Volunteer Visit

       A few weeks ago, I went to visit a current WASH volunteer that has been in her site for one year. I went to the Comarca Ngäbe Buglé, which is in the Chiriquí province, with another trainee. We got up very early on Tuesday morning and took a six-hour bus ride to the town of San Felix. From there, we met our volunteer, Maria. We got some groceries and then headed to her site. The small bus dropped us off about 30 minutes from her house, so I had my first taste of the Comarca hills. The area is very mountainous and the trails are unmarked and slippery after it rains. It was a beautiful hike in! Maria’s house is made of wood and has a tin roof. After settling in, we headed to bed, excited for the week.

During the week, we visited several community members and work sites. Maria’s main project at the moment is latrine building. We visited a few different sites where the community members were digging the holes for pit latrines. We also visited two neighboring communities and saw the elementary school. During the rainy afternoons, I learned how to “double paila,” which is turning a stovetop into an oven. We made brownies and banana bread by putting one pan inside a larger pot and covering it to keep the heat in. I was pretty amazed that we could cook desserts and good food without refrigeration or an oven! Maria also taught us how she does laundry in the stream and carries water from the stream up to her house. The 5-gallon bucket of water is very heavy and she carries it up a fairly steep hill. I tried to carry it and barely made it a few steps! The entire visit was awesome and I certainly learned a lot about the life and work of a volunteer.

Two weeks, ago  I was back in Santa Rita for more training. My Spanish group led an activity on Panamanian myths and legends. There are some very interesting indigenous traditions that many volunteers will definitely encounter. We also got to tell some of the scary legends to the group. It was interesting hoe many of them mirrored legends that are common in the US, or at least have the same takeaways. Last week, from Saturday (8/6) through the next Sunday (8/14), I was in Bocas del Toro with the rest of the WASH trainees. We will spent the week at a current volunteer’s site doing a week of hands-on technical training. I was very excited to finally get to try out many of the things we have been learning from PowerPoints. It was a great week to continue exploring the different provinces of Panamá!