Your questions answered!

A recent comment from someone who may or may not be my mother raised an interesting question relating to my work in site.

What part does the government of Panama play in the PC action? Who pays for
the pvc piping and cement and such?

Fabulous question, Anonymous Reader Mom! The government of Panama plays a HUGE role in PC action, and of course, the only reason we are allowed to be here is by their invitation. One of the keys to our sustainable development goals is that the people we work with are able to secure project funding on their own in the future. That is, from Panamanian agencies that dole out funds for projects in ways quite different from how we do it in the U.S.


Once we decide on a project to start working on, we form committees and train them in how to write formal letters to local agencies and what needs to be included in order to convince agency directors that community leaders can manage and plan their own projects. EH volunteers work principally with the Ministry of Health (MINSA), which provides funding for aqueduct systems and latrine projects, and ANAM, which is an environmental conservation agency which is currently pushing composting latrine projects throughout the Bocas region.


Individual contributions are usually required in some capacity, but it is rarely monetary. We might ask community members to provide all the labor in hauling supplies, assembling latrines, or mixing cement to repair tanks or spring boxes. Some PCVs have asked people to provide wood to finish the walls of a latrine, or zinc for the roof, but from what I´ve heard, many fail to do it if left to their own devices.

So PCVs first avenue is to look for funding through what we call ¨host-country agencies,¨ which includes government offices or non-profits. If this fails, and it often does because our timelines are limited and many agencies work at a-- shall we say-- more relaxed pace, we have another route. We can write Peace Corps grants and post them on the PC web site where families, friends, and others can donate to specific projects or just make an overal donation. Volunteers have success with these, and the money comes fast, but they are used as a last resort because it is obviously something that our community members could not do for themselves.


We can also work with other agencies to aquire more resources, collaborate in charlas, or as in the case with the Ministry of Economic and Social Development (MIDES), ask them to certify our charlas to increase attendance. (Women who are part of the Red de Oportunidades-- Panama welfare-- must attend a certain amount of workshops and activities to continue benfitting, and a certified charla from MIDES does the trick.