What is Development?

Tough question.

The introductory session we had on this a week ago was one of the best lectures I have attended in a long time.  There is a certain approach that the Peace Corps has taken to development which is the foundation of the work we will be doing in Panama.

• The Peace Corps has no money.  Therefore, volunteers live and work on the same wages of the people in their communities.  This also means that there is no budget that the Peace Corps needs to spend on projects.
• People and processes, not products and projects.  There is no need for a volunteer to come to a community, build an aquaduct, make sure it works, and then leave.  That has been the case in the development world for the last 50 years.  We are focused on developing capacity of the people who will continue to live the rest of their lives in their community to gain the skills to maintain their systems themselves.
• Development organization or cross cultural exchange?  With no budget allocated or specific project agenda, a volunteer could spend an entire 2 years not laying a single piece of pipe.  By living alongside people in a community, you get to share your life with theirs.  Any aquaduct, business plan, or tourist center that you build won´t be as valuable unless you also build relationships.

Having sat through this lecture was not only inspiring, but a sigh of relief.  The Peace Corps does a pretty good job of keeping you in the dark of the type of work you will be doing and how you will be doing it.  If it were not for speaking with returned volunteers, I wouldn´t have had a sense of these concepts straight from the website or any recruiters.  The approach that the Peace Corps undertakes worldwide is unique and should be its main advertising strategy.

At the end of a conference held by the Peace Corps in Panama, Roland Bunch answered the question with 5 words:  Development is love in action.

La Pedregoza

I visited another Environmental Health volunteer for the last 5 days and the trip was excellant.  Aaron lives in a small mountaintop community called La Pedregoza, which is outside Penonome the capital of Cocle province.  The community was founded in the 1960s by a priest who wanted to start a community of people who are willing to live and work together while following their faith.  Aaron learned that the pioneer spirit still exists in Panama.  As the Inter-Americana grows closer through the Darien (the region that is close to the Colombian boarder), Panamanians spread out and farm the land.

Aaron is working on an aquaduct project for his community, and is following up from the work of a previous PCV.  The PCV built and connected 2 tomas.  Tomas are concrete boxes of various designs, depending on the terrain, which collect the water from the spring and filter it through the use of packed bedrock.  Pipework is then connected out of the spring and routed to the community.  Currently, about 50% of La Pedregoza is seved by this system and have running water at their homes.  Previously, the community would go to a well and collect water from there.  In both cases, the water is still untreated. 

Friday was supposed to be a day to clean the toma, which is extremelly dirty from lack of maintenance.  It was about an hour and a half hike up through the mountains and into the forest which allowed for stunning views of the mountains of Cocle, some untouched forest, and even a view of the Pacific Ocean.  Only Aaron and the president of the water committee showed up to work on the toma, which was disappointing, but not unexpected.

Sunday was the big water committee meeting that was held after church.  This is where the water committee presented to the community their plans to expand the water system so that each home would have a tap of clean, running water.  They will work to build another toma to capture water from another spring, build a reservior tank to use water from the dry season, and lay all the pipe.  Aarons role is to facilitate this process, not lead it.  The members of the water committee are keeping track of the work days owed by each family, the dues, and the organizing.

I want to say thank you to Aaron and the people of La Pedregoza for having me as their guest for 5 days.  It was great to see a volunteer in action and I hope to work within my community the same way Aaron does.

Water committee general meeting

Cleaning the toma

Cleaning the toma

Old well, which the community still uses