Mi Casa es Su Casa
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2009
1
9
39
Trip End
Feb 05, 2010
Boquete, Panama
Saturday, September 12, 2009
We took care of the most important business first: laundry. Then got to the fun stuff, like cooking dinner in a full-service kitchen and taking nice, looooong hot showers (the water was still hot when the 3rd shower was done!). Other than that, we took the opportunity to just lounge around for a couple of days. Relaxed, read, took some walks into town, but nothing crazy. I guess we were still trying to recoup from our Panama City adventure.
Yesterday, Rebecca, Carter, Malenca (another volunteer), Robb and I delivered the newly welded soccer goals to Casa Hogar Triskar (the orphanage). Most of the kids were in school so we didn't stay long. Then we continued down the road to meet Yamel, an architect who lives in David and who also works closely with the Aldeas Infantiles SOS program. She arranged a mini-tour of some local organizations that help rehabilitate and care for abandoned, abused and neglected children. We started at Comador Infantiles, a program founded by a Father David (a local priest from India) that feeds about 130 kids every day except for Saturdays. Its taken him almost 4 years to get the program to what it is today, and the story is amazing. He toured the neighborhood where the facility is now located and noticed the effects of extreme poverty on the local children. So he decided to do something about it. In the beginning, he was feeding about 35 children out of a donated house and kitchen. The number of kids flocking to this free meal grew and grew and grew, and Father David couldn't turn anyone away. So he raised enough money through the church and private donations to build the facility that is used today. But it wasn't easy. It took them 2 full years to complete the building- they ran into major problems while building, for instance having no running water or electricity. However they finished, and in June 2006 the building was up and running; it's nothing fancy, just a house with 3 big rooms and a kitchen. The volunteers, who are mothers of some of the children who come there to eat, arrive at 7am to start cooking. By 11:30 they are ready to receive the first round of hungry bellies, and it continues until about 1pm in shifts that they try to coordinate so the children can eat before school starts. More often than not, this is the only meal they will eat throughout the day. As of right now, all of the children must be out of the building by 2pm, however Father David is trying to change this and has spoken to the Minister of Education about getting a teacher to come in the afternoons to teach and oversee the children who want to stay.
And the kids...oh the kids..they are so sweet,innocent and full of love. It's fulfilling to be able to make them smile but at the same time heartbreaking because you know that most likely they don't have anyone at home to show them that same attention. Leaving was bittersweet, but we had to move on to our next stop: Aldeas Infantiles SOS. SOS is a program that was founded in Switzerland after WWII for the homeless and orphaned children of the war, and currently operates in about 100 countries all over the world. It's basically like a foster home community, set up like a neighborhood with a total of 15 houses, each sleeping 8 to 10 kids plus a "mother". Each "mother" is responsible for the children in her house- she takes them to the doctor if they are ill, maintains the grocery budget, cooks meals and makes sure that all of her "children's" general needs are met. They're goal is to create a sense of family for these children without making them feel like they are in an institution, or an orphanage. It's a model worth trying-the kids seemed happy and the programs success rate is promising. Since it started in David 10 years ago, a handful of SOS children have graduated from high school and college, and have started successful professional careers. It's very rare that these kids are adopted- the laws are fairly strict,so it's important to allow them to grow up in a family-oriented environment.
We couldn't help but acknowledge the stark contrast between the SOS program (which relies on international and local donations as well as some fund raising) and Casa Hogar Triskar's "program", for lack of a better(or worse) term. The most simple things (like purchasing new bed linens) at Triskar are made so complicated by the government's involvement and tight budget. It's frustrating when you see that something needs to be done but you yourself can't do it because the authority lies in the hands of the government (which to my knowledge isn't the most efficient).
But alas, here we are, still trying to make a difference, and at least bring smiles to the kid's faces! We went back to Triskar this morning for a couple of hours to play and paint the soccer goals. The kids definitely remembered us, which was such a great feeling! We pushed swings, picked flowers, held the babies and helped feed them at lunch time. Again, leaving is always the hardest part, but we can't stay there forever. At least we know that we will be back next Saturday, if not before.
Carter leaves on Monday to head back to San Jose, and will be back stateside Tuesday. We're sad she's leaving, but we're going to send her out with a bang! Then maybe head to the beach tomorrow...until then, xoxoxoxo to all!
C&J
Comments
great pictures
The pictures of the children are very good...
The 'end of the road' is also bittersweet!
Great house. You girls have done well. Great taste!
Momma R.
nice digs...
wow! your home is what every woman backpacker of the universe deserves at the end of an unknown road! Travel safe Carter!! Love, Lucy