Friday, November 26, 2010

Challenges and Successes

My December Home

Little Cutie

Hauling Panka



Well it has been an exciting first three weeks in site.

Swear in was an amazing experience and President Martinelli actually gave a very genuine speech on the spot.  The days after were spent on the beach trying to soak up my peers´ presence before separation, and perhaps led to my immune system taking a beating (more on that soon).  For some reason I decided to punish myself upon entering my site and rather than getting a boat ride directly to my site I decided to get dropped off at La Ensenada because I knew that I would be using that comunidad to leave my peninsula and thought I should learn the trail.  Bad idea!  With three large bags containing groceries and my possessions I ventured through an extremely muddy path laden with a few boards to tight rope walk in an effort to not have mud up to your thigh.  My tight rope walking skills were not nearly developed enough to not find myself constantly stuck in the mud trying to get my chacos up an out of the mud without dropping the three bags.  But soon I heard the ocean and found myself half way there before having to cross another similar stretch.  By the time I got to my new home I was covered in mud, tired and not feeling too hot.  I entered the home to find a visitor from another community there aggressively flirting with me as I slumped against the wall, halfway lying on the floor, not wanting to do anything other than sleep.  This feeling remained for next two weeks as I was hit with an intense cold as it rained consecutively for a week straight.  Three days into site I developed an ear infection that is still giving me trouble and resulted in me having to leave site two weeks in to go to David (a six hour one way travel endeavor) for better medicine than my centro de salud could offer.  Being so remote makes it difficult to want to leave but it was a good lesson that I need to be a little less stubborn and take better care of my health.  

But throughout these three weeks I´ve been able to have some truly incredible experiences and earned some people´s initial respect by doing manual labor and pasearing (visiting houses).  Whether it is carrying panka as the ocean pounds against me and trys to take me away, working in the finca, or carrying firewood through what feels like unbearable distances at the time, I´ve come to learn the incredible strength of my community.  Each time after hauling panka or firewood, I would be exhausted, so grateful to be done with the treacherous trip, only to find out that we were going to do it again.  But this is all apart of proyecto amistad, earning the people´s confianza.  One of my better moments was pasearing at a community members home name Isaac.  He is a 4´10´´ man, buff, and fierce.  Supposedly with a voice of a howler monkey when it come to salomaring (a type of call used in the campo-spelling probably is not correct, especially since in spanglish).  But after I interviewed him about who he was related to, the education of his family, the health of his family, politics, and the like, I asked him if he had any hopes or desires for me and the kind of work I would do over the next two years.  He told me that he has a tendency to get angry but that he is a man of god and must hold his temper.  But that I have brought nothing but contentment and happiness to his life since I have come into the community.  That seeing me work beside them, visiting house to house, and trying to gain his community’s trust will result in him helping me every step of the way throughout my time there.  Whether building my house or trying to work with the community on water or sanitation.  I can’t even begin to explain how rewarding it was to hear a man of this caliber express his gratitude towards me and the method of Peace Corps.  

There have other hard moments.  Like me bringing food to contribute to the family for the month and watching it get consumed in two days.  I was then continually asked for money to buy rice and other simple cooking supplies everyday until I finally said I could no longer do that.  The difficulty is the poverty is so real, all they want to buy is rice, but I also must draw a line between what I can provide financially to try and destroy the myth that Peace Corps comes with tons of money, that every gringo is rich.  I have a huge money sign on my forehead and yet continually I try to explain that I am not wealthy and that inequality exists in my country as much as it does in their own.  But then there is some degree to which no matter which way you spin it I am so much more economically privileged than they are.  I mean there are 13 living in my home right now not including myself, one night getting up to 18 with more children and grandchildren visiting.  That is a lot of mouths to feed.  So we eat mostly boiled name (a tuber) and buchu (young small bananas) with a little bit of salt and sometimes coconut, and believe me it is not that glamorous.  But then sometimes they catch delicious fish or kill a duck or chicken.  But when there isn´t meat of any kind everybody in town answers the question Ma ba no (how are you) with: there is no meat, so not too good. 

Language is a whole other problem.  I know so rarely what is going on and groups rarely translate things into Spanish for me.  But I´m teaching English class on Sundays with the idea of them trying to help me with ngabere.  To be honest there is so much to say but I think I will stop it there for fear of this blog becoming too long.  

If anyone is interested in writing I would love to correspond.  My new address is

Charles Walker
David, Chiriqui
Entrega General
0426
Panama, Rep de Panama

Much love.  Thank you so much for the support.  It’s nice to know that you all are out there sending me love. 
  Until next time.