Panama City, January 21, 2013

Greatings from Panama City! My wife Susan and I arrived last night on a flight from Houston. Traveling with us is our associate Dr. Mary Ann Westfall. It was through Mary Ann that we received an invitation to attend the 9th Congress of the Wounaan People here in Panama. Dr. Westfall is a medical doctor who has had long standing connections with the Wounaan. The Wounaan are one of several tribes that are trying to maintain their own tradional identity in the face of increasing pressure from modern Panama. Their issues include encroachment of cattle ranching and logging on their lands, also they are having increasing problems with contaminated drinking water. Today, Monday January 21, 2013, we visited several communities to where Wounaan people have migrated, near Panama City. As is always the case, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to jobs, housing, educational opportunities and government services. However, the Wounaan have banded together from necessity and created their own organizations to promote their interests. They have Wounaan lawyers who fight for property rights, Wounaan community centers where the people can get advice and services and residential facilities where families can stay when they have to come to the population centers for health or other reasons. Wounaan students can stay at educational boarding centers while they pursue secondary and higher educations. They have an active transcription program to write down the Wounaan language before it disappears, and to teach it to younger people who have lost it. Their goal is for youth to read and write in Wounaan. Those visits were very interesting and educational for us. The tribal communities have done a lot to help themselves, independent of the Panamanian government. The purpose of our visit is to meet with Wounaan community leaders and to discuss possible future programs that Agua Pura could undertake that would help them with their water problems. We traditionally give classes and workshops in accurate water testing, and also give demonstrations of simple methods that families can use to decontaminate their water. Susan often works with school children and families on hand washing and basic sanitation - the cheapest and most effective method of all to prevent disease! I am already testing water samples from two communities that had concerns. Tomorrow we will be visiting with some other Wounaan community leaders and discussing our programs, and also preparing to attend the Congress on Wednesday which will be held in a fairly remote community in Eastern Panama. We are taking our screen tent and camping gear. I believe there is electricity, but am not sure. We'll be there for 4 nights, and return to Panama City on Sunday afternoon. If I can, I'll try to post during the Congress, but if not then I give an update when we return. I'm posting a photo of myself and Dr. Westfall visiting with a Wounaan family she knew.