Life

Well hello there. How are you doing?

Me? Oh I am doing well. Just trying to trudge through the life that is Peace Corps.

What? My project? It is gong well. I have run into a few problems here and there but still pushing along.

What problems you ask? Well initially I was trying to obtain funding from the government agencies here in order to complete my project. I was working with Panamanian equivalents of the EPA and the Health Administration. Both of the agencies told me all of these steps I had to take in order to obtain the funding needed in order to enlarge my aqueduct and therefore bring clean water to the larger population of the community. Well after jumping through all of these hoops they both told me the money had "disappeared" and therefore they were unable to help me.

Disappeared? Yeah I know. What the heck does that mean? In my opinion it means that some official that has the powers of magic made the money disappear into his pocket. That or into the new rims that are on his car. Just a thought but highly likely.

Can I write you a check? No, thanks though. I don't believe in giving gifts to my community. I want my project to be sustainable and therefore I can't take money from you guys in order to compete something the host country or community should be able to do by themselves.

What now? We have already started to raise money within the community. We have also separated the the one large aqueduct project into smaller goals that we are more likely to be able to accomplish. Therefore we are on our way. Little by little we are raising the money to buy the tubes we need to bring water to hundreds of people. Also I am slowly training the people in my town how to work together and that if the work hard they can accomplish the goals they set. Sustainability is my goal and hopefully when I leave we will have a lot new families with clean water and a functioning group that works well together.

Huh, what did you say? Why Thank you. I know it is a noble thing to do. Thanks for being so proud of me. Yes, yes it is really hard having to work with people that don't know the basics of organization or group dynamics. No, I won't give up. Yes I do look forward to being home and I will be home soon.

Life