In mid-December I had 3 office staff visit Alto Playón: Heather Zissler, the Programming and Training Specialist (PTS) of the Inter-America & Pacific region from Washington D.C., Kristen Kaper, the new Panamá PTS, and Antonella Finis our EH Program Specialist. I was happy to host them and share with them my experience living and working in the Comarca Emberá-Wounaan.
The day started off a bit late with the group getting a flat tire coming into my community, but what else is new? I asked my good friend Fernando to pick them up at the port and they had the pleasure of a nice boat ride down the Chucunaque River. We got to my house and settled in, exchanging stories about our experiences. Heather volunteered in Paraguay working as an agriculture extensionist. She enjoyed her experience very much, learned to speak Guaraní, and seemed to have taken in Paraguay as most PCVs take in their host countries.
Heather was on a work visit to Panamá and scheduled a day to come out to the field. Kristen is new to the office and wants to get a feel for Volunteer’s lifestyles and experiences. It’s never hard for a PCV to sit down and talk to someone about their work, since you are living it and thinking about it on a daily basis. I took them through the struggles and triumphs of organizing a Health Committee and getting our Composting Latrine project off the ground. One of my main points I wanted to convey to Heather & Kristen was the importance of Peace Corps establishing further relationships with Host Country Partners. We do such great work, that we should be able to sell it back to Government Agencies to cooperate with us more. They were appreciative of the idea, but noting that it is a huge task.
I told all the women from the community that I would be having visitors interested in buying their artisan work. Of course they were all excited that gringos were coming to visit $ $ $. We held a small community meeting where they displayed their work, where Heather and Kristen were able to pick up some goods. We also exchanged some words thanking the community to work with Peace Corps, and the community was also thankful for us being there.
We all had a great time. I was appreciative that office staff, especially from Washington D.C., were taking the time to visit Volunteers. I know they wish they had more time for field visits. It was also fun to share experiences with an RPCV. Even though she served in another time and country, there is an understanding between PCVs about their service that allows you to appreciate where they are coming from. I look forward to meeting more RPCVs in the future, and constantly putting my service into perspective.
