Coffee, Costa Rica, and Rolling Home (Saturday)

Once again, we got up early, though not quite as early.  I headed to the showers first of all, and there were the Ngobe women getting ready for their days.  I returned to the room and packed everything up - not difficult since I never really unpacked.  The guys took all of our luggage out to the bus before breakfast and we trooped to breakfast.

Then we climbed in the bus and went on our way.  Onto the Pan American highway and into David's outskirts where we picked up Anna who was to guide us today and several professors from UTP-Chiriqui in David.  Then we climbed up into the mountains again.  This time, Elba had an antiemetic from Anna which really helped her endure the climb.  Winding and laboring up, then quickly heading down just to turn and climb again.  Once again, no AC - except in the rainy bits.

We arrived in Rio Sereno in sunshine.  I recognized the main street - the shops, the people, the traffic.  It felt really good to be returning somewhere that I knew.  We turned up to the border patrol and the official border crossing.  There, we immediately all queued up for the one toilet in the border patrol!  How funny!

While they were waiting, several of the lads posed with one of the Border police.

We walked up the muddy road to a station similar to the one we went to yesterday, except that this one was on the Costa Rican side of the border.  It was still under construction.  There, Anna explained what they were doing there.

Then we trooped back down to the border crossing, where we posed as a group.  Those photos are supposedly in a shared Dropbox folder and I'll add one once I have it.  But for the moment, these will have to suffice.

From there, we walked down and into Rio Sereno itself.  Some of the kids picked up snacks at one of the many M/S stores.

(It was the best photo of the parrot, not
of the woman, however)

Then we climbed back in the bus for our final descent.

Down we went, not stopping at the coffee fields as we had hoped because by now it was late, and the rain had started in earnest, no longer a gentle drizzle but rather an energetic downpour.

We reached David and dropped off our local colleagues, and then hurried back to get as far as we could before nightfall.  Unfortunately we didn't make it as far as we would have liked.  We bumped and slewed and shuddered across Chiriqui and then on into Veraguas where we took a brief pit stop in Santiago again before we hustled back on the bus to make tracks.

On through the dark we rode.  I had decided to make bracelets for the girls on the trip and was almost done, but I worked most of the way across the country to get them all done in time.

As the time grew later and later, it seemed that we sped up.  And so we did.  The driver was only authorized to drive the UTP bus until midnight!  So we raced the clock. And pulled into the entrance to UTP at exactly midnight!  By this time, the gates were already locked, and most of the people who were there to pick us up were locked in.  But with our arrival, they opened the gates and let us all out.

Wonderful Elba's cousin and aunt had driven to pick us up and they delivered me to my doorstep.  A long but fruitful journey.

High up, high on the mountain... (Friday)

Friday dawned very early - as in 5 am.  We all trooped to the showers and I noticed a number of Ngobe-Bugle women both in the bathroom and working to sweep, cook, and clean.  Then I remembered that we were staying in dorms run by the Jesuit Foundation of Nuestra Señora del Camino, which is dedicated to improving the lives of the Ngobe-Bugle.  Their objective is to provide "creative alternatives to improve housing and food security and to reduce maternal and infant deaths among the Ngobe-Bugle." So it was hardly surprising that they were there.

The students excitedly explored the beautiful grounds which were jungly and lush.  They eagerly tromped up and down, while Elba and I decided to forego the tour.  Instead, we sat briefly in one of the many chapels on the grounds, and then sat and talked. 

After breakfast, we piled into the bus and headed up the road above San Felix.  Up.  and Up.  and UP.  The bus struggled and at times was barely moving - or so it seemed.  The bus driver had us open windows so he could turn off the air conditioning in the bus.  

The hills were dotted with settlements and everywhere the clothes lines were decked with Ngobe dresses.  It was a gorgeous day as we climbed higher and higher.  We passed people walking up and walking down the steep incline.

Men and women.  Fathers, mothers carrying infants, children.  Young girls and babies.  Sons walking behind their fathers.  

We reached the hamlet of Kato Chami, where we were due to meet the women from the UN who would be our guides, and also to pick up lunch.  School was out, so there were kids playing instead of being in class.  

The sun was hot, so we went back into the shade of a building.  Soon, a pickup came and several Ngobe women piled out.  They quickly went to what turned out to be the toilet.  

We asked for permission to take photos of the women of course, and they agreed.  And while we were there, we asked a bunch of questions about their experiences with mobile phones, computers and the Internet.  Then the woman in the orange dress asked for a copy of the photo.  It turned out that she had an email address too!  So I sent the photos to her - though I had no internet access until Saturday in Santiago.  

Back in the bus, soon, we were engulfed in a cloud - one of those hugging the mountains.  Then out into the sunshine again as we climbed above it.  The countryside was gorgeous and as we reached the top of the mountain, we could see for miles.  

Then a quick turn to the right, down a bit of a hill and stop.  It's the end of the road.  And there is the center we have come to visit.  A bright shiny new building with a concrete floor and kitchen served as both a and latrines.

There, we heard very interesting talks about the programs to improve maternal health, reduce HIV-AIDS infection, increase education and deal with health issues stemming from the annual migration from the mountains to the coffee plantations in western Chiriqui (Panama) and Costa Rica, as well as other issues that result from this migration  We heard from several very interesting Ngobe-Bugle people - this young man described how they have a computer in his school, but, upon more conversation with him, Elba and I found out that they haven't been able to use it yet since they are waiting for Microsoft Office.  (Lydia told him about OpenOffice)

We also heard from these young women as well as others.

We had expected there to be 10 women to meet with Elba and me as part of our initial needs assessment, but only one woman was there.  It turns out that the women needed to get their husbands' permission to attend since there were men present.  The woman who came no longer has a relationship with her husband (although he still lives with her).  We asked a number of questions with the help of the young man above since she spoke no Spanish.

While we were talking with her, one of the girls who had spoken earlier, named "Anna", came over and wanted to make a necklace herself.  So of course I opened up my bead bag and helped her find beads that were easy to string on elastic cord.

Martha from the UN

Then, suddenly, it was time to go.  Immediately!  

We twisted and turned down the mountain.  Poor Elba!  She had felt ill on the way up, and had closed her eyes while I sang to her (at her request)  This worked only to a degree.  So on the way down, she moved to a seat where she didn't have to perch and where she could sit by the window which gave her lots of fresh air since they were opened on the way down.  Until it started to rain.  But she seemed to feel a bit better.

We hurried to try to get to Soloy before the health workers left, but alas, we were too late.  The kids didn't have a chance to make an in-depth site survey, but they did find solar panels that appeared not to be working.  

We returned tired but feeling like we had accomplished quite a lot.  A very good day.

The Ngobe-Bugle, healthcare and the UN (Wednesday, 4 June)

Today was a most interesting day and a harbinger of what is to come on our trip to Chiriqui tomorrow.  These books are used at health centers to make it possible for Ngobe women to communicate to health workers there.  It's a cross-cultural challenge when the women speak only Ngäbere and the health care professionals do not, so the UN has funded a project to create a book (shown above) 

Tomorrow I will go with Lydia Toppin, a professor here, and her students to Chiriqui to meet with Ngobe women and to do a very preliminary needs assessment for a grant she and a number of colleagues are putting together.  Elba is coming too and I'm very excited!

Stay Tuned!

(P.S., it's also my daughter Anna Rachel's birthday today!