After two months of torturous waiting while in Panama, I
finally found out that I’ll be spending the next two years working in a small
indigenous community in Bocas del Toro, and I couldn’t be more excited. My community members grow cocoa, coffee, and
bananas and my primary responsibilities will be to help them improve their
products, identify buyers, establish contracts, and teach basic business and
financial management skills.
I’ll also
be working to support a women’s artisan group, improve community gardens, potentially
start a small agro-tourism project, and facilitate English/ngäbere
language classes (English for them and ngäbere for me!)
This past week I actually got to visit my community, and it could not have been a more exciting or humbling experience. During an introductory meeting, each person in attendance stood up one by one, introduced him or herself, and then told me how thankful he or she was that I had come to live and work with them. They told me that since I had made the sacrifice of leaving my family and culture, they wanted to be a new family for me, and that they promised to protect me and help me throughout the next two years. Hearing such encouraging sentiments almost made me cry- it was like I had gained a huge family of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins in less than half an hour.
Cocoa trees
Viveros (Tree nurseries) for local plants
Not everyone in my community was able to make it to the
meeting though, so one of my neighbors offered to take me “pasearing” in order
to start trying to get to know more people.
To pasear means to walk around, let yourself in to a neighbor’s home or
porch, and have a little chat with them.
Whereas Americans might consider this type of behavior inconsiderate,
it’s seen as rude if you don’t pasear here in Panama. Each family I visited offered me some type of
food or drink, and by the morning’s end my belly was filled to the brim with
locally grown coffee, hot chocolate, bananas, rice, and other delicious
snacks.
While the entire week was filled with fun moments and good
conversation, my favorite memory was a prayer I overheard while in bed one
night. One of the community members who
had graciously offered me a room for the week was saying his evening prayers,
in which he thanked God for bringing me to them and asked that He keep me safe
and happy over the next two years and beyond.
I don’t think I can put into words how that simple prayer made me feel
because it is I who is truly blessed and humbled by this experience.
I’ll be permanently moving to my site in two weeks, and I
can’t wait to get to work and to share with you what the next two years
hold!
Abby, It is so wonderful to know that your community appreciates you, is going to keep you safe and pray for you.
ReplyDeleteYou are going to be a wonderful asset to that community.
I love you.
Dad
SO excited for you and you're experience there!! I got your address from your sister and I'll be sending you a DC/4-H care package soon. My boyfriends father was in Africa with the Peace Corps and he tells stories like they happened yesterday. Cant wait to hear about yours!
ReplyDelete-Char
Aw, thanks Char!! I love hearing about returned PCVs experiences- it makes all the slow days feel a lot more worth it. How's everything going with 4-H?
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