Panama

Community Description
Lake Bayano is a man-made lake in Panama Este, created in 1979 to supply water power to a hydroelectric plant that supplies Panama City and the surrounding provinces with electricity.

The great majority of the land surrounding Bayano was reserved to relocate the native American settlements that had to be flooded to create the lake. The lake has become the natural habitat of hundreds of bird and animal species, including some that are found in very few locations in the world.

Lake Bayano now provides a major source of income for its native American residents who harvest tilapia fish for sale locally and to foreign markets.

Pueblo Nuevo de Bayano, located on the Southern Shore of Lake Bayano, is a tiny rural community of 180 fisherman and their families. The primary revenue-generating activities in this isolated community are fishing, agriculture, and more recently tourism.

A large rustic natural cave is located alongside the community. Adventure travelers are beginning to find out about these caves and come in small numbers. Tourism is the new focus in the community to stimulate the town's tiny economy.

A small primary school (32 students, 2 teachers) is located in Pueblo Nuevo. Other than that there are no social services (medical, government agencies, NGOs, or shopping) available due to the isolation of this community.

There is no electricity. Water is supplied by a decaying community aqueduct that has leaking and broken tubing.

There are currently no bathroom facilities for tourists to use when visiting the community attractions. Also, one family of 5 has no toilet facilities, and currently uses the lake.

Project Description
This project is to replace old and decaying tubing in the community's aqueduct system.

In addition, two latrines will be built. The first will be for arriving tourists. The second will be for the family currently without facilities.

Project funds will be used to cover the costs of materials, supplies, fuel and transportation. Labor will be provided by the community.

Project Impact
All 180 members of the community will directly benefit from this project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Donald DeAngelis

Comments
This project provides a consistent source of water to the community. It also improves hygiene and sanitation, reducing illness. Finally, it impacts on the financial viability of the village by creating and maintaining jobs and businesses.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$100.00

ADOPT THIS PROJECT BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT NEEDED BELOW

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you "naming rights", if that is something you would like.

Any contributions in excess of the Dollar Amount of Project will be allocated to other projects directed by this PCV and/or projects of other PCVs in this country.

Dollar Amount Needed
$400.00

Community Description
Isla Escudo de Veraguas is an island belonging to the province of Bocas del Toro in the Western side of Panama. It is a 3-hour boat ride from the nearest port town, and boasts some of the most beautiful and undeveloped beaches in the country.

The island, which is over 1,000 acres in size, is home to about ten people year round and another thirty people live there a couple months each year during peak fishing months. The island is completely untouched beyond a few small wooden huts that are spread out along small sections of the coastline.

There is one Latino family there, but the majority of the inhabitants are indigenous people from the local Ngöbe-Buglé tribe. All of these inhabitants have very limited resources and this project will help them fulfill a long desired, but unattainable community need.

There are no sanitation facilities on the island, and currently the inhabitants use the woods or the water surrounding the island to relieve themselves. They lack the financial capability to undertake the construction of latrine of the appropriate technology on their own.

Project Description
This project is to build the first latrine on the island. Of necessity, it will be a composting latrine, in order to keep all solid waste contained and above the water level.

The latrine will be centrally located for the community members. It will be constructed using the island’s sand to mix the cement base, felled wood to construct the walls, and natural palm fronds to serve as the roof.

Project Impact
Over 40 people will directly benefit from the construction of this composting latrine.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Michael Smith

Comments
Although the number of people served is relatively small, it is a project that serves an important need for the island. The latrine represents the best sanitary option for the community, considering the surrounding environment, and is sustainable into the future.

Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00

Donations Collected to Date
$500.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has now been fully funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Michael Smith of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Michael and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Panama.

Community Description
Milla 7 ½ is located 7-8 miles outside of Changuinola, the largest town in the Province of Bocas Del Toro, along a road that runs from Changuinola to Almirante. The town is on the edge of a Humeda San Sak Park, a national park consisting of mangrove forests which extend to the ocean two miles away.

In the past there was a train owned by Chiquita Banana that ran by the town, which is secured its name from the mile marker on the tracks.

The community is composed of 300 Ngobe Indians. The people are very poor and most of them raise cattle for income, or just simply live off the land around them, harvesting chocolate three times a year.

All of the houses are built from wood that has been harvested in the surrounding area, with roofs of either penca (palm fronds) or zinc. Houses typically measure 16 ft x18 ft, and contain from 5-13 people.

There is a high incidence of disease, with worms, giardia and amoebas commonly found.

A future project in the community will be the construction of an aqueduct for the town center. However, there remain 3 families located on the main road that are too far from the water source, who will not be able to be served with that project.

Project Description
This project is to build 3 rainwater catchment and storage systems to provide clean water for the unserved households.

Rainwater is consistent and plentiful, so this is a logical solution to provide water for this remote group.

Two 200 gallon tanks and one 100 gallon tank will be purchased. Wooden tank stands will be built to elevate the tanks, and the proper piping will be installed

Health and hygiene education, as well as training on the use and maintenance of the tanks, will be included as part of the project.

The town members will do the work and provide the wood for the stands.

Project Impact
This project will provide clean water for 22 people.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Myles Shuler

Comments
The project will improve the health and wellbeing of a segment of the population that is difficult to serve because of its location. The families are in a precarious situation, living at subsistence level, and unable to provide for their own needs without the assistance of the funding made available by this project.

Dollar Amount of Project
$495.07

Donations Collected to Date
$495.07

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has been fully funded, through the generosity of Hope You Like It, "In Honor of Faith, Hope, and Love."

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Myles Shuler of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Myles and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Panama.

Community Description
Quebrada Banano is a rural indigenous village of about 225 situated in the rolling hills between the Changuinola-Almirante highway and the old banana company railroad. Nearly all the residents are subsistence farmers, selling cacao for cash and growing plantains, peach palm and tubers for their own consumption. All of the residents live below the poverty line.

The houses are spaced far apart, which has posed logistical problems for the construction of an aqueduct. Half of the community receives water from an aqueduct constructed in 2006 by the Ministry of Health. However, the rest of the community lies beyond the reach of the MINSA aqueduct.

In 2008, PCV Nico Armstrong took over the aqueduct project initiated by PCV Julie Majkrzak, and, along with the community, buried 1.5 miles of tubing, reinforced the spring box with concrete, and installed a 600 gallon tank.

However, the project did not have enough funds to purchase the last 100 tubes necessary to reach the community. Currently the aqueduct provides water to only one household.

The main community counterparts are the members of the water committee and the regidor. Of the six water committee members, 2 women and 4 men, 5 regularly attended a twelve week seminar on water resource management, organized and directed by PCV Majkrzak, who previously resided in Quebrada Banano. The course included components of aqueduct repair, accountability and transparency in managing water committee funds, leadership and dynamic icebreakers, and how to sanitize contaminated water.

The committee has put some of the theory into practice since then. The water committee currently charges $1 monthly to every household that uses the water, including the one house that is currently connected to the incomplete aqueduct.

In December of 2008, the community demonstrated their commitment to maintaining their aqueduct by repairing extensive damages caused by severe flooding and landslides during that month.

The water project is a community priority mainly for health reasons. Half of the community's residents who do not receive water from the Ministry of Health aqueduct either drink from contaminated streams or send their children on a long trek to fill buckets from the MINSA aqueduct tap.

Project Description
This project is a continuation of another project that failed to meet its goals because of a lack of necessary funds. Currently, only 100 tubes separate the water tank from the community below. However, the community does not have the resources to purchase the lacking materials.

The project funds will be used to buy pipe and faucets. In addition, cement will be purchased to shore up the spring box against landslides. Also, barbed wire will be purchased to make "bridges" to support the tubing where a stream is crossed, and to create a protected area for reforestation.

All of the materials will be purchased in one purchase at Materiales Franklin in Changuinola. Materiales Franklin will provide free transport, and the community beneficiaries will carry the materials down from the main road.

The burying of the pipeline will take 4 working days, to be accomplished in two weeks. The men (anywhere between 7 and 11 at a time) will place and bury the pipes and build the bridges. The women will cook food for the workers.

This project will be accompanied by a workshop hosted by the PCVs Nico Armstrong and Myles Shuler on how to build a nursery and care for tree saplings. The beneficiaries will sign a form committing each household to plant 10 trees and make a small nursery.

This project will be followed up by the construction of a fence around the water shed and the planting of 90 trees, 10 for each family, harvested from local seeds and prepared in household nurseries.

Project Impact
This project will provide clean water for 102 people, comprised of 53 adults and 49 children, in 9 separate households.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Nico Armstrong

Comments
This project, first and foremost, shows the importance of an element of our model, which is to “complete” projects that are otherwise non-functioning. The project sat idle while people did not have access to safe water, because of a shortfall of a relatively small amount of money.

The project provides additional resources to an active local organization that has been trained in the technology. It is being carried out by a community committed to do everything necessary to obtain safe water. The project is accompanied by an educational workshop, and will be followed by additional work to improve the health and wellbeing of the participants. These elements assure the sustainability of the project.

Dollar Amount of Project
$438.00

Donations Collected to Date
$438.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 - This project has been fully funded, through the generosity of Six Senses Resorts & Spas as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Nico Armstrong of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Nico and/or those of his counterpart PCVs in Panama.

This project has been completed. To read about the conclusion of this project,CLICK HERE.