Jorge, my neighbor/Naso teacher, told my dripping wet sister upon her arrival to my community that according to the Naso legend visitors to the pueblo Naso are welcomed and sent off by the rain. True to form, her visit coincided with three days of rain. The rain clouds’ generosity towards my sister was matched only with that of my community. Despite the recent hardships, Tammy was showered in delicious food offerings: palm heart, baby bananas, cacao, softball size mandarin oranges, and freshly peeled rice, and she left bedazzled in jewelry adorned with a peccary’s tooth, seeds, and a turtle carved from a palm seed. She was trooper; her ankles became worn raw from the rubber boots and she became exhausted to the point sickness from battling with super-suction-ous mud in the rain. And I was uber excited to share my peace corps community and life with my sister, which is why I probably failed to notice that I made her sick in my efforts to show her everything. Sigh.
After bidding goodbye to Tammy, I raced back to Bocas to be trained as a facilitator of cacao farmers’ groups. The two week seminar was coordinated by the World Cacao Foundation, the local cacao cooperative COCABO, and the ministry of agriculture MIDA. In addition to being coached and led through example in facilitation skills, we were trained in cacao pruning, grafting, integrated pest management, tree nurseries, and post-harvest processing. The training is part of the Proyecto Cacao Centroamérica, an initiative to boost cacao production in Central America. I am lucky to have been involved in the project and currently am forming a cacao farmers’ group which I will co-facilitate in my community. If I can ever get back...
Despite this month marking the beginning of the “dry” season, rain keeps falling on Bocas. Landslides last Wednesday along the highway from David to Changuinola forced the closing of the highway for the forth time since late November. Consequently, I was stranded with my community counterpart in David late last week as we attempted to return to our homes after a PC conference near Panama City. We passed when the road temporarily reopened on Friday morning, but it remains in very bad shape (see picture below). Although I am back into the province, high rivers and flooding have kept me from returning to my community. Yesterday the volunteer closest to my site was evacuated from his community via news helicopter, and I remain in Changuinola waiting for the rain to stop.
The ministry of agriculture recently sent aid to my community in response to the damage assessment surveys I submitted for the community in December. Each family in the community received ten pounds of rice seeds, a hybrid that can be harvested in only 3 months. I was hoping for bean seeds as well, but it was still a greater response than expected.
On a personal note, my health is back to good! No parasites and no mosquito born diseases! Just the normal residual fungi that have colonized my apparently delicate leg skin. The wife of my community promoter has urged me to kill the squatters with battery acid. Normally I will give rural remedies a try, but not this time.
After bidding goodbye to Tammy, I raced back to Bocas to be trained as a facilitator of cacao farmers’ groups. The two week seminar was coordinated by the World Cacao Foundation, the local cacao cooperative COCABO, and the ministry of agriculture MIDA. In addition to being coached and led through example in facilitation skills, we were trained in cacao pruning, grafting, integrated pest management, tree nurseries, and post-harvest processing. The training is part of the Proyecto Cacao Centroamérica, an initiative to boost cacao production in Central America. I am lucky to have been involved in the project and currently am forming a cacao farmers’ group which I will co-facilitate in my community. If I can ever get back...
Despite this month marking the beginning of the “dry” season, rain keeps falling on Bocas. Landslides last Wednesday along the highway from David to Changuinola forced the closing of the highway for the forth time since late November. Consequently, I was stranded with my community counterpart in David late last week as we attempted to return to our homes after a PC conference near Panama City. We passed when the road temporarily reopened on Friday morning, but it remains in very bad shape (see picture below). Although I am back into the province, high rivers and flooding have kept me from returning to my community. Yesterday the volunteer closest to my site was evacuated from his community via news helicopter, and I remain in Changuinola waiting for the rain to stop.
The ministry of agriculture recently sent aid to my community in response to the damage assessment surveys I submitted for the community in December. Each family in the community received ten pounds of rice seeds, a hybrid that can be harvested in only 3 months. I was hoping for bean seeds as well, but it was still a greater response than expected.
On a personal note, my health is back to good! No parasites and no mosquito born diseases! Just the normal residual fungi that have colonized my apparently delicate leg skin. The wife of my community promoter has urged me to kill the squatters with battery acid. Normally I will give rural remedies a try, but not this time.
Tammy crossing a bridge
Tammy getting some help walking
Me, attacking a broken open cacao pod. the seeds are covered is a delicious white slime. trust me, it is really exciting
Tammy with Naso king ValentÃn and his wife Ausencia
English class
My host family and some silly gringa
A dredging ship going through the canal at Miraflores Locks
El Chorillo, Panama City
Cute ice cream shop in Casco Viejo... looked too expensive to go in though
Cacao seminar: cleaning seeds with sawdust for germination
Grafted cacao seedlings
Cacao seminar: my groups mini cacao solar dryer
Super sketchy section of road/apparent waterfall that we crossed
The swollen Changuinola River 
