Good morning!
I will do my best to be coherent, but I admit my mind is elsewhere as I await the arrival of my fiancee Sarah here in Panama City this afternoon. After not seeing her for almost six months, I am truly grateful for the chance to have her visit. She is on a plane from Tampa to Miami at the moment. My host family already gave her a Ngabere name, so you'll have to ask her what her new name is!
The past month or so has had its mix of good and bad. A prime example is watching my first Vikings game as they beat Dallas 34-3, only to hear through the phone that they weren't able to make it to the Super Bowl. At least the Twins will sign Joe Mauer, right?
I don't know if you heard it on CNN or not, but Panama has 10 new graduates of English 101. After conducting their oral interviews in English, our group celebrated with chicken, rice, kool-aid, and dominoes (playing dominoes, not eating dominoes).
On a sad note, my cheap Digicel international calling plan ended on January 15th. The price per minute rose from 3 cents to 15 cents, so I apologize in advance for not making as many phone calls. If you want to chat, email me and we can set up a Skype call!
I have been a proud engineer, seeing the people of my community become better engineers by the day. In two communities, we used a surveying device made of PVC, clear plastic tubing, and water to survey the entire acueduct system. Using the data, I can enter the numbers into a computer program to make a nice spiffy map of their system, complete with horizontal distance, vertical distance, flow, and pipe diameter. During the surveying process, they taught me how to communicate to friends far away by yelling at the top of my lungs in different vocal patterns. We also celebrated a long days work by playing baseball. Ground balls are a bit tricky on the uneven terrain.
Our community also organized wood pit latrine workdays. The owner who wants the latrine built would get the materials ready and cook food while the workers would work all day and eat the food. It's great to see everyone working together to make these beautiful works of art called latrines.
A representative from the Ministry of Environmental Health came and visited our site last week. We were able to have a great discussion on Community Organization and Participation and were able to lay out how the Environmental Health Ministry, Peace Corps, and the community can work together to improve environmental health.
A member of our own community working for a government agency put together a workday on organic fertilizer. Everyone came with a big sack full of ash, dried leaves, rice husks, horse manure, and even a fermented corn drink. They were making jokes all day on how they couldn't believe the alcoholic drink was better off in the ground making compost than in their stomachs.
Another current project is writing solicitudes for the latrine and aquaduct projects. We will be soliciting help from the district representative, mayor, and two government agencies. Next up will be putting together material and price lists.
The last highlight was our Comarca Regional Meeting. We got caught up on our different projects and even had time for an organic coffee and wine tour. I highly recommend it!
Ask the audience: Vote for your Top 5 photos from my Picasa albums-the link is located on the right margin above. I'm going to submit photos to make a Peace Corps Panama Photo Calendar. Leave a comment below with
1) The Album Name
2) The row and column of the photo
Thanks for reading! I'm off to spend two awesome weeks with my fiancee! Goodbye!
Kevin
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Third Month on Site
Significance is found in giving your life away, not in selfishly trying to find personal happiness.
-Gary Thomas in A Sacred Marriage
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but the interests of others.
-Paul in Philippians 2:3-4
-Gary Thomas in A Sacred Marriage
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but the interests of others.
-Paul in Philippians 2:3-4
These two quotes sum up what I´ve found to be a major theme in my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer: Humility. I´ve been thinking why I feel so fulfilled during my time here, and one of the conclusions I made is how easy it is for me to give my life away to the people here. While I came down here giving my time and knowledge to the people, I´ve received so much more. Examples include a man gathering food house to house to help my host family feed me, my host dad skipping his work to take care of me when I became sick, or the love I´ve encountered in the countless houses I´ve visited.
In the past few weeks I´ve worked with the three communities cleaning their acueduct lines, making community maps, fixing acueducts, giving latrine presentations, teaching english, and visiting houses.
Highlights of the past couple weeks included
1) Celebrating New Year´s Eve with other volunteers on Bocas Island, visiting a beach and even watching some college football!
2) Hosting representatives from the NGO Waterlines, who helped provide funding for an acueduct in one of my communities. They were able to view the existing project, encourage our efforts to operate and maintain the system in the future, and maintain solid communication with the community.
3) Happy Engineer Day was celebrated on January 7th as I receieved a water level surveying instrument, a model aquaduct system, and a GPS unit. I spent almost the entire day putting the instruments together and becoming familiar with the instruments.
The next month´s plans include watching the Vikings game on Sunday, helping build latrines on Thursday and Friday, going to a Peace Corps Regional Meeting at the end of the month, and seeing my fiancee in February after being apart for six months!
I hope you all have a blessed week and hope you´re all staying warm!
Kevin
In the past few weeks I´ve worked with the three communities cleaning their acueduct lines, making community maps, fixing acueducts, giving latrine presentations, teaching english, and visiting houses.
Highlights of the past couple weeks included
1) Celebrating New Year´s Eve with other volunteers on Bocas Island, visiting a beach and even watching some college football!
2) Hosting representatives from the NGO Waterlines, who helped provide funding for an acueduct in one of my communities. They were able to view the existing project, encourage our efforts to operate and maintain the system in the future, and maintain solid communication with the community.
3) Happy Engineer Day was celebrated on January 7th as I receieved a water level surveying instrument, a model aquaduct system, and a GPS unit. I spent almost the entire day putting the instruments together and becoming familiar with the instruments.
The next month´s plans include watching the Vikings game on Sunday, helping build latrines on Thursday and Friday, going to a Peace Corps Regional Meeting at the end of the month, and seeing my fiancee in February after being apart for six months!
I hope you all have a blessed week and hope you´re all staying warm!
Kevin
Monday, December 28, 2009
A Beach Outing and Christmas Celebrations
Good afternoon and a late Merry Christmas to you all. I hope that you all had a chance to celebrate the birth of our Savior with family and friends. Christmas was more simple for me this year. Although I dearly missed family and friends, it allowed me to meditate on the meaning of Christmas without a lot of the distractions and busyness that the season can sometimes bring.
The past two and a half weeks have been very exciting. Here´s a quick snapshot:
--Made latrine holes and floors for two houses
--Finished the seasonal calendar for one community
--Began work in a different community, havnig a general meeting and then walking up to the springbox
--Hosted the regional leader for a day, when we walked the acueduct line, had lunch, and a small interview to see how I´m adjusting to the Peace Corps lifestyle. She remarked that my spanish has improved--I was surprised she could tell!
--Met with a previous Peace Corps Master´s International student, who returned to Panama and is now married and expecting her first child
--Enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Story drama with my community
The highlight of the past couple weeks was heading to the beach near Remedios with my host family just before Christmas for 2 days. We walked for two hours and then rode on the back of a farm truck to the beach--I felt like I was on the Jurassic Park ride as I was looking at all the animals from the back of the truck.
The next day we hiked to the mangrove forest, where we climbed up and down tree roots to find conch shells hidden beneath the tree roots. After getting thirsty, my host dad climbed up the coconut tree to get fresh cocunuts to drink. Returning to the mangrove forest, we went crab hunting. The process is to blindly stick your hand in a crab hole until either you grab the crab or the crab grabs you.
The day was rounded out by finding iguanas in the trees and then killing them with a rock flung by a slingshot. My host father missed the first one, but got the next four on his first shot. In case you were wondering, the meat tastes surprisingly like chicken.
Highlights for the next month include celebrating New Years, visiting with my environmental Health Director, and awaiting the arrival of my fiancee in February.
I wish you all a new year full of family, health, hope and new beginnings!
Kevin
The past two and a half weeks have been very exciting. Here´s a quick snapshot:
--Made latrine holes and floors for two houses
--Finished the seasonal calendar for one community
--Began work in a different community, havnig a general meeting and then walking up to the springbox
--Hosted the regional leader for a day, when we walked the acueduct line, had lunch, and a small interview to see how I´m adjusting to the Peace Corps lifestyle. She remarked that my spanish has improved--I was surprised she could tell!
--Met with a previous Peace Corps Master´s International student, who returned to Panama and is now married and expecting her first child
--Enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Story drama with my community
The highlight of the past couple weeks was heading to the beach near Remedios with my host family just before Christmas for 2 days. We walked for two hours and then rode on the back of a farm truck to the beach--I felt like I was on the Jurassic Park ride as I was looking at all the animals from the back of the truck.
The next day we hiked to the mangrove forest, where we climbed up and down tree roots to find conch shells hidden beneath the tree roots. After getting thirsty, my host dad climbed up the coconut tree to get fresh cocunuts to drink. Returning to the mangrove forest, we went crab hunting. The process is to blindly stick your hand in a crab hole until either you grab the crab or the crab grabs you.
The day was rounded out by finding iguanas in the trees and then killing them with a rock flung by a slingshot. My host father missed the first one, but got the next four on his first shot. In case you were wondering, the meat tastes surprisingly like chicken.
Highlights for the next month include celebrating New Years, visiting with my environmental Health Director, and awaiting the arrival of my fiancee in February.
I wish you all a new year full of family, health, hope and new beginnings!
- 1 Peter 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Kevin
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Second Month on Site
Good evening!
I hope this entry finds everyone well and in good spirits. It´s hard to belive Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is on its way. I´ve missed entirely the changing colors of the leaves, the family Thanksgiving dinner in Wausau, and the arrival of snow on the ground and christmas songs on the air. I´ll have to celebrate the season with you all via internet this year!
Since I wrote to you all last, I´ve spent a few more weeks working on site and also managed to attend a Thanksgiving celebration, both of which I´ll detail through words below and through pictures on the right margin.
1. Life on Site
Here are some tidbits that may give you a better idea of what I´ve been up to in my site lately.
Community Activities
House visits--drew maps of current water taps and latrines
English class--I´m teaching a class of about 20 students of mixed ages once a week. Topics this week included contractions, what is this?, and the numbers 1-10.
Church--I´ve attended church Saturdays between 9 and 12 in the morning. They´ve even asked me to help lead bible study and sing in a quartet!
Community Analysis--I´ve helped lead activities like gathering census data, writing down their community history and stories, community maps, and daily schedules.
Work days--I helped clean the cemetery before their Memorial Day and also helped clean the acueduct line with my good ole machete. They´ve told me that nothing is safe when a machete is in my hands, as I accidently chiopped down a neighbor´s bean plant.
Settlers of Catan--You read this right. I taught my counterpart how to play, so next is getting a full group of 4 to play.
Dominoes--My community gathers at my host family´s house to play dominoes a couple times a week. They better look out--I´m beginning to catch on to the strategies.
Phone Calls
Sarah--We´ve been able to talk through a bible study chapter and a Sacred Marriage chapter every week. Phone calls to her are definitely a highlight of my day :)
Family--It was sad not to be with them on Thanksgiving, but I look forward to their visit next year. Emily comes back in less than a week, so at least they´ll have one more kid back in the house for Christmas!
Jon--We chatted over Skype--Panama to Uganda! I´m envious of his household internet connection.
Nate--Chatting with him brought back fond memories of late night conversations in Chadbourne 811 sophomore year.
Marcia--It was nice to chat with Marcia and remember Peter Bosscher together. Conversations at the Bosscher household are a big reason why I´m writing this blog post from Panama today.
Grandma Lorraine--She said, ¨Your voice is so clear it seems like you´re next door!¨I miss chatting with my grandma on a weekly basis!
Daily Study Material
David C. Cook Bible Lesson Commentary
Un Pueblo en Marcha: A Study of the Book of Numbers (Bible)
Ngabere Indiginous Language Training
ArcGIS Computer Program Training
Books I´ve Read Recently
Participatory Analysis for Community Action, Peace Corps
Classroom Management Idea Book, Peace Corps
A Handbook of Gravity Flow Water Systems, Thomas D. Jordan
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, Yann Martel
The Tailor of Panama, John LeCarre
Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas
up next: The White Man´s Burden, William Easterly
2. Thanksgiving
A group of veteran Peace Corps volunteers organized a group get-together for Thanksgiving in Cerro Punta, in the western mountains of Panama, north of David by about 2 hours. The air was fresh and cool--I finally got to use my treasured hooded sweatshirt. Strawberries, coffee, and stories were in abundance.
I was able to catch up with quite a few other volunteers about their first months on site and was comforted to know that our stories of adjusting to a new lifestyle, stomach pains included, were common to us all. I managed to fit in 3 games of Settlers of Catan in during the two day trip, somehow winning all 3.
After a morning hike and a reward of strawberries and whipped cream, the Thanksgiving dinner finally arrived at 4pm. There was much rejoicing. Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, the meal included turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, bread, butter, apple crisp, pumpkin pie, and more. I won´t say how much I ate, but if I was counting calories, it may have passed the 5000 mark. After eating rice three times a day for a month, I was definitely very thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal among my Peace Corps family.
Things I´m Thankful For
An all-powerful God, who has done and will do more than I can ask or imagine
A wonderful, loving fiance
A caring, supportive family
Good health and sufficient food on site
Friends and family spread across the US
The ability to serve God through the Peace Corps
A great host family and training experience this past August through October
The ability to maintain contact to loved ones through cell phones, blogs, and pictures
A welcoming, eager group of people to work with on site for the next two years
A fellow Christian to study the Bible with during training
The ability to serve in the Peace Corps and get a Master´s degree, all the while enjoying the experience
A church to go to and Christians to support me on a daily basis
The ability to explore God´s creation here in Panama, the sunsets over the Pacific, the fresh taste of strawberries, the birds soaring overhead, the true joy and laughter of people living in material poverty
YOU, for supporting me in my journey
Luke 1:46-57 says
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant...
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down the rulers from their thrones, but he has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things, but he has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
To Abraham and his descendents forever, just as he promised our ancestors.
Blessings to you this holiday season,
Kevin
I hope this entry finds everyone well and in good spirits. It´s hard to belive Thanksgiving has passed and Christmas is on its way. I´ve missed entirely the changing colors of the leaves, the family Thanksgiving dinner in Wausau, and the arrival of snow on the ground and christmas songs on the air. I´ll have to celebrate the season with you all via internet this year!
Since I wrote to you all last, I´ve spent a few more weeks working on site and also managed to attend a Thanksgiving celebration, both of which I´ll detail through words below and through pictures on the right margin.
1. Life on Site
Here are some tidbits that may give you a better idea of what I´ve been up to in my site lately.
Community Activities
House visits--drew maps of current water taps and latrines
English class--I´m teaching a class of about 20 students of mixed ages once a week. Topics this week included contractions, what is this?, and the numbers 1-10.
Church--I´ve attended church Saturdays between 9 and 12 in the morning. They´ve even asked me to help lead bible study and sing in a quartet!
Community Analysis--I´ve helped lead activities like gathering census data, writing down their community history and stories, community maps, and daily schedules.
Work days--I helped clean the cemetery before their Memorial Day and also helped clean the acueduct line with my good ole machete. They´ve told me that nothing is safe when a machete is in my hands, as I accidently chiopped down a neighbor´s bean plant.
Settlers of Catan--You read this right. I taught my counterpart how to play, so next is getting a full group of 4 to play.
Dominoes--My community gathers at my host family´s house to play dominoes a couple times a week. They better look out--I´m beginning to catch on to the strategies.
Phone Calls
Sarah--We´ve been able to talk through a bible study chapter and a Sacred Marriage chapter every week. Phone calls to her are definitely a highlight of my day :)
Family--It was sad not to be with them on Thanksgiving, but I look forward to their visit next year. Emily comes back in less than a week, so at least they´ll have one more kid back in the house for Christmas!
Jon--We chatted over Skype--Panama to Uganda! I´m envious of his household internet connection.
Nate--Chatting with him brought back fond memories of late night conversations in Chadbourne 811 sophomore year.
Marcia--It was nice to chat with Marcia and remember Peter Bosscher together. Conversations at the Bosscher household are a big reason why I´m writing this blog post from Panama today.
Grandma Lorraine--She said, ¨Your voice is so clear it seems like you´re next door!¨I miss chatting with my grandma on a weekly basis!
Daily Study Material
David C. Cook Bible Lesson Commentary
Un Pueblo en Marcha: A Study of the Book of Numbers (Bible)
Ngabere Indiginous Language Training
ArcGIS Computer Program Training
Books I´ve Read Recently
Participatory Analysis for Community Action, Peace Corps
Classroom Management Idea Book, Peace Corps
A Handbook of Gravity Flow Water Systems, Thomas D. Jordan
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, Yann Martel
The Tailor of Panama, John LeCarre
Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas
up next: The White Man´s Burden, William Easterly
2. Thanksgiving
A group of veteran Peace Corps volunteers organized a group get-together for Thanksgiving in Cerro Punta, in the western mountains of Panama, north of David by about 2 hours. The air was fresh and cool--I finally got to use my treasured hooded sweatshirt. Strawberries, coffee, and stories were in abundance.
I was able to catch up with quite a few other volunteers about their first months on site and was comforted to know that our stories of adjusting to a new lifestyle, stomach pains included, were common to us all. I managed to fit in 3 games of Settlers of Catan in during the two day trip, somehow winning all 3.
After a morning hike and a reward of strawberries and whipped cream, the Thanksgiving dinner finally arrived at 4pm. There was much rejoicing. Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, the meal included turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, bread, butter, apple crisp, pumpkin pie, and more. I won´t say how much I ate, but if I was counting calories, it may have passed the 5000 mark. After eating rice three times a day for a month, I was definitely very thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal among my Peace Corps family.
Things I´m Thankful For
An all-powerful God, who has done and will do more than I can ask or imagine
A wonderful, loving fiance
A caring, supportive family
Good health and sufficient food on site
Friends and family spread across the US
The ability to serve God through the Peace Corps
A great host family and training experience this past August through October
The ability to maintain contact to loved ones through cell phones, blogs, and pictures
A welcoming, eager group of people to work with on site for the next two years
A fellow Christian to study the Bible with during training
The ability to serve in the Peace Corps and get a Master´s degree, all the while enjoying the experience
A church to go to and Christians to support me on a daily basis
The ability to explore God´s creation here in Panama, the sunsets over the Pacific, the fresh taste of strawberries, the birds soaring overhead, the true joy and laughter of people living in material poverty
YOU, for supporting me in my journey
Luke 1:46-57 says
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my savior
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant...
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down the rulers from their thrones, but he has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things, but he has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
To Abraham and his descendents forever, just as he promised our ancestors.
Blessings to you this holiday season,
Kevin
Thursday, November 19, 2009
1st Month on Site
Hello!
I apologize for the long delay in blog posts. I´ve added some photos and captions to Picasa, which can be accessed here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/FirstMonthOnSite?feat=directlink
I´ve really enjoyed my time on site thus far. My community is situated within biking distance of the beach and is up in the hills a bit, so I can call back to my wonderful fiance and have a wonderful view at the same time! My house is without electricity, but has a water tap, pit latrine, and a bucket shower. The people here speak Spanish and the indiginous language Ngabere, so I´m working on two languages during my time here. They´ve even given me a Ngabere name: Idoli Gudubu (Idoli from Gudubu, the community name in Ngabere).
A normal day for me is waking up around 6:30am, showering, praying, reading the bible, having breakfast, and studying Ngabere. I´ve been attending the church and they gave me a spanish bible and daily reading material, which has been helpful to keep studying the bible and to expand my spanish vocabulary!
The days are spent between three communities, where I have been walking around visiting the families and talking to them about latrines, acueducts, and teaching them some english words. I´ve met with the communities to draw some community maps, which helps me understand how they see their own community and helps me find my way around as well. I am currently in the process of writing down their census data, history, stories past down from the older generations, daily activity schedules, and yearly schedules. I´m also giving some presentations on latrine use, how to address acueduct problems, and will be giving my first english class this upcoming weekend--should be exciting!
The evenings are usually spent having dinner with my host family and then playing dominoes, talking, calling my beautiful fiance, or reading a book. I´m in bed most nights by around 10pm or so--that´s late!
I really appreciate the kind messages of support, so keep them coming! Thanks for keeping in touch!
Kevin
I apologize for the long delay in blog posts. I´ve added some photos and captions to Picasa, which can be accessed here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/FirstMonthOnSite?feat=directlink
I´ve really enjoyed my time on site thus far. My community is situated within biking distance of the beach and is up in the hills a bit, so I can call back to my wonderful fiance and have a wonderful view at the same time! My house is without electricity, but has a water tap, pit latrine, and a bucket shower. The people here speak Spanish and the indiginous language Ngabere, so I´m working on two languages during my time here. They´ve even given me a Ngabere name: Idoli Gudubu (Idoli from Gudubu, the community name in Ngabere).
A normal day for me is waking up around 6:30am, showering, praying, reading the bible, having breakfast, and studying Ngabere. I´ve been attending the church and they gave me a spanish bible and daily reading material, which has been helpful to keep studying the bible and to expand my spanish vocabulary!
The days are spent between three communities, where I have been walking around visiting the families and talking to them about latrines, acueducts, and teaching them some english words. I´ve met with the communities to draw some community maps, which helps me understand how they see their own community and helps me find my way around as well. I am currently in the process of writing down their census data, history, stories past down from the older generations, daily activity schedules, and yearly schedules. I´m also giving some presentations on latrine use, how to address acueduct problems, and will be giving my first english class this upcoming weekend--should be exciting!
The evenings are usually spent having dinner with my host family and then playing dominoes, talking, calling my beautiful fiance, or reading a book. I´m in bed most nights by around 10pm or so--that´s late!
I really appreciate the kind messages of support, so keep them coming! Thanks for keeping in touch!
Kevin
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Week 10: Swear-In today!
Hello!
I am in the last week of training here in Panama City. Everyone in our group of 36 volunteers has stuck it out through training and is set to swear-in this afternoon. We will be presented to various ministries here in Panama during a ceremony with the US Ambassador. There are some rumors about some special guests from the Panamanian government as well.
I thought it would be a good idea to give you a glimpse at what the next few months will have in store for me. The first few months are geared towards integrating and understanding the community, thus you won't see too much in the way of building physical things. The work done now in knowing and understanding the community will be very beneficial later as we start more construction-related things.
1. Peace Corps Volunteer Swear-In: October 22
2. Settle in to site: October 25
---Basic needs
---Observation, journaling, listening, appreciative inquiry
3. Community Introduction--Proyecto Amistad (Project Friendship)
---Environmental Health Project Presentation
---Initial Needs Assessment
4. Community Mapping with guides and counterparts
5. House visits and informal presentations
6. Group-based informal presentations
7. Regional Governmental Organization (GO) and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) introductions with Peace Corps Regional Leader
8. Community Analysis with guide and community partners
9. Finish Peace Corps Volunteer housing arrangements
10. Regional Leader Visit: November-December 2009
11. Associate Peace Corps Director Visit
---Work plan visioning
---Project Management and Leadership
---Technical follow-up
12. Regional Meeting: End of January
It is hard to believe all the information I've learned and the places I've seen in the past two months. I'm sure there will be plenty more adventures to be had in the next couple years. I'm excited to get settled and slow the pace down a little bit. I'm still working on getting enough calories in my diet.
From here on out, my posts will be about the experiences with my community, so I anticipate talking less about extensive lists of events and more about growth and experiences in my community, but we'll see.
In my comments section, feel free to write suggestions for what you would like to know more about of my Peace Corps experience. It is sometimes hard to recall what things you would most enjoy reading.
Until next time,
Kevin
P.S. I've added captions to all the photos in my two photo albums. The links are below.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October12?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October122?feat=directlink
I am in the last week of training here in Panama City. Everyone in our group of 36 volunteers has stuck it out through training and is set to swear-in this afternoon. We will be presented to various ministries here in Panama during a ceremony with the US Ambassador. There are some rumors about some special guests from the Panamanian government as well.
I thought it would be a good idea to give you a glimpse at what the next few months will have in store for me. The first few months are geared towards integrating and understanding the community, thus you won't see too much in the way of building physical things. The work done now in knowing and understanding the community will be very beneficial later as we start more construction-related things.
1. Peace Corps Volunteer Swear-In: October 22
2. Settle in to site: October 25
---Basic needs
---Observation, journaling, listening, appreciative inquiry
3. Community Introduction--Proyecto Amistad (Project Friendship)
---Environmental Health Project Presentation
---Initial Needs Assessment
4. Community Mapping with guides and counterparts
5. House visits and informal presentations
6. Group-based informal presentations
7. Regional Governmental Organization (GO) and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) introductions with Peace Corps Regional Leader
8. Community Analysis with guide and community partners
9. Finish Peace Corps Volunteer housing arrangements
10. Regional Leader Visit: November-December 2009
11. Associate Peace Corps Director Visit
---Work plan visioning
---Project Management and Leadership
---Technical follow-up
12. Regional Meeting: End of January
It is hard to believe all the information I've learned and the places I've seen in the past two months. I'm sure there will be plenty more adventures to be had in the next couple years. I'm excited to get settled and slow the pace down a little bit. I'm still working on getting enough calories in my diet.
From here on out, my posts will be about the experiences with my community, so I anticipate talking less about extensive lists of events and more about growth and experiences in my community, but we'll see.
In my comments section, feel free to write suggestions for what you would like to know more about of my Peace Corps experience. It is sometimes hard to recall what things you would most enjoy reading.
Until next time,
Kevin
P.S. I've added captions to all the photos in my two photo albums. The links are below.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October12?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October122?feat=directlink
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Weeks 6-8 of Training
Hello!
I apologize for my lack of posting the last few weeks. Training is quite busy and the time to post seems to get less and less.
Firstly, I´ve posted some photos on Picasa. The links are below. I´ll be adding captions in the future. I´m still trying to figure out how to rotate the photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October12?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October122?feat=directlink
Secondly, I´ve received my new post office address.
Cuerpo de Paz
Entrega General
San Felix, Chiriqui
Republica de Panama
During week 6, our group of Environmental Health volunteers went to a city in the far west of Panama near David for our technical week. We got to build two pit latrines and two composting latrines that will be used by the students in the school. We also got the chance to build some rainwater catchment systems.
Week 7 was probably my favorite week so far. We had a married couple come in to teach us about acueducts using a teaching tool called the ¨macueduct¨. Using household items like a 5 gallon bucket and clear tube they were able to display the theory behind how the acueducts work and what the air and water does in different situations. I´m considering expanding this teaching tool during my service here.
Week 8 we got to visit our sites where we´ll be for the next two years. Lugging all my stuff to the site was a challenge as I acquired quite a few books and educational material during my training. I met my guide Roman at the site preparation conference and talked about our expectations for each other and the community and how the next 5 days of the site visit would progress.
Arriving around 1030 last Tuesday night, we found all taxis up to my site done for the evening and everyone in bed and not answering their phones. Walking behind the closed store, we knocked on the door of the owner´s house and she allowed us to sleep on her porch for the night. We had some companions that night--two roosters who serenaded us beginning at 3am in the morning. The next day I found out that inside the house where we slept was a previous Peace Corps Master´s International volunteer who returned to Panama after her service. I had even watched her defend her thesis--what a surprise!
The next few days I was able to visit the three communities that I will be working with the next two years. There will be a variety of capacity building in the area of latrines, acueducts, and committee development. There will be plenty of work in building, improving, and maintaing acueducts as well as building composting latrines. They also mentioned that their bridge of cables and rotting bamboo could use some improvments as well.
Other highlights included attending the church service over the weekend (all 3 hours of it!), meeting kids at the school, and checking out the house where I´ll live the next two years. Pictures of my house are included in the Picasa link above.
The plan is to Swear-In next Thursday as an official Peace Corps volunteer. The presentation will be at the US Ambassador´s house.
Hopefully I´ll be able to update the blog a little more regularly and add some captions to the pictures as well. If any of you have any questions about my experience here or are possibly interested in coming to visit, please let me know! I would be glad to help share my stories and experiences.
Love you all!
Kevin
I apologize for my lack of posting the last few weeks. Training is quite busy and the time to post seems to get less and less.
Firstly, I´ve posted some photos on Picasa. The links are below. I´ll be adding captions in the future. I´m still trying to figure out how to rotate the photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October12?feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/Kevin.D.Orner/PanamaPhotosAugust12October122?feat=directlink
Secondly, I´ve received my new post office address.
Cuerpo de Paz
Entrega General
San Felix, Chiriqui
Republica de Panama
During week 6, our group of Environmental Health volunteers went to a city in the far west of Panama near David for our technical week. We got to build two pit latrines and two composting latrines that will be used by the students in the school. We also got the chance to build some rainwater catchment systems.
Week 7 was probably my favorite week so far. We had a married couple come in to teach us about acueducts using a teaching tool called the ¨macueduct¨. Using household items like a 5 gallon bucket and clear tube they were able to display the theory behind how the acueducts work and what the air and water does in different situations. I´m considering expanding this teaching tool during my service here.
Week 8 we got to visit our sites where we´ll be for the next two years. Lugging all my stuff to the site was a challenge as I acquired quite a few books and educational material during my training. I met my guide Roman at the site preparation conference and talked about our expectations for each other and the community and how the next 5 days of the site visit would progress.
Arriving around 1030 last Tuesday night, we found all taxis up to my site done for the evening and everyone in bed and not answering their phones. Walking behind the closed store, we knocked on the door of the owner´s house and she allowed us to sleep on her porch for the night. We had some companions that night--two roosters who serenaded us beginning at 3am in the morning. The next day I found out that inside the house where we slept was a previous Peace Corps Master´s International volunteer who returned to Panama after her service. I had even watched her defend her thesis--what a surprise!
The next few days I was able to visit the three communities that I will be working with the next two years. There will be a variety of capacity building in the area of latrines, acueducts, and committee development. There will be plenty of work in building, improving, and maintaing acueducts as well as building composting latrines. They also mentioned that their bridge of cables and rotting bamboo could use some improvments as well.
Other highlights included attending the church service over the weekend (all 3 hours of it!), meeting kids at the school, and checking out the house where I´ll live the next two years. Pictures of my house are included in the Picasa link above.
The plan is to Swear-In next Thursday as an official Peace Corps volunteer. The presentation will be at the US Ambassador´s house.
Hopefully I´ll be able to update the blog a little more regularly and add some captions to the pictures as well. If any of you have any questions about my experience here or are possibly interested in coming to visit, please let me know! I would be glad to help share my stories and experiences.
Love you all!
Kevin
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