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Who are we? |
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We
are a community of Peace Corps Panama volunteers, staff, families, &
friends. |
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We help our members stay in touch with
Panamá and with each other. |
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We
contribute to
volunteer projects in Panama. |
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We
are a country-of-service affiliate of the
National
Peace Corps Association. |
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Contact us:
Tel: 206-888-8655; Email: 
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2009 Panama Calendars
 SOLD OUT!
The
Volunteer Action Committee
in Panamá creates a Panama Calendar each year from photos submitted by volunteers.
We sold 250 calendars for 2009. A new record!
Order early for the 2010 calendar.
Projects Funded by Sale of Calendars
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Donate to PCPF
In 2008, Peace Corps Panama Friends donated more than $3,600 to
Peace Corps Partnership project in Panama. We raised $2,400 for
the Panama volunteer Super-Small Project Fund through sales of Peace
Corps Panama calendars. Volunteers count on these grants to
provide meaningful and rapid assistance Panamanians in their
communities.
Please help by donating for 2009.
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 2008
Reunion in Panamá
45 Years in Panamá -- June 25 - 29, 2008
2008 is Peace Corps' 45th anniversary of entering Panama
and 25 years of service.
The Peace Corps office in Panamá and the Peace Corps Panama Friends alumni group
hosted a Celebration of Peace Corps Panama in Panamá June 25 - 29, 2008.
 Click on photos at right for full-size views. More stories and
photos to follow.
Here are three shared photo sites from the Reunion:
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PCPF Hats and Bags
We have 15 hats and drawstring sling bags from the Reunion
to give away. A hat and a bag and free shipping for each $15 donation.
The hat size is adjustable. The bags are 13' x 16". Click photo above for larger view.
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Bud Keith Memorial Fund
 Bud Keith, long-time leader of Peace Corps Panama Friends, died
June 14, 2008. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama in Group 8 in 1965 - 1967.
Bud, who was blinded at age 11 in a school-yard accident, worked with the Helen Keller School for the Blind and other programs for the blind and visually impaired in Panama City.
One of his life's dreams, to establish a scholarship fund for blind Panamanian students. In support of this dream, the PCPF Directiva has established a Bud Keith Memorial Fund for programs benefiting the blind in Panama.
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El Bochinche Newsletter
Our El Bochinche newsletter is published electronically each
quarter. Enter your email address below to receive next issue.
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 Retire
in Panama
ABC Nightline story
Panama is the top overseas retirement
destination, followed by Malta and New Zealand.
• Watch on
YouTube |
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 Peace
Corps AIDS Work
Leading the Way to a World Without AIDS
By Tricia Wood Peace Corps Volunteers educated over
10,000 Panamanians on HIV/AIDS in 2006.
These projects included youth health seminars, health promoter trainings,
health fairs, and dominos and volleyball contests to encourage community
participation.
• See
Tricia's article |
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 Crisis
Corps in Panamà
Panamá will soon be getting a little extra oompha from 10 Crisis Corps
Volunteers.
• Panama RPCVs are eligible to apply for Crisis Corps positions.
For example, the Institute for the Development of Women and Children has
requested a CCV to work as a HIV/AIDS Specialist for a 6 month assignment,
starting June 2007.
Read more by Tess Sparks |
 Diablos
Rojos
Nina Muller-Schwartz, PC volunteer in Panama from 1999 to 2001, has
produced a documentary film about Panama buses. Diablos Rojos: Los
Buses de Panama discusses transportation, globalization, and the
expression of Panamanian cultural identity.
Nina is now a cultural anthropologist with
a specialty in Panama. See film synopsis at
www.customflix.com. |
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 Ngabe Coffee School
Third-year Peace Corps Volunteer Bryan Richardson coordinated the Ngabe Coffee School, a partnership between indigenous coffee producer cooperatives and leading producers of Panama's high-quality specialty coffees.
• See Bryan
Richardson story |
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 Farmer
Training Supported by PCPF
Volunteer
Pete Caligiuri
thanks PCPF for donation for training of farmers in rice tank and fish
tank production.
• See Photos
and email from Pete |
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 PCPF
Reunion - Sept 15 & 16, 2006
1. Friday evening, 9/15: evening reception
2. Sat morning, 9/16: Meeting & Panama update
3. Saturday evening, 9/16: PCPF dinner
4. Fri, Sat & Sun: Pajaro Jai tours • See Reunion Photos
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 Pajaro Jai
Peace Corps Panama Friends hosted the Pajaro Jai in Washington, DC, on its maiden voyage to the U.S.
She was sailed to the U.S. by a crew including Embera-Wounaan from
Panama and Chris Meyer, who just completed his volunteer service in
Panama.
• See
Washington 2006 Visits
• See
Pajaro Jai
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 Father
& Son are Panama PCVs
"When I left Panama, December 26th, 1969, I never knew if I
would return again." Now, son is a
Peace Corps volunteer in Panama.
• See
Jan Daub's report and photos
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 David Peterson Returns to Panama
After a hiatus of 30 years, Group 14 member David Peterson returned to the Republica de Panama in March 2005.
Trip included river rafting in Boquete.
• See
David's report and photos
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 Native
Future
Protecting Cultures Conserving Land
Returned Panama PCV's have
founded Native Future,
a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization to work with the Wounaan in Panama to protect
rainforest and prevent the cultural extinction of a unique indigenous
people.
• See
www.nativefuture.org
for more information
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 Legends
Steve Herrick's article describes
his return to Agua Buena after 35 years.
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See page 24 in the April - June 2006 La Vaina
(Photo left- Steve Herrick in Agua Buena, 1971.)
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 Happy
Birthday Peace Corps!
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the executive order creating the Peace Corps. Since then, over 182,000 Americans have served in 138 countries, creating a lasting legacy of goodwill overseas and commitment to service and positive social change at home.
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Highlights of the 45th anniversary celebration
Click photo for full-size view.
From La Vaina 45th Anniversary Issue, April-June 2006.
• See La Vaina home page.
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FARMS Leadership Program
August 2005
Help bring the third goal back.
Ten high school students participating in the FARMS
Leadership Program in Sonoma County, CA, will complete their year of
participation in the program with a ten day visit to the Lago Alajuela
region of Panama in July or August of 2006. There, they will help
construct a flooded rice paddy, a sustainable alternative to slash and
burn agriculture.
This is an "agro-eco workism" type of trip, "beyond
eco-tourism", and filled with good honest work. The trip will be hosted by
Sustainable Harvest International, and coordination with Peace Corps
Panama will also be sought.
If you are able to help us meet our funding
goals, raising $10,000 to offset travel costs (and provide to $3,000 of
that amount to the community we will visit for their granja), or would
like to be involved in next summer trip or future visits, please contact
RPCV Rick Kaye at (707) 569-1448 or rickk@sonic.net.
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 Keeping
the Bus on the Road
Peter G. Redmond, the new Peace
Corps Country Director in Panama, shares his June 30, 2005, PowerPoint
presentation on
Keeping the Bus on the Road as he and his staff plan for 150 PCVs
on-board by year’s end. |
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 Sustainable
Harvest International
Florence Reed, PCV in Panamá 1991 –
1993, founded Sustainable Harvest International in 1997 to address the global issues of
poverty and deforestation in Central America.
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Roxana Fitch's "Jerga... Argot... Slang...
Modismo..." dictionary
of Spanish slang for Panamá.
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Community Environmental Education
(A group of CEE volunteers wrote this at their 1 year mark of being a PCV.)
• I’m alive and smiling.
• I am a successful animal keeper.
• I have friends.
• I’m well read.
• I’ve designed and implemented seminars.
• I’ve offered new experiences.
• I’ve provided entertainment.
• I did world and Panama maps.
• I’ve tested myself.
• I’ve taught impressionable children.
• I’ve done two community gardens.
• I’m living with disappointment.
• I’m a fisher woman. I now eat oil.
• I’ve learned to prepare live animals for food.
• I’ve identified edible plants.
• I’ve learned to thermo regulate.
• I have learned to manage groups.
• I’ve learned to embrace embarrassment.
• I’ve learned to improvise.
• I’ve learned they’ll clap if you thank enough people.
• I’ve generated new ideas.
• I’ve been a good influence.
• I’ve motivated people.
• I’ve gained people’s confidence.
• I’ve walked a year in chancletas or rubber boots.
• I promoted literacy.
• I helped create national laws.
• I made a colorful casa comunal.
• I gardened.
• I worked on trash management.
I ROCK!!!!
August 28. 2001
Sera Harold
Allison Pyle
Dennis Eimer
Meghan Hagerty
Sophia Lichenstein-Hill1
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