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Published: April 4th 2006
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On the first morning in Santiago, the Santiago Rotary Club got us up early and we headed out into the countryside to see three projects that are being funded by the District major grant. Getting to the projects took quite some time due to rough roads. The first one took us several kilometers up and down very rugged roads and through several streams. I was thankful it was the dry season because I am not sure we could have made it otherwise. When traveling by car sometimes you forget how remote these people are. When you see people walking by or riding a horse you have to be amazed at how much time is spent traveleling and how difficult it would be to get simple things from a store or medical care. Getting to school in these conditions is also difficult to say the least. And when the children make it to school, many times there is not fresh water or a lunch provided. In Kansas I've actually seen people drive their kids in a SUV two blocks to the school bus stop because it snowed an inch the night before. Again, this trip really puts the way you live and
your life into perspective.
One thing to mention as we went to the first village is that it really isn't a village like we may think of with houses close together and a community square. The village is really a group of houses spread out along the hills. The further away from a town you get, the less likely you wpuld be able to see a neighbor's house. In fact, from the first house we came to, we walked several km up and down hills to the spring and only saw the one house. But, they all do receive water from the same spring. Getting to the spring was a pretty long walk. Again, we were there in dry season so it was hard to imagine the grass we were walking through would have actually been at least a meter above our heads. From time to time our group would end up spread out and at one point Bob and I headed down the wrong trail. They called to us before we went to far and who knows where we would be by now. At the top of a large hill, they uncovered the spring. This spring is typical
El Maravillal Water Supply
You can see the layer of material they use to cover the spring. of many water sources we saw on this trip. Water seeps out of the hill from a natural spring and eventually turns into a stream down the hill. The local people would dig a hole and concrete it in to catch the water. Then pipes would simply be inserted into holes in concrete and would travel many kilometers to where the water is needed. Once again, the process of getting the concrete up to this point must have been a major project given the rough lay of the land.
One good thing about using a spring is that water travles by gravity and therefore there is no need for a pump system. There are several problems though. When collecting the water, you could imagine what else could end up in the water supply. This is different from a well system that would be closed off from the elements. There are several layers of plastic bags protecting the water supply and there was a net over the pvc pipe that would catch leaves. But still, I noticed no one from our group sampled it. What this type of system needs is a water tank to catch the water and then
Netting for spring water
If you look closley you can see the yellow net they use to keep material from entering in the pipe. a chlorine system to make it pottable. And just like all of the other projects we saw in Panama, this would be a simple, cheap solution that would greatly increase the quality of life.
When we returned to the house, our hostess had made drinks for us. I don't recall the name of it but I believe it was made out of rice and sugar cane. It was very refreshing after the long walk. One thing you might note in the picture of her serving the drink is that her kitchen and the rest of her house is really open to the elements and has a dirt floor. When we were speaking with a nurse the week before we asked what the main medical concerns are for the people in the countrysides. I expected it would have been water quality issues. But in fact, her response was that asthma and lung complications. Children begin to have breathing complications very early in life due to the dirt floors in most homes.
The next village we traveled to was located along a highway and therefore was more easily accessible. It also had a roadside cantina and we stopped for refreshments.
Several of us also bought some of the children hanging out there small icy deserts. I asked for a bottle of water instead of a soda. I guess that really has never been ordered there before and after a long time of them searching through things in the back they brought out a dirty plastic pitcher of water with a small glass. I felt bad but had to decline. I'll make sure to pack more bottled water in the future.
This village had a large concrete water tank but it was cracked and leaked. As we were walking to the tank we were constantly reminded of the lushness of Panama. We walked by pineapple plants and there were the large plantain trees. We even saw a tree full of avocados. After viewing the tank, I took a detour back and visited with a young couple and their baby girl. I had some more clothes and a teddy bear that my daughter sent down with me and it made a huge hit with them. I am always amazed how much we can impact a life with so little effort.
The next project we went to was to fix a
well system. Again, very little money but it makes such an improvement to lives. The pump was across the street from a cattle pen and while we were there they were bringing in cattle. I enjoyed watching the kids come riding up on horseback.
That evening after getting cleaned up we were invited to an awesome party hosted by Edwin and his wife. Greg Peterson and I had quite an experience with Edwin last year. He was the one that someone convinced to drive us way back into the hills to the village of El Picador. He didn't know how to get there so we picked up the son of the teacher of the village in the town of Canazas. They didn't speak English and we didn't speak Spanish. But we had a great trip and got to know each other pretty well. This year he opened up his house for us and hosted a dinner party. My group left me standing outside of the hotel as they all drove off. When they finally realized I was left they did come back and get me. That was nice. They had a lot of great food including my new favorite:
Refreshment after the walk
Notice the dirt floors that contribute to health complications. The drink was very good. Carimanolas!! It is a delicous roll made with dough from yucca and stuffed with meat and boiled eggs.
They made some great presentations and gave all of us some very nice mugs with the Rotary emblem and the day's date painted on them. They had them made just for us on that day. When the presentations were over I thought that was it. We were all surprised when a group of musicians and young kids started dancing for us. They were all dressed in traditional clothes and the dances were incredible. They were very talented. Then, when that was over, a group of young men and women came in to dance. It was an amazing performance. Of course John got up and started showing off his great dance moves. Several more of us got up and danced! Then, when that was over they served us a huge dinner. We were there past midnight and we all had a wonderful time.
Again, the grace of all of our hosts in Panama made this trip so enjoyable. Every day there was something so amazing to see and experience. They all love their country and want to make it a better
Plantains
These are very common in Panama and we saw them in the yards of many homes. They are fried when green, cut, pressed and deep fried to produce patacones. They are served just like we would normally serve french fries. Ripe plaintians are sweet and can be carmelized in sugar and cinnamon. This is called platanos tenacion and is very good. place for all of their countrymen.
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