Regional PCV Meeting

That is a good likeness of the owner.
With his dreads in a chef hat, he stands about 7 feet tall.

Every 4 months, all the Peace Corps volunteers from the Bocas area gather for 2 days for a regional meeting. It is always a joy for me to mingle with this wonderful group of (mostly young) folks. Many are close friends who trained together for 10 weeks and now get a reunion of sorts. Yesterday, we all met with our respective government agencies for an update and some training and discussions. Last night, the troops went out on the town – to one of Changuinola‘s many casino/discos. While the youth reveled in the drink and dance, the music was just too loud (especially the bass) for me and I made an early exit.

The inside of the Ebony restaurant features reggae music and all
manner of Caribbean posters, carvings and knick-knacks

The main meetings are held at a very nice “AfroCaribbean” restaurant and feature Staff from the office in Panama City who travel here to inform us on administrative changes and the like. Sad to hear that the Peace Corps budget will be cut for a second year by the Trump administration (less Peace, More War). We hear from various volunteer groups and then break into program groups (Water & Sanitation, Sustainable Agriculture and English Teaching) to discuss how each person’s service is going, try and help each other with any problems and solicit help for upcoming projects. It is a marvelous, professional and useful exchange of ideas and shows how no PCV truly serves alone – we are family.

At this meeting, we welcomed a new batch of PCVs who just finished training a month ago. They were warmly welcomed and given some advice from each veteran volunteer. Some of my favorites: ALWAYS have some toilet paper with you, laugh at yourself whenever possible, say YES whenever possible, smile a lot, talk to as many people as you can, baby powder and rubbing alcohol can be your best friends when there is no water for days and (my favorite) keep your soap in an old sock so nobody steals it at the family shower. Such are the joys of service.