Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Blanca resting after a busy night

This is my home and I have to protect it, I say to myself with a chuckle. (Yes, to all you Home Alone groupies out there, more the reason to laugh). I start throwing rocks with a tizzy of snorts and grunts. Anyone viewing this ordeal from afar would think simply I was possessed, thankfully I am not, but just OVER babysitting for Pastor Einer´s dog in heat!

The once appalling rock throw that every Panamanian knows and does comfortably with no remorse is now my new standard. Not only are these suitors trying to get to this female, but when they do, they potentially tear up the fencing, which lets the chickens in, which like to eat all the starters of vegetables we are trying to grow!

It´s also quite ironic that in the states I practiced as a licensed Veterinary Technician for some time, but yet I know nothing about the heat cycles of dogs…I guess spaying and neutering is much more common than the latter. I am very thankful for the push to spay and neuter pets in the states, and fortunately there is a program here in Panama called Spay Panama (check out their website at www.spaypanama.org) . They not only have a clinic in the city, they have fundraisers to raise support  to spay and neuter pets out in the countryside which is where people either don´t have the money, or the education to understand the importance of it. I´m hopeful that in the future we will start a fundraiser of our own to support the cause and trend in our community… Please remember to spay and neuter your pets!

Girlesa [in heavily accented English]: This is your first Christmas in Panama?
Colleen [nodding]: Yes
Girlesa: I´m so, so sorry.
It´s hard to get into the Christmas spirit here in the humid tropics, but we did our best. In the city, the long-time American presence has left cultural impositions such as Santa Claus, and even the inflatable snow man is not unheard of, but we decided to test our fare as far away as possible.

The road to Yaviza was paved 3 years ago with much excitement and fanfare. Today, many sections are destroyed. We gave a ride to a hitchhiker who turned out to be a school director. He said he had words with the contractors. ¨If you want to know how to build a road, go look at what the Americans did. They built a highway over the water and it works just fine. Go look at it. You can´t even build one on land!¨

Accepting an invitation to the end of the road, Yaviza, for a conference and dinner for indigenous church leaders, we navigated the recently paved and recently destroyed interamerican highway… yet another victory for incompetence and corruption. In addition, Yaviza has a new $17 million water system… and although there was reliable water previously, now there is not. But it was totally worth it for the harmonica hoe-down show-down that erupted during the evening worship service.

On Christmas Eve, we invited our closest neighbors over for dinner, to see a slide-show and movie of Jesus´ birth, and to read scripture and sing together. We also couldn´t help ourselves and bought a bunch of junk at our local Chinese owned store for Chinese Christmas. It took a while for folks to warm up and get the idea, but before it was over, farmers were stealing flashlights, and the pastor stole a box of Cornflakes, pronounced ¨con-flay¨ here. Lots of good laughs. We also took advantage of a bank of sand that the flooding river deposited and introduced the game of ¨horseshoes.¨

under our house during Chinese Christmas.

Christmas Day was lonely. We missed family a lot and could do little to distract ourselves. We ate leftover rice and chicken and lots of oranges. Kalea got a plastic kitchen with plastic food that some friends in the city gave to us. She really enjoy it, but right now she seems more into the plastic farm animals that Colleen stole from the pastor that allowed him to steal the Cornflakes. I gave Colleen some candle holders that I made with wood and paint can lids, and Colleen gave me massage coupons and candy. I´m glad we could share a Christmas with our neighbors, but I sure hope we can be at home with family next year.
Happy New Year,

alan

[youtube=http://youtu.be/sVc477PxK0M&rel=0]

The boat captain called 2 days after he was supposed to pick us up. We told him we´d discuss things and call him back. He asked us to hurry because he was dangling in the top of a mountain apple tree, the only place he could get a cell signal. I was anxious to go somewhere because Colleen and Kalea had made the wise decision to stay home in Catrigandí, and I was stuck in Yaviza at the end of the Pan-American highway on the frontier with Colombia… I wanted to get to work or get home. We got clearance from the police, found a different boat, and decided to go ahead with the trip upriver. This would be the second trip of the disaster relief project prompted by last year´s flood and the goal was to inspect water systems in 4 communities and devise a community water/sanitation plan. Ten minutes after leaving the port in Yaviza, in the late morning, it started to rain. Passengers bailed water from the giant canoe as we plodded on, joking about hot coffee and sweetbread. Four hours later when we arrived at the community, Vista Alegre, it was still raining. I pride myself on being adaptable and easy going, but I must admit that I was at my comfort limits as I searched for dry clothing in my wet bag, thanking God that Colleen and Kalea had decided to stay at home. I felt like the rat I had seen the day before, stranded on a rock in the river, shivering, uncertain, with nowhere to go. I crawled into a hammock and sulked until dark, angry with myself for having been ill-prepared. The rains began to let up, and I shooed a dog out of the cleanest corner of the smoky hut to lay down my mat and sleep. While it was still dark, Pastor Ricardo and I were awakened by voices and commotion under the house. Wow these folks get an early start, I thought, but something didn´t seem right, it was 3:30 in the morning. Ricardo´s first language is Woumeo, so I asked him what they were saying. ¨The waters are rising.” We descended from our dry cozy house to see a straggling of people carrying bags of cement. Wandering a dozen yards in the direction from which they came, we found the slowly encroaching ¨shore¨, a chocolaty filth of debris laden water where there was none the day before. My soon-to-be-friend Pedro had erected a lounge chair in the dim light at the water´s edge, reluctantly moving his chair as necessary to accommodate the rising water.

Pedro and I hold ¨borojoa¨ branches, the much revered and little understood fruit that costs 1/10 of a man´s daily wage. Pedro taught me the secret to getting all female plants when planting anew. We´ll see if I can put it to practice.

Pedro Mémbora left Panama at 17 years old with his 4 siblings, father, and pregnant mother for the jungles of Colombia at his father´s behest. His mother gave birth, and 15 days later Pedro´s father left with another woman to return to Panama, leaving Pedro to raise his siblings. This he did and did well… two earning college degrees to work as professionals in Colombia, an unfathomable achievement for the impoverished indigenous in the jungle peripheries of that country. Five years ago, the FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia) showed up in Pedro´s home and gave them three choices: 1) grow coca 2) leave 3) or die… so they left their home in Colombia for Panama. Pedro now resides in Vista Alegre, about 4 hours in dugout canoe up the Tuira River from Yaviza. Ironically, his father and mother live there, too… separately. Pedro has been instrumental in organizing other refugees, utilizing materials from failed government projects to build bathrooms for himself and his neighbors. He is an inspiration and a reminder of who we are here to serve… whoever we can. As for the water system in that community, we were able to inspect it as the flood waters resided, and hopefully we can provide a solution by the dry season. Although I deeply regret the devastation that the flood caused the community (it destroyed much of the plaintain crop amongst other things), it was helpful to see what we are dealing with when it comes to disposing of human waste. It was also helpful to a team of USAID workers who happened to be visiting at the same time. They were there to train the community in flood preparedness and evaluate the community in this regard. Of course, they got a first-hand experience because they had to be evacuated by the community from the flooded public school where they were staying. Here are a few videos of what we saw. I think that is a pit latrine behind where the mother and daughter are wading. I imagine a wave of sickness will follow this latest flood.

Be Well,

alan

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnEVkde2aIs&rel=0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E1jQDSPeqU&rel=0]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArkPaaHpaDE&rel=0]

What Was That!? A hodge podge of short stories by Colleen

the woolly billed toe tickler (I made that up)

It´s Panamá. There are so many species of birds and bugs alone that are new to us here.  Often we can´t identify any of them to anything we have seen in the states.

We recently enjoyed the company of Jamie, Allen and Kristen Bunch from Indiana. The girls were awesome company to me as Alan and Allen went off to the jungle.  Kalea really enjoyed their time too. She would bring them story books and cozy up with them in the hammock… One day, Jamie and Kristen did some work in the garden.  I remember something along the lines of Jamie calmly saying… “Uhh, Colleen….there´s a giant spider in the garden…maybe a tarantula?” … I go down from the house to see what she´s talking about…We decided it was definitely a tarantula. It was big, black, and fuzzy.  In my opinion, pretty.  I´ve never had any prejudices towards spiders before…I always assume they are eating something much more creepy, of which, I prefer not to see…We tried to launch it over the fence with a shovel into the neighbors yard…(ha! Ha! No one lives there)…Minutes later , Jamie says, “Here´s another one”… Yet a few more minutes later… “Is this a crab!?”… I reply, “Oh yes, we have those too!” (River crab…oddly, I´ve never seen them in the river…only under my house!)

***

woolly opossum... no really.

One evening as I went to the back porch to brush my teeth I noticed something crawling on the back railing….actually it was a long tail that first caught my eye, wrapping around the banister…could this be the moment I´ve been truly waiting for…to see a cute spider monkey up close and personal?… No…it´s a…well…what is it? At that point in time, my thought of monkey quickly vanishes as the critter looks at me as if to say… “Oops! You´re not supposed to be here!” …and of course, I immediately return that thought… Somewhat casually, I say, “Alan, there is some weird animal crawling into the house, HURRY!”… We scurry for the broom and Alan manages to send the critter over the side railing and into the dark night with a loud “SPLAT!”… We learned the next morning from a neighbor that our critter is  what they call a fox…really like a cross between a possum and a ferret. It was a good size, roughly 2 feet long. We also later learned that they can usually put up a good fight and have claws!

***

Today as I am writing this, I was on the front porch and went to shut our new front door (Thank you Mr. Allen Bunch!), and I was startled to see something as big as the palm of my hand staring at me…It looked like a crawfish….what on earth? My heart was racing…When Alan returned from work he discovered it to be a species of grasshopper….a giant!

Needless to say, for Christmas, I am asking for screens!

What is that hideous thing!!? Oh. That´s dad.

We´re back in Panama so of course this has nothing to do with football, although it does feel like we’re close to scoring a touchdown of sorts. The red zone in Panamá consists of a large, undefined area stretching from the Colombian border into the mountain ranges of the Darién province. It is red because of the intermittent presence of the FARC (The Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia) leftist guerilla soldiers, known for funding their mission with kidnappings and drug smuggling. They have been active for over 50 years with an estimated armed force of 10,000 soldiers, however, reports indicate that the U.S.-backed Colombian military is thinning the ranks, and in fact, the recognized leader of the group, Alfonso Cano, was killed in a bombing raid this past week. The “red zone” where we work is relatively safe, but it stills requires a pile of paperwork for us to make it through the police checkpoints and into the remote communities. We just finished our first trip to the communities of Sinaí and Canaan (names sound familiar, right?), we being Mennonite

Einer declares that malnutrition is obviously not an issue in this particular community.

the group

Brethren missionaries Einer and Girlesa Zuluaga, the national Wounaan chief Gardenio Mémbora, lawyer for the Wounaan Development Foundation Leonides Kiroz, IEU church leader Ricardo Membache, visitor Allen Bunch from Indiana, and myself. The chief and lawyer had a bit of a political agenda, and our job was to evaluate the communities´ water systems so we can start working on a solution. It was altogether a pleasant and eye-opening trip, except for the blood-sucking daytime flies, and we are very hopeful to have a solution promptly for Sinaí.

Monica the spider monkey (on the right)

Canaan, on the other hand, will take a while longer because they are being forced by presidential mandate to relocate the entire town out of the river´s flood plain. The community´s majority agrees that it is in their best interest, although a few of the elders claim they´ll never leave. They have a long history of dealing with the river, with their houses all elevated 8 ft. on stilts and their dogs deftly climbing up and down the ladders. Here´s a few youtube videos (video quality is high, so you might need to set it lower on your computer) of Sinaí from atop their dry water tank, the river in Sinaí where everyone washes, baths, and… poops, and here is a clip going down the river in a dugout. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA-AtUoXLJg&rel=0] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rdjoXX_L3U&rel=0] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewphhumOeas&rel=0]Sorry it´s been so long since we wrote. We´ll try to do better. Hope everyone is well.

alan

by Colleen

I return toSouth Carolina after living in Panamá for five months. I am now surrounded by language everywhere that I understand. I don’t have to work to listen, and I am pleased to communicate with anyone and everyone, even the simple exchanges in passing with strangers of which I would have previously taken for granted.

visiting with cousins

We returned on a Saturday, and on Sunday we were glad to visit BethelBaptistChurch, the church where Alan grew up, and where now many of his blood relatives attend. At this point the only family I had seen were my parents in-law. I arrive to church a little late (still on that Panamanian time; always late!) and everyone is standing, moving and greeting one another. I want to go see Gran. As I make my way through the crowd I am greeted by so many faces. All are family in Christ. I feel so overcome with joy to see relatives and other familiar faces I have not seen in five months. I think to myself, this must be a bit like heaven. I know it will feel this good…As I’m sitting in church my mind travels as the preacher talks about overcoming difficult times…I have lived in a place where my neighbors are poor. They have dirt floors, they wash their clothes in the river, they have no electricity, at times no running water, and the nearby grandmother is frequently out of money to buy food.

We were blessed with a visit from Todd and Janice, two of our supporters. What a beautiful afternoon on Whiteside Mountain!

I myself have been down to the last $4 and wondered where my next meal would come from. At that point in time God provided through our neighbors. I had just finished telling Alan how tired I was of eating rice and beans, or beans and rice, how wouldn’t it be great if we had tortillas. Not even 5 minutes later, “Grandmother” shows up with tortillas; 5 minutes later another neighbor shows up with bananas; and by dinner time yet another neighbor brings a meal. They didn’t even know we had this need. I sat there laughing each time a neighbor showed up. Laughing that God is so good…so good…I barely had a chance to ask, and a need was met. We still have financial need, but I don’t spend my time worrying. If it is Gods will for us to stay in Panamá, it is through Him that it will happen…

The pastor then begins to talk about God’s purpose for us…While the difficulties I’ve experienced (for me personally mostly lack of comfort) have been challenging, I take comfort that He wants me there, he has prepared me and it’s my purpose.

For now, I take great joys in even the simple things; running water (Hot water! Soap in every bathroom, electricity, butter, and the list goes on!). I now have a new appreciation. I cherish these precious moments with family and know that while my neighbors back in Panamá are poor in many areas, they are rich in so many others. Through their love, I know I have much more to learn.

If you´re happy and you know it... pray and praise!

Howdy. You may have contributed to the construction of the Catrigandí water system, and it´s high time I give an update. Here goes.

Well. We had planned to build a small system for the immediate community. I had tried working with the larger town which includes several “communities,” but it seemed to be in vain, so I gave up and just asked for money to build the small system. Less headache, more water. Then, it seems, God got involved. One thing led to another and here is the current situation.

This tank will require us to construct a concrete base, but everyone was elated that we just managed to get it up on the mountain.

The small system will be constructed just as promised, but rather than being independent, it will be connected to a larger system that will serve not 15 but 123+ homes; the excess will just overflow into the community tank. The tank is a recently donated 20,000 gallon metal tank courtesy of the legislator, reportedly worth $32,000, and already in place. There is a $25,000 proposal circulating through the Ministry of Health at the national level to replace/enlarge all the tubing and connect a couple more springs (please pray for that one), and the governor has given his word to supply anything else needed, so that should have us covered. This seems to be a case of loaves and fishes, and although we didn´t expect to be so busy with what started as a small project, we´re grateful for this opportunity to strengthen our relationships in our community.

We protected the ends of the tubing with a homemade sled. That´s Isnel and little Luris, our closest neighbors, in the foreground.

 Every Monday at about 7:30 a truckload of guys comes in to meet those that have already walked to my house, 20 or more in all. From there, we hike and horseback up into the mountain, each carrying his own tool and hopefully something to pacify his tummy at noon.

Quinto Fria, another neighbor

The path was opend with machetes on the first day, so now it´s just digging, gluing tubing, and covering in back up, 2 feet deep. Why so deep? There´s no frost line. 2 reasons: 1) There is a moisture line. In the summer, the ground can dry and cracks open up big enough for you to stick a foot into. That shrinkage (on the surface) could pull a union apart. 2) “Winter” aka the rainy season. For the sections that run through pasture in particular, a pathway for cattle and horses can turn into a treacherous, deep mudhole. And although we do everything to avoid high traffic areas, some traffic and erosion is unavoidable. It´s a lot of work, but what price can we put on a secure supply of clean water?

If you don´t have plans for Oct. 1^st, come on out to FaithFest in Winder, GA. Give us a holler.

Blessings,

alan

It´s been madness trying to prepare to leave for the US, and we´re so glad to be looking forward to this opportunity to rest and reconnect. We leave in a few hours and will be around until early/mid- October. We´ll be spending time with family and friends, visiting churches, and participating in Faithfest in nearby Winder, GA. At Faithfest, Oct. 1st, we´ll have a booth selling Panamanian indigenous crafts to benefit the people and our work. It should be good music and family fun, too! If you can´t make it to Faithfest but you´re interested in doing some early Christmas shopping or have friend´s birthday coming up, call us at home for a private viewing of some exquisite baskets, carvings, and jewelry. Everything has been entrusted to us by the women´s group in Piriatí, Poá Pono, and PanamaNativeArt, both local groups doing good work for the people. Don´t hesitate to call us at home 864-972-3405… or if you have a local group that would be interested in a showing, we´ll entertain that notion, too. Just give us a call or shoot us an email. We hope to see you and catch up real soon.

Many Blessings to You,

alan

(by Colleen)

begging the question

Okay folks, here´s the scoop. Let´s talk poop! After learning that 2 people had fear of coming to visit us only because of where they thought they would be doing business…it´s time to set the record straight!

We have a composting toilet. (One day it will be a composting latrine, but right now, we poop in a bucket!) Joking aside, it is very clean and believe it or not, no smell! If you were thinking it would stink, then you have a misconception because you´ve been in a nasty pit latrine or port-a-potty.

The difference…with the composting latrine-bucket, you cover your waste with a mix of dry material such as saw dust, dirt, charcoal, etc.  A pit latrine is stagnant and has no dry material, which contributes to the smell, because all of the wet material sits and festers. The former stays aerobic while the latter goes anaerobic.

what a life... sigh

On to the pigs! One day after Alan emptied our composting bucket; I smelled something bad and thought it was our own waste. Alan set me straight and informed me that our compost has little to no smell, that what I must be smelling was pig poop. Unfortunately, our house sits downwind from our neighbors pig pen…and of course the smell always seems to be most noticeable when we are ready to eat! They have 3 pigs in a very small contained area, and if their waste isn´t washed out immediately, the smell lingers. We plan on talking with our neighbors about this problem after this batch of piggies goes to market.

As for our composting waste…I have smelled it, and it smells a bit like sweet hay. So, if you’re ever in our neck of the woods, please stop in and have a seat.

Florencia, our neighbor... tortillas, hand-ground coffee, and this is the only time I´ve seen her not smiling.

“People say that colds are contagious, you know, that one person can pass it on to another… but that´s a bunch of lies,” said the sweetest little old lady that lives next door to us and has made it her personal mission to make sure we never pass a hungry moment. I could hear little Kalea cough and whimper in the background, struggling to get through the second illness of her lifetime… which onset a couple of days after an unannounced visit from the sniffling, snotty, 4 year old daughter of our neighbors.

“Actually, the people are right, sister Florencia. The common cold is caused by one of several viruses, all of which are contagious from one person to another through coughing, sneezing, and contact. I would recommend you not visit… and what is that delicious-smelling concoction that you´ve brought us?!”

“Oh… I´m old enough… that ‘ol cold won´t get me.”

Florencia was sick 48 hours later.

“I guess it´s goin’ around,” she says “… but you see, I didn’t get it `til today… and I didn´t even visit you yesterday.”

I try to explain the incubation period briefly and make mental notes for the curriculum we´re developing.

“How are things going, Angel?”

Angel is a 50+ year old Colombian who owns a farm and the dry goods store. He´s lived in Panama most of his life, has done well, and has a car, block home, and 2 young sons with his second wife.

People seem more likely to get "evil-eyed" when they perform domestic functions downstream from defecating animals.

“Ok I guess.”

This translates as “Not ok. There is something wrong in my life.”

“What´s wrong?”

“Hermít is sick.”

…”We took him to the medical doctor and the witch doctor, and we think he´s been eyed… the evil eye,” he twists his face a little for effect.

This is our neighbor Eustacio. His eye isn´t evil... just a little lazy.

…What am I suppose to say? I decide to keep quiet and listen.

I, for one, believe firmly in the evil eye. I would describe it as the polar opposite of the placebo effect. Hermít has bacteria. He´ll be fortunate if his parents’ beliefs don´t intervene in the healing process.

At Faith and Fruit, we advocate the consumption of fruits and vegetables in almost all circumstances.

“Don´t eat that fruit in front of your brother!” shouts Hermít´s mom. “You know that sick boys can´t have fruit!”

And these are some of the more educated, affluent members of our community. I shudder to think what types of beliefs lurk out there for us to encounter. But we are learning about them day by day and have begun to develop a curriculum aimed at helping folks here understand creation… the micro part.

Some supporters are donating a microscope and we´ll acquire a digital microscope camera and projector through a project we´ve helped organize. Connecting it all to this computer, we´ll be able to show people what the “evil eye” is all about… when it´s not psychosomatic, of course. Be careful out there.

Blessings,

alan