Panamania

June 2013 As Peace Corps Volunteers we are often presented with opportunities to help other NGOs working in Panamá with their projects.   One of the opportunities frequently presented to us is to work as translators for groups of traveling doctors (usually from the US), which travel to underserved communities to provide free basic health care. Last year I worked as a translator for a group of optomolegists that came to Panamá from throughout the United States through the Lion’s Club, to provide eye exams and free glasses for rural Panamanians.   This past June, Chelsea, a Peace Corps Volunteer from my group, invited a group of traveling doctors to come to her community to provide basic dental and health care.   I jumped at the opportunity to help when Chelsea asked me if I’d like to translate for the medical gira (tour).   Not only is it a very rewarding experience to be able to help people receive the health care that they need, but it was also an opportunity...

March 2012-March 2014    Waste management in Panamá has been the primary focus of my work during my Peace Corps service, however I have been lucky enough to dedicate my time to a number of other secondary projects such as teacher training, environmental classes, computer classes for children and adults, building capacity for ecotourism businesses, constructing eco-stoves, promoting organic agriculture, youth mentorship, and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Working in the Schools One of my primary assignments as community environmental conservation volunteers is to help train the primary school teachers to incorporate dynamic teaching methods and environmental themes into their lessons.   To do this I developed an environmental curriculums for pre-kinder through sixth grade, held class planning sessions with the teachers, and encouraged them to co-teach my classes.   The environmental themes that we touched on ranged from protecting plants and animals, ...