace Corps has already added thier own 15 plus pounds of books, med gear, mosqito net and such. Arg. Below is a photo of us with our luggage as we prepare to head to our training site.

Yup...we could still carry all of it as of when this picture was taken, but maybe not now because there are more big binders and books.

We have a full schedule, so full I am ready for a break...I guess I am using that break to type to you. Ok, I tried to make an email smiley but failed miserably on this Spanish keyboard.

A typical day of training goes like this- get up at 6.30 yup you know how thrilled I am with that, eat, get ready class from 8-11.30 either language or technical class, lunch at home, class from 1-5pm, dinner and shower, homework, talk with family and struggle with spanish, go to bed around 9 because my brain is done for the day and it gets dark at 6.30. The daylight is 6-6ish year round here.

In out technical classes we are learning all sorts of things including how to plant yucca, how to do a fast compost pile in 15 days, how to safely use a machete, and how to gather information about your comunity and their needs. Kevin is planting rice in that photo, on a burned area.

We have had the chance to see traditional agricuture here, mostly subistance farming. Yes, they do practice slash and burn agriculture for the lack of a better option. The photo below shows a slash and burn site that I saw on a class walk.

I had a hard time understanding this at first, but there just isn't the access to information about best practices here that there is in the states. I had to remind myself that in the States each major university has had an extension agency for a long time who's purpose is to research best practices and then get that information out into the hands of local people who can use it. That doesn't seem to exist here. In a way PC is serving as Agricultural Extension here.

I have heard some great sucess stories from other volunteers. One volunteer we met has farmers in his community who are not going to clear any new forest this year, focusing instead on using the rice tanks that he helped them to get started. I am sure that there are both sucess and failure stories to share in the future.

What else is important...can't find the question mark now.

Yes there are mosquitos...I seem to be more tasty than Kevin. Little surprise there, the mosqitos in the States thought the same thing. The weather is wonderful, said with no sarcasm at the moment. It ranges from hot and sticky yucky to cool and refreshing. By the time the rain comes it is very welcome. The thunderstorms are spectacular- great thunder, some lightning and anywhere from a light rain to an all out downpour. The heaviest rain in the states is common here...and I am loving it. I have always been a sucker for thunderstorms. The needle count is up to 6 sticks. Love this job.

I am about out of time. More later. Love to all at home. April

Visit to the campo

Campo is country in Spanish. Today each training group (Kevin is Sustainable Ag and I am Conservation Education) went on a trip to visit a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) at thier assigned communities. One 2+ hour rear-end numbing Land Rover ride later (I had my first grip the seat moment..but all is good Moms) we arrived. We got to:

see some school children do a local dance for us,
climb a mountain (hot, steep, got blister, beautiful) & eat lunch (they serve too much to guests), plant tree seeds,
and work (read play) in mud to aid in building a new room on a house (mud/grass wall building technique)

It was a good day and I am tired. Kevin also had a good day, but he seemed a bit jealous when he heard about all that our group did. He did get to plant rice though. Yup, they grow rice in Panama, more about that in the future I am sure.





Tomorrow we head to a new training site and start living with host families (that means mucho espanol por Abril). I don't expect to have internet access for a couple of weeks...so be patient. (for those who are counting - I certainly am) I have now had 2 shots and a blood draw. More shots to come. Arg. That will tell some of you just how much I want to be here.

Love to all.
April

We have arrived!

Staging was fairly uneventful other than meeting our fellow volunteers. We did take time to print photos of home, family and friends to bring with us while we were in Georgetown. (They are in a 4x6 album with spaces left over – hint hint!) The flights here were fairly good. Senator Joe Biden was on our flight to Miami just two seats in front of Kevin. Smooth flights, they went quickly despite American Airlines now trying to charge you for a simple snack in-flight.

It is a good group of people in our class. Kevin is having a fabulous time goofing off and making friends. I am also enjoying it all, but am a bit less bubbly about it. The past few days have given me a whole new window into why Kevin was voted “Most School Spirit” in high school.

I know, I know…So what is Panama like? It is so humid that at 8:30 at night I walked out of the airport and my glasses immediately steamed up…completely fogged over from the humidity. The smell here is the smell of Florida after a rain…but almost all of the time. The heat has not been terrible…yet….but it has been mostly overcast. It sounds like the bid section of a pet store outside. The different sound of the birds was one of the first things that I noticed when I woke up.

It has been fun to be here…very interesting. I have seen a new hummingbird, very cool since we only got ruby throats in everyplace that I have lived. For the bird lovers out there it was (as best as I can tell) black with a white breast and a slightly curved beak. Also sighted: a tree frog that was 4 inches long, some parrots, many mango trees with lots of un-ripe fruit. I didn’t see the mosquito who got me, but one did (don’t worry Mom, I will survive.)

It gets dark here around 6:30pm. Everyone has been really nice here, the Panamanians who work with Peace Corps clearly want us here. I think that we are lucky to be in Panama. PC Panama seems to be a very well established program. They say that attrition from this program is very low, and that volunteers here report a high level of satisfaction with their time in PC. Also, (this is for the Moms who worry) PC Panama has a great health care system – good enough that they are the Evacuation hub for the region. All PC Volunteers who need medical care evacuations in Central America are sent here.

We are currently in Panama City and have seen the Miraflores Locks on the canal. We are doing some introductory classes and interviews here. Accommodations are simple but nicer than I would have predicted for PC. We do know where we will be going for training, but I am not going to post it here for safety reasons. We leave for the training site on Sunday and will be then living with our host families for the duration of training. It has been announced that Kevin and I will be placed in the same host family. We won’t find out our site assignments for 4-5 weeks, so please join me in trying to be patient.

How about some stats to round out the picture:
*There are currently 7300 volunteers serving in PC in 73 countries.
There are 34 volunteers in our class here in Panama.
*27 is the average volunteer age – our class oldest is 38 and youngest is 21. Oldest ever to serve was 84 and current oldest is 79….so many of you still have time to serve!
*58% of volunteers are women
*9% are married in PC overall. Our class of volunteers has 5 couples in it – 1/3 of the class…that is a lot.
*178 thousand volunteers have served since PC was started by Kennedy in March 1961.

Why is PC serving in Panama?
*20% of the population here earns 60% of the income. *40% of the population lives in real poverty (68% of those in rural areas, and 98% in indigenous communities.)

*Projects here address sustainable agriculture, education, health, promotion of eco-tourism, teaching English, and many others…all requested by the Panamanian Government and local communities.

I don’t think that the access to internet will last once we go to training, but phone coverage is supposed to be good. Many of you will laugh at this: 95% of volunteers here have cell phones…so Kevin and April will probably get one after training. Just think, we avoided cell phones for years only to get one in Peace Corps. Oh the irony!

I think that is all my fingers can handle for now. Love to all. We are well and happy. Don’t worry!
April & Kevin