Tuesday, September 13, 2011
QP Dance Troupe
They need some work on following choreography, but I still think Rihanna would be proud.
Bathing
The Competition
People started gathering around mid-day. The diputado, a local government representative, had announced a visit, and slowly but surely, hundreds of Quebrada Pastor residents started trickling toward the meeting rancho. I'd never seen so many people in once place in town, not even when traveling medicine clinics have come through. But no one would be foolish enough to miss a day with the diputado.
When he finally arrived at 5 p.m. that afternoon, his minions began unloading. Hundreds of pounds of food, mattresses, shovels, machetes, plates, bowls and toys were unloaded as all the community members stood by and watched, chattering among themselves about which things they wanted. The meeting began with an introduction and small speeches given by other local diputados as well as two of QP's "leaders." Our "dirigente," something lie a town mayor who doesn't actually do anything, gave a speech about all the needs Q.P. has, soliciting financial or material help from the diputado. I think he made up this list entirely by himself, as a weedwhacker and fancy bus shelter topped the list. Our water committee presented a solicitude for more tube and a new reserve tank installation in a place which would do so much more harm than good to our fragile aqueduct. I bit my tongue, thinking of all the work I tried to do with him, and how we could have improved the system in a meaningful way if they'd had interest.
The entire exercise was completely ridiculous. After everyone got a chance to speak, one of the diputado´s handlers got up and began a speech about how his boss was more than just a government representative working for the people. This diputado had converted himself into a real-life Santa Claus, traveling from community to community handing out things people needed and wanted. I looked around at the crowd, trying to gauge a reaction. No one seemed to consider this a blatant show of corruption or vote-buying, instead, they considered this what they were owed. Rural Panamanians are used to being marginalized, mostly ignored by government and officials, and the way they feel recognized is by days like these. The matteress or sack of food they walk away with is official recognition, evidence that someone is looking after them.
I´d seen enough and headed back to the house before the gift giving began. I started thinking about development, and Peace Corps´ participatory community approach. I thought about how that really plays out in the field, how it works and how it fails. And I thought it sounds like a pretty good theory on paper, but it can be totally different in real life when your competition is... Santa Claus.
When he finally arrived at 5 p.m. that afternoon, his minions began unloading. Hundreds of pounds of food, mattresses, shovels, machetes, plates, bowls and toys were unloaded as all the community members stood by and watched, chattering among themselves about which things they wanted. The meeting began with an introduction and small speeches given by other local diputados as well as two of QP's "leaders." Our "dirigente," something lie a town mayor who doesn't actually do anything, gave a speech about all the needs Q.P. has, soliciting financial or material help from the diputado. I think he made up this list entirely by himself, as a weedwhacker and fancy bus shelter topped the list. Our water committee presented a solicitude for more tube and a new reserve tank installation in a place which would do so much more harm than good to our fragile aqueduct. I bit my tongue, thinking of all the work I tried to do with him, and how we could have improved the system in a meaningful way if they'd had interest.
The entire exercise was completely ridiculous. After everyone got a chance to speak, one of the diputado´s handlers got up and began a speech about how his boss was more than just a government representative working for the people. This diputado had converted himself into a real-life Santa Claus, traveling from community to community handing out things people needed and wanted. I looked around at the crowd, trying to gauge a reaction. No one seemed to consider this a blatant show of corruption or vote-buying, instead, they considered this what they were owed. Rural Panamanians are used to being marginalized, mostly ignored by government and officials, and the way they feel recognized is by days like these. The matteress or sack of food they walk away with is official recognition, evidence that someone is looking after them.
I´d seen enough and headed back to the house before the gift giving began. I started thinking about development, and Peace Corps´ participatory community approach. I thought about how that really plays out in the field, how it works and how it fails. And I thought it sounds like a pretty good theory on paper, but it can be totally different in real life when your competition is... Santa Claus.
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