First, let me begin by saying I am a failure when it comes to blogging. Second, I don't care...
Also my mailing address is now:
Nicholas Nordahl
Cuerpo De Paz
Entrega General
Changuinola, Bocas Del Toro
Republica de Panama
We have been in Panama for nearly 4 months, and in our sites for about a month and a half. For those who are not aware, I am now living in beautiful Bocas Del Toro! The Bocas Del Toro islands are gorgeous and they are a major tourist area full of warm sand and pretty women. I do not live there.
 |
| Bienvenidos |
I live in the interior of the province a little ways outside of the town of Changuinola. My community is 100% indigenous. The original name of the people living in the Bocas area was Guaymi (pronounced Why Me) and now they are the Ngobe (which just means people in their language). The Ngobe have historically lived in the mountainous areas throughout western Panama; but slowly they have been shifted to one area called the Comarca Ngobe-Bugle and the province of Bocas del Toro. They are very short people and I am a very tall person, which means I hit my head on doorways, walls, ceilings, trees, etc. Also, they tend to be more reserved and shy so I compensate by being loud and intrusive. I think they appreciate that...
 |
| Hu-Casa-House |
 |
| The kiddos lookin chipper as usual |
My work here in the School has been interesting??? I want to first of all commend the teachers of Panama who travel great lengths (two-three hours) to get to the school. It is also very challenging for the teachers to work with no electricity, no running water and overall a general lack of resources. I have three English teachers that I am working with right now and we are having to improvise a lot with the resources we have.
 |
| The classroom |
Right now I have several secondary project ideas I am very stoked about:
1. This community needs latrines in a desperate way. I am going to visit some other volunteers in the area to learn more about composting latrine construction. Right now most people use the ol' hole in the ground method to take care of business.
 |
| TCB in the "bathroom" behind my soon to be house |
2. House Gardens: the school has its own garden that provides some of the food for the little kids to eat during the school day. The problem is that my community is so impoverished that many kids come to school hungry which makes them unfocused. I don't know much about gardening but I intend over the next several weeks to learn as much as I can.
3. The Sidewalk: It rains a lot here. There are also no paved roads. Everyday my school shoes do battle with the mud, and everyday I lose. The community leaders want to build a paved pathway but they lack the materials and money to do so. I held two meetings to discuss these projects and I suggested meeting with the regional deputy to see about getting materials. Albeit, there were some debbie downers, some naysayers, some negative-ngobies to this idea; but I helped them draft, type, and print an official letter for material request. Then, this morning, I got two representatives all dressed to the nines lookin real 'Ofi' and we paid a visit to madam deputy: BAM! she said yes to our material request! I feel like this was my first real success in working here and right now I am really savoring this feeling of pride. I'll keep everyone updated on the project.
Hope all is well back home!
 |
| Adios! |
