Meeting my Ipeti Community

Walking the kids to school

Typical house in Ipeti - it takes lots of balance to climb
 those "stairs, especially carrying a load - no handrails

I’ve been getting to know my service community of Ipeti Choco. They are descendants of the Kuna tribe, who used to live along the river and shores of this area. Thus, the houses still built on stilts. That also provides some security from critters and ground insects and get more breeze. You can pull the ladder up at night for even more security. The folks are short and a little chubby. I don’t think anyone is much over 5 Ft. The women love their colorful wrap-around skirts and some wear colorful bracelets. Everyone is really pleasant, polite and they smile a lot. Very hard workers, also. Whenever I'm in the village at meal time, somebody offers me a plate of food. Always very simple and good - carne asada (roasted beef) with yucca or the classic chicken, rice and beans.

A coffee tree in full bloom - great fragrance

No churches in the village. They mostly worship nature. Panama in general is much less Catholic than most Latin countries. Only 75% identify with Rome and most of them are “in name only” like in Peru. Lots of Evangelical churches here.

There is only one small school, with 2 elementary classes of about 30 kids each. One class is grades 1-3, the other 4-6. Education in Panama is only required up to 6^th grade. A few of the older kids, mostly boys, go to Secondary school (7^th to 10^th grades) in Torti. They walk about 2 miles to the highway and then catch a 30 min bus.

The bathrooms are nice, but nowhere for kids to wash hands

I met the primary school president and she is excited about helping me rehabilitate the adult handwashing sink (just needs a new faucet) and building a new sink, at child level and installing a soap dispenser and towels , so the kids have a place to wash. I’ll do some education about the importance of hand washing (reduces intestinal problems by up to 50%), as well.

Very nice toilet (right),shower (left) and sink (center) unit

The nifty plastic toilet seat - beats
my concrete units in Peru

Another project in town is working with an NGO called Global Brigades on their toilet/shower/sink units, which I’ll just call banos. BG brings teens and college kids from the US to (briefly) experience the 3^rd world and get hands on with helping other folks. The banos are well designed, though I have made some suggested changes for more ventilation and a men’s urinal. They feature a 2 chamber composting toilet, very similar to the ones I made in Peru. An attached shower and an outside sink complete the plan. I will also experiment with converting the toilets to the US standard flush toilet with septic tank – much less maintenance and cleaner.

I’m also working with the village Water Committee. They are in a state of total disarray and really need some help getting going again. After they are trained and up and running, we’ll address some maintenance issues, cleaning and disinfecting the storage tanks, patching some leaks and installing air bleeder valves along the 11 KM of 2” water line that supplies their water from a natural spring in the mountains.

Main water tank (left) with chlorine tank above (never used)
The secondary tank has some leaks

No improved cook stoves or biodigesters here. Most folks cook with propane, which is subsidized by the government and cost only $5 a tank. The older folks, who still like to cook over wood (better flavor), cook outside and have PLENTY of wood for fuel. So, no need for gas from a digester. Nor do they have any animals other than chickens. Free range, so collecting their poop is impractical.

Riding Nula to the jungle resulted in sore butt

                                                                                                                                        They have a heath post in town, but a nurse shows up just one day a week.

The jungle is dense and green - lots of birds

Universal health care is the rule in Panama, but it pales compared to Peru. Fewer clinics and much less manpower. Very few doctors. Since the system is only used by the poor folks in rural areas, it doesn’t seem to get much attention from the boys in the Emerald City. Everyone there uses private doctors and hospitals.

I got to visit the nearby jungle a couple of times this week – once on horseback. It is dense and thick and loaded with birds. Though I can rarely spot them. When I do, they fly before I can get the camera out. I met some interesting trees – one with wicked sharp thorns in the trunk (Hercules Club) and the other a towering monster (Ceiba), which was sacred to the Mayans. One look at this giant of the forest and you understand their respect.

I tried the local alcohol, called Seca. It is just fermented distilled sugar, pure and simple, with a bite like gasoline. Only good for mixing – they like coconut milk or Coke. Some is aged and makes a decent rum.

A natural stand of teak in the jungle

I learned from a woodsman about teak cultivation. The giant teak plantations, which line the PanAm, are planted with a teak selected for its straight and fast growth. He says it is not as beautiful as the wild teak, as the grain is not as tight. A 12” diameter teak tree sells for about $200. In the US, a 6ft length of 1”x6” teak sells for about $50. There’s gold in them thar trees.

My Deforested Home

Deforestation is not a pretty sight

When I say that I live in the jungle, what I really mean is : I live where the jungle used to be. Fortunately, the Madungandi Kuna Preserve is just 5 km from the cottage. Here is a brief summary of what I've learned about deforestation in Panama.

DEFORESTATION IN PANAMA

Cutting and clearing land for agriculture and construction has been going on for a long time, ever since folks ran out of naturally open land, on a small scale. As the population grew, the agricultural and pastoral lands west of Panama City were gradually cleared.

But deforestation kicked into high gear in the late 70’s, when the government issued something akin to the Oklahoma Land Rush, offering free plots of land in Panama East and Darien to anyone would go and “work” the land. Many campesinos took the offer. But, investors also saw a golden opportunity. They formed land corporations and recruited peasants to sign up for land and paying them pennies per acre in exchange. They were then able to claim huge tracts of land, which they promptly developed. They harvested any valuable hardwoods, then cut and burned what remained. The land was then used for agriculture, teak plantations and cattle ranches, as Panamanians have an unusually large appetite for beef.

Soil erosion from "slash and burn" can turn a river brown, kill fish and pollute water

The clear-cutting (or slash and burn) resulted in massive erosion into the rivers, killing fish and making the water unpalatable for the indigenous folks who lived along the banks. Erosion is particularly acute because of the torrential rains of the rainy season. Pesticides from agriculture and the teak plantations, along with mining by-products further contaminated the rivers. An estimated 6,000,000 acres were deforested between 1980 and 2000.

With their natural water sources gone, residents of this area appealed to the government which located spring sources in the mountains and constructed hundreds of small water systems to serve the towns and villages. Often, these springs are at a great (5-10 km) distance from the town. The locals were left to fend for themselves for maintenance of the systems. They formed local Water Committees, which collect a small monthly fee, usually $1 or $2 per month per family, to pay for required maintenance.

The Madungandi Kuna Preserve - 5 km from the cottage

To the government’s credit, they saw where this was going and in 1980 started creating National Parks and Preserves, which now cover some 5 million acres or about 25% of the total land area. While much of this is in mountainous areas that are not suitable for development anyway, it has slowed deforestation to about 90,000 acres per year.

Teak plantations are the most popular way to reforest

the durability and  fine grain of teak make it much sought after

The government has also instituted a unique plan for reforestation – the reforestation visa. For about $40,000 a foreigner can purchase one hectare of newly planted teak plantation and gain permanent resident status. While this has caused a significant amount of new trees to be planted, mostly on former cattle ranches, the plantings are of a single species – teak, which often needs to be sprayed with pesticide and creates a monoculture which is not friendly to most indigenous wildlife. But, given that the cost of a 5 foot plank of 1”x6” teak is worth about $50 in the US, it is no surprise that teak is the tree of choice to plant.

Goyo's History of Panama

Balboa's route to the Pacific

For at least 5,000 years the indigenous tribes in the area of Panama lived happily of the land, rivers and oceans of the tropically lush Panamanian land. Then, along came the Spanish, first landing shortly after the famed Columbus, in 1501. They were convinced that this was a continent, not just more island. Balboa, after whom the Panamanians have named their currency and a beer, made his way across a thick jungle to be the first European to see the Pacific. The feat earned him rights to found a colony very close to where I live on the Caribbean coast, in Darien. He then forged a trail across to the Pacific (though not nearly at the narrowest point), which became the most expedient route for gold and silver, stolen from the Pacific side of South America, to get back to Spain.

It took another 8 years of exploring the area to figure a shorter route, basically where the Canal is built. At which point Balboa’s stock went way down and he was beheaded by a rival. Still, he’s the man in the history books.

For the next 300 or so years, the Spanish continued to what they did best - loot and plunder the continent and bicker among themselves for power and a share of the booty. They got plundered themselves a few times, as well. Notably by Sir Francis Drake and pirate Henry Morgan in the early 1600’s.

In the early 1800’s, Napoleon’s brilliant sneak attack on Spain left it unable to control the area and Panama became independent of the Spanish scourge in 1830, and became part of Bolivar’s Gran Colombia (modern day Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador).

Just about that time, an upstart global power called the US of A was starting to take interest in the area. We figured that a railroad across the peninsula would save time and money and get the the 49ers to the gold faster. So, for an undisclosed sum, we bought the right-of-way from Gran Columbia. Seeing how successful (and profitable) the railway was, we figured a water crossing would be even better. But, to our dismay, the Colombians sold the rights to France. When the French couldn’t handle the task, we made another bid, but were turned down.

To show the Colombians just how tough the new kid on the block was, we backed a revolutionary junta that declared its independence from Colombia, which was no match for the mighty US Marines and a few battleships. We promptly recognized the junta as the real government. And just as promptly, they handed over rights to the canal route. It took the US just ten years to do what the French had failed miserably to do in 12. In 1914, the first ships sailed through an absolute engineering marvel. Along with the canal, we got rights to station our military along the canal for protection, which turned to be mostly protecting against the coups and revolutions in Panama (which, BTW means “many fish” in some native dialect).  Whenever the locals got too uppity, our boys would do whatever they had to and install a “friendly” face in power. But invariably, the friend would either turn or be ousted. (does any of this sound familiar?) This did not endear us to the locals and the “Yanqui Go Home” sentiment was strong, culminating in a student uprising in 1964, that led to the rise of Army General Torrijos and the pressure for Jimmy Carter to give the Canal to Panama.

The most famous US sell-out, of course was Army General Noriega, a former CIA operative, who was colluding with the CIA to run drugs to the US and guns to Central America. Noriega murdered and looted at will and with impunity, until he declared himself president and declared war on the US. Suffice it to say that 26,000 US troops, planes, ships and tanks can bring a lot of heat. And Noriega was out after some asylum shenanigans at the Vatican Embassy. (Can we pick ‘em, or what ??)   Remember how we got him to leave? Heavy metal (Van Halen and Metalica) did the trick. Which proves that my disdain for that musical genre is indeed valid. The “unfortunate collateral damage” caused by our (fully justified) invasion only further alienated the locals. (Ringing any bells, here?)

Even after that, we backed one failed administration after another, leaving a trail of corruption and ill-will. The only thing that has saved the country is the new Canal expansion. It has provided absolute full employment and caused a massive population flight from the rural areas to the Emerald City. With all the money sloshing around, Panama also became an international banking center, which is code for an off-shore money washing machine. With a skyline to match any US city and an average income of $14,000, things are good. Except for those in the forgotten rural areas. As one older lady in Ipeti put it, “El gobierno es por los ricos, no pro los pobres”.

A Cottage in Paradise

My little slice of paradise - just the right size, with everything I want
(neighbors have a washer)

What week it has been !! When they say that PC Response volunteers hit the ground running, they are not kidding.  Monday, I got a ride with my community partner, Pablo to Torti. The house is actually about 7km past Torti and closer to a little town called Huegronal, but Torti is the only thing you’ll find on the map.

The cottage is so much more than I could have ever wished for – electricity, (untreated) water 24/7, fridge, gas stove, comfy bed with mosquito net, kick-ass floor fan, fruit trees and absolute peace, except for the squawking flocks of parakeets that cruise by and the gorgeous rooster that greets me in the morning – about 5:30. And it is beyond charming – pink with a thatched roof, breezy porch and plenty of windows.

So far, the bug situation is nominal. Windows are open 24/7 with no screens and I haven’t been bothered at all. I deployed the mosquito net the first night, but soon discovered that neither breeze nor fan can penetrate the net. So, off it went – without incident.

I am about 1.5 km from the PanAmerican Hwy, down a fair dirt road. So, anytime I go out is at least a nice walk in both directions. Shopping must be done bit by bit. Once at the highway, I wait for a bus or a taxi, which can take as long as 20 minutes. Not much traffic on the highway, since it only goes another 100 to the east and dead-ends. Most all the taxis and all the buses are air conditioned, which is a nice treat. There are few houses between here and Torti, plus a huge new evangelical church and an even bigger beer depot.

A traditional home attached to a more modern one with wood siding and tin roof

Tuesday, Pablo drove me to meet my 2 service communities. We first went east, into the Heart of Darkness that is Darien province, to Pueblo Nuevo. This province borders Colombia and is full of drug and criminal activity. There are multiple security check-points, manned with military folks in full combat gear, who inspect the vehicle and question all passengers. Fortunately, I was issued an official Peace Corps ID that is respected as a free pass. There are other volunteers who serve deep in the heart of Darien – a full 6 hour drive and 4 hour boat ride from my site !!

Water Committee meeting. Note all bare feet except one. Floor is split bamboo and is raised 10 feet off the ground

At the Darien border, the PanAm effectively stops being a real road. Clearly no attention is given to maintaining this road, as the government seriously wants to discourage travel there. All driving is done off the side of the road, which is full of rocks and pot-holes.

The traditional community meeting house, raised, with bamboo floor and thatched roof - traditional and modern stairs are offered

Pueblo Nuevo is a small village of about 200 folks , who only came out of the jungle about 25 years ago. Their houses are built on stilts, which were required by the rivers and swamps where they once lived, but now are simply tradition (and charming). They have thatched roofs, with no walls or only a partial wall for ventilation. The “stairway” up is a log with notches and no hand-rail – not for the clumsy.

Our meeting was attended by about 40, which was a fantastic turnout, in my experience. Their water committee is very well organized and they were anxious to show me their record book and receipt pads. They do need some tech support from me. The water line runs about 5 km through the jungle , up a hill, down and then up a mountain from a spring source. They have problems with air getting into the line and blocking flow. So, I will show them where to install the air release valves that they will buy. The sad part is that they used to get water from the nearby river, but that became so polluted with run-off from the clear-cut areas and small mines that it became undrinkable. So, the government built them the looong water line.

We then headed back west, toward Panama City, past Torti, to my other site, which is Ipeti, another indigenous village, about 3 km off the PanAm. It is larger, about 400 and not nearly as organized or community minded as Pueblo Nuevo. Same housing construction. Though, some have switched to a regular wooden house, with thatched roof, on the round. Some have gone full modern, with concrete block walls and a tin roof. The meeting was a total bust, as only the water committee president and one other guy showed up. We agreed that I would return on Saturday and he’d try for a better turn-out. I did get to see the composting toilet / shower units that Global Brigades is sponsoring there. Concrete block construction with running water to the showers and a washing sick on the side. They will use a very cool plastic seat, which is much more attractive, comfortable and cleaner than the concrete seats I made in Peru. I will be doing the training on toilet use and maintenance.

Tuesday, I went back to Ipeti and took measurements and did a soil percolation test to see if my idea to convert these units to flush toilet will work, which looks good. We will try one experimental unit soon.

The next day was shopping and settling in to the cottage. Lots of deep cleaning and some painting. So, I now feel quite and home and very happy with my situation. I met some of the other local Volunteers for dinner and beers and regaled them with Goyo stories.                                                      
I'm enjoying the food here. Lots of fish and much more beef than in Peru, due to the large cattle ranches being carved out of the jungle. Fruit is plentiful. Rice is a given at any meal. A small bowl of beans is usually served on the side. Just like Peru, roasted chicken is a mainstay, with rice and beans and surprisingly a dollop of potato salad. Another favorite, new to me, are fried plantains. I've had them before, but somehow here they are just delicious. Eggs are not just for breakfast and usually served with a "tortilla" about 3" round and 1/2" thick - deep fried. Another favorite breakfast is chopped steak with onions and green peppers. Fried yucca is served instead of french fries, which is fine with me.

The national alcohol is Seca, which is just rum that is not aged. There are 3 national beers : Atlas, Panama and Balboa. Atlas light and Balboa suit my Bud taste just fine.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Some random observations here:

First papaya from my trees = deelicious

There is very little haggling here. The price quoted is the price and it is usually quite reasonable. I like that.

Weather is pretty much the same every day – High of 85, low of 75. This is right on the line of comfort for me. My sweat glands are in overdrive and I could only sleep with the air from the fan. It rained lightly and then  down-poured, with thunder and lightning, much like Florida in the summer. The rainy season is late this year, due to El Nino and everything is bone dry. The heavy daily rains should start soon.

Daily cottage maintenance includes sweeping the litter that falls from the inside of the thatched roof and boiling drinking water. I go through about 3 liters a day.

My phone and USB internet stick work well, albeit 3G and slow, but not complaining. Both are from the old Cable & Wireless, which I knew well in the Caribbean.

Lots of names for things different here than in Mexico or Peru. Hummingbirds are “visita-flor” or “culibri”.

Headed to Torti

It's been a busy week here in the Emerald City. Here's what's been happening:

I got my new phone # in Panama : 507 - 6727 - 3195. No collect calls , please.

Stations are clean, safe and well marked. Unlike the surface roads

The trains were VERY full. They go about everywhere I wanted to go.

I got my first ride on the new Panama Metro line on Monday. More meetings at the PC office, opened a bank account. So, now you can say you know someone with a Panmanian bank account. Got my transit card for the Metro, buses, etc. But, the highlight of the day was meeting a new friend (father of one of the Princeton Bridge students I met in Peru). He teaches at an international school near the PC office and invited me to do a little lecture to his 10th graders tomorrow. The fun never ends. Thursday, I meet my community partner and officially get sworn in. Then Monday, I'm "Movin on up" to what the local PCVs call "The East Side".

I got a sneak peak at my new home (7 km east of Torti) photos can be found if you click here. It is a picturesque little cottage, owned by a former Peace Corps volunteer. After October, it will be available for you to rent.

PC Country Director Diane swore me in, after I addressed the outgoing group of PCVs

Peace Corps Panama offices are on the top floor of this building, which was part of US Army Fort Clayton until 2000.

I met my community partner , Pablo Thursday. He came in for my swearing-in and will drive me to Torti on Monday. Very bright and interesting guy. He was telling me that the law firm that had its client base hacked is only a mid-size player. He says there are two huge players that no one will even talk about.
The bankers here are very upset, as they fear a huge loss of business if offshore money loses confidence in them.

I visited the Miraflores locks (first locks on the Pacific side). It was a truly extraordinary feat of engineering, done before computers. The new Canal expansion will be even more impressive.

Enjoying a day off at the Canal

It is an impressive operation, indeed

A model of the old dredging ships which kept the Canal bottom clean

There is no mail service to where I will be going, so my mailing address for the next 6 months will be:
RGP c/o CUERPO DE PAZ
Edificio 240, 3er Piso
Calle Víctor Iglesias
Ciudad del Saber, Clayton
Corregimiento de Ancón
Panama, Rep. De Panama

Next time you want to complain about the USPS, consider this : In Panama, as in Peru and most other countries, the postal service barely exists. There is only sporadic home delivery in certain sections of Panama City and none outside the City. It is slow and expensive - a package can take 2 weeks to cross a country the size of Florida and a letter costs $1,25. And they never heard of Saturday delivery or service.
Put that in your USPS pipe and smoke it,

Traffic at rush hour in Panama City

It seems that everywhere you look, the skyline is full of skyscrapers. This road and everything to the right were built on fill from the new canal expansion

A few notes on the traffic in Panama City : Like any city, at rush hour it can be heavy. There are key differences between here and Lima. First, it is QUIET !! Panamanian drivers are polite and don't use the horn. And the taxi's don't either. That is great. The other good thing is that folks here actually OBEY the (few) traffic lights. And there are no cops in sight. Ever. There seem to be a lot more private cars than buses and taxis. The bus decoration is legendary as per the photo. More courtesy shown to pedestrians than in Lima. But, like Lima, the streets are totally unmarked (except for the major arteries), which makes it really hard to navigate and no one seems to know any street names - worse than Peru. Even the taxi drivers are clueless about small street names. I have to give them just a major intersection (so they can set a fare) and then navigate for them from a printed Google map.

First Day in Panama

Waterfront park with Old Panama City in the background

My hotel is surrounded by skyscrapers

                                                                                                                                            The trip down to Panama was trouble free. Good connections and not full planes. On arrival, I breezed through Immigration in the Diplomatic line, grabbed my bag and passed Customs without inspection.

My driver was chatty, which is always nice. They tend to chat lots more in Spanish. He was surprised that the Panama Papers were such a big deal in the US, Everybody here not only knows the banking score, most participate in it. Here’s the deal : If someone asks you for a “special receipt, you write them one for double the actual amount and you keep a 10% service charge. Or you say No and they go find someone else. It’s taxi drivers, hardware stores, restaurants – anywhere a business might write off the expense. All of the huge skyscrapers are half full or less, but they keep building because that is the fastest way to pad BIG expenses and wash the money.

He also pointed out how dry and brown everything is here. El Nino has caused a much longer than normal dry season. It hasn’t rained since last November and the rains should have started in March. I am pleased to announce that the first rain, albeit light, came this morning. I am taking full credit for it.

I had a nice Indian dinner with some of the Panama PCVs last night. Two were short timers, leaving in a few days and one was in for medical treatment of some disease that is carried by a fly. It eats the eye and surrounding flesh, so not nice. But, the PC MDs here get right on it. Treatment is a intravenous injection every day for 10 days. Not common where I am going, thankfully. And it can only bite the eye or inside the nose or mouth. Weird.

The old and the new

High Rise Sunrise

Prices here in the city are about like suburban US.  Dinner last night was $8 for a nice curry and lemonade. With all prices in Dollars and US currency the coin of the realm and no sales tax, life is easier.

One of the many things I’ve enjoyed overseas is interesting bread. Not so here –n at least in the City. It’s plain Jane white bread, sliced and bagged. They say you have to go to a pastry shop the get anything different. Yuck.

Electricity here is nominal 100VAC, but apparently not all that reliable. In the middle of the night, I heard the fan speeding up and slowing down. So, I got up and put my multi-meter on it – varying between 97V and 108. Yikes. Soon after the generator for the tall building next door kicked on. I guess they have stable power now, but I get the noise. They say it should be stable on the grid “soon”.

OK, starting orientation in an hour. More later.

The President of Panama lives on the top floors of this condo

And so much more there was. The Response Coordinator, Tess picked me up and whisked me to the Peace Corps Office, which is located in the old Clayton US Army base. The place is huge, but the PC just has offices in one of the buildings and fairly modern, at that. We got my bank account set up – Yes, friends, you now know someone with a Panamanian account. Then moved on the get mobile phone and transit cards. Had lunch at the old Army commissary building (fish and  calamari , with Guava juice). I got a peek at my future home in Torti. Let’s just say it is to die for, in the best possible way.

As Mickey D says : I’m lovin it !!

On Your Mark, Get Set......

Departure is getting close. Only five days left in Estados Unidos.

I stopped working over a month ago. The delay has added some new information, as well as 10 lb.
I 'm in contact with the only other Peace Corps volunteer in Torti - a young lad named Anson Lihosit. He has kindly filled me in on a few details. Looks like I'll have to redesign the improved cook stove and the composting toilet. Seems they only use concrete block locally - no brick or adobe blocks.

A few pre-arrival photos of Torti, gleaned from various sources:

A waterfall near town

A Floating hotel on the nearby river

Nice little hotel in Torti

The InterAmerican Hwy (aka Pan American) looks much like it does in Peru
 (except for the lush vegetation)

A map of the State of Darien, showing Torti and it's proximity to the Columbian border
Peace Corps folks are not allowed within 40 km of the border , due to drug activity.

Torti landscape. The lush vegetation will be a pleasant change from Peru.
The daily , sometimes all- day rains and mud will not