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Issue: 11
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Quarter
3/ Sep 2009
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I would like to take this opportunity to officially
welcome Brian Riley as the new Country Director of Peace Corps Panama.
PCPF looks forward to our continued relationship with the Peace Corps
Panama Country Director and the entire staff of the committed PC Panama
office!
As always, PCPF has been very busy. Even in the summer time as
many people are taking vacations and going away. The PCPF
Directiva spent a Saturday working together on strategic planning and
goals for PCPF 2009-2010. We are really excited about the coming
year and the direction of the organization - we hope you are too!
Change is in the air - so start thinking about how you want to be
involved in PCPF. Next year, we will be holding elections for new
a Directiva. Please stay tuned for information and how you can be
more involved.
And remember, stay in touch! We will be updating our website soon
and make sure you are a friend on Facebook.
La Presidenta,
Jamie
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PCPF Welcomes Brian Riley - Panama's
new Country Director
by
Hugh Smith
Anyone who wears a
fedora must be worthy of Panama!
Brian is originally from Houston, Texas and brings with him extensive
experience working in Latin America and the Peace Corps. Brian served
as a Peace Corps Volunteer (Forestry and Natural Resources) in Ecuador
from 1985 - 1989. He then worked as a consultant in Ecuador,
including numerous technical trainer jobs for Peace Corps. In
1994, he moved to Bolivia to become the Technical Training Coordinator
for Peace Corps/Bolivia. From there, he went on to serve as
Training Director for PC/Nicaragua, Program and Training Officer for
PC/Bolivia and Country Director for PC/Samoa.
Brian is returning to Peace Corps as the Country Director for Panama
with his wife Margarita (RPCV Ecuador) and their three sons. The whole
family is thrilled to be returning to Central America and starting a
new adventure in Panama!
Read about
Brian Riley
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PCPF Supported
Projects
by Hugh Smith
Peace Corps Partnership Program
PCPF,
through you, contributes to all Peace Corps Partnership Panama
projects. Thank you for your continued support!
90% of your donations go to directly to projects in Panama! With your
help, PCPF sponsor 30% (up to $500) of funds needed by Panama
volunteers. Here is a featured project that your money has supported in
2009:
Rise Not Fall (Women Tourism Project)
Sube y No Baja" is Spanish for "rise and not fall". A
local women's group's tourism project has been organized for almost ten
years which is no small feet for this small island town of fewer than
200 inhabitants. The title of this project reflects their determination
to continue working as a team to see their small business succeed.
The project is an infrastructure development plan and will complete the
much needed repairs and improvements on the restaurant and cabin in the
community. It is necessary to provide a better product and service to
receive more tourists, which will in turn provide more income and a
higher standard of living for group members and their families. Not
only will it benefit the tourism business, it will educate group
members on the proposal writing process and the organization it takes
to effectively complete a project and run an accurate budget.
The community will be donating 40% of the total project cost in the
form of manual labor, the use of equipment such as the community boat and
materials such as wood and palm. They ask for the support of the
Partnership Program in providing the other 60% to make this project
possible. Donated money will go towards buying materials that can't be
found in the community, such as nails, zinc, and specialized labor
needs. Volunteer: Porath J of MN
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PCPF Special
Projects: Bud Fund Recipient Update
by Jerry Lutes
As reported in previous issues of El Bo, Alejandro Martínez, a blind
student sponsored by PCPF, is studying primary education at ISAE
University in Panama City. He's completed two more courses,
earning an A in Sociology for Education and another A in Educational
Research Techniques. That gives him three A's and a B for the
year. Way to go, Alejandro!
We have not yet received grades for our other sponsored student, Yaneth
Sánchez. She is still finishing high school, as Alejandro did
last year.
PCPF would like to sponsor a third blind Panamanian student next year
but we need additional donations totaling a few thousand dollars to
achieve this.
Learn more about the program and
donate now.
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2010 Panama Calendar
by Steve Spangler
Each year, the Volunteer Action Council in Panama designs and prints a
Panama calendar using photos taken by Panama volunteers.
PCPF sells the calendars and sends our proceeds to VAC to fund small
projects assisted by PCVs, many of which are published in El
Bochinchi.
Please buy the 2010 calendars -- get full-size calendars of Panama
photos and support volunteer projects in Panama!
Buy them for home, work, and to give as gifts.
The calendars are popular and sell out quickly. Send an email to
Stephen.spangler@gmail.com
with the Subject "2010 Panama calendars" to be notified
by email as soon as the calendar are available for sale.
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Lasting Impact
by Dottie Knoedler
Group 54, 2004-2006 
Padres de la Boda
In early April we received a call from Panama inviting us to the
wedding of Cesibel Saez. I can't tell you how good it was to hear the
excitement in Cesi's voice. She had come a long way since we met
her in September of 2004 - in large part thanks to the efforts of quite
a few volunteers.
In early 2006 Frannie White, Sarah Lewis, Katie Skaar and other
dedicated PCV's put on a 3 day HIV/Aids conference in Santiago and
invited me to bring four girls from my community. Cesibel was one of
them. She was, however, the only attendee who was not in school. The
girls had a great time and learned a lot. Shortly after we returned to
Agua Buena Cesi helped me put on a similar seminar for our community
and then told me that she wanted to return to school. She took her
studies seriously and in July 2007 when I returned to Panama, she had a
nice group of friends, all of whom were in school. She smiled, laughed
and clearly had higher self-esteem. I truly believe that seminar
changed her life.
Fast forward now to April 2009. We had no idea when Cesi called to
invite us to her wedding that 1) it would be so elaborate; or 2) that
we would be the Padrinos de la Boda.
Thank you to Frannie, Sarah, Katie and the other volunteers for
organizing that HIV/Aids conference in Santiago. While there is no way
to say for sure, I do believe that if Cesibel had not gone to the
conference, she wouldn't have had the desire to return to school,
improve her self-esteem, meet Danuel and be the happy young woman that
she is today. I wonder how many other lives you may have changed.
Click here to read the full
story and funny anecdotes from Roy and Dotties adventures as Padrinos
de la Boda!
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PCPF Events and Fundraising
by Jaime Holland
Fundraising
Did you know over the past year PCPF has donated over $5,000 to Panama?
PCPF has supported Panama Partnership Projects, Super Small Project Grants
managed by current Peace Corps volunteers and scholarships for two
blind Panamanian students. All possible thanks to your generous
contributions.
PCPF's mission is to serve as a liaison between Peace Corps and the
Panama RPCV community. Our donations aspire to serve as an
outlet for the continued connection you feel toward Panama and desire
to support current PCV initiatives.
We thank you for your continued support of PCPF and Peace Corps
Panama. We have determined that to continue providing the same
level of support through funding of volunteer projects, we must raise
$1,400 in donationsby December 31st. Please help us reach our
goal by donating online (http://www.panamapcv.net/),
by check: PCPF 3858 N. Tazewell Street, Arlington, VA 22207-4533 or right now
with PayPal!
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Alumni Corner
It
only takes one step... an amazing story
by Roy Knoedler
On July 7th, I fell after
summiting one of Colorado's many 14,000 ft. peaks, and suffered
some fairly serious injuries. I survived thanks to the help of two
hikers from Indiana and seven Colorado Army National Guard soldiers who
conducted a dramatic night rescue flying a Chinook helicopter using
night vision goggles.
Around 3:30 I was descending a steep slope at about 12,600 ft. which included
several long snow patches. As I approached one of the last
snowfields, I suddenly slipped on some soft snow with hard ice just
below the surface. I was wearing slip-on "mini-spikes" but
the snow kept them from gripping the ice. As I was falling, I grabbed
the bottom of my right hiking pole to self-arrest, but could not get
enough bite in the ice to stop. I had just started turning my
head to see where I was heading... when I hit a rock! Temporarily
I blanked out, but quickly woke-up to see blood everywhere and began
yelling for help to some hikers that were below me. Two men
started climbing up to help me. I knew I had a broken arm, broken
nose, a large gash on my forehead, and probably a concussion. I tried
standing twice but lost balance and collapsed.
In my pack I had Mylar emergency
blankets, warm clothing, headlamp, a litre of water, and plenty of
food. I asked the men to first put on my Gore-Tex jacket, rain
pants, and gloves as I was concerned about going into shock. They
then wrapped me in the Mylar blankets (which are amazingly effective).
They managed to get through to 911 and Global Rescue, but all three of
our cell phones' batteries were low and eventually went dead, so we
could not keep in continuous contact with rescue groups. 
Sometime after 12:30 AM, we saw a huge helicopter coming towards us. We
clicked off camera flashes and the helicopter signalled back.
Soon it was hovering overhead and lowering an Army medic with a pallet.
We later learned that due to the steepness of slope, the rotators
came within 15 to 20 feet of the mountain. They quickly started
strapping me into the pallet, a tough task on a 40 to 50 degree slope.
Sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 AM they lifted us out and flew to a
soccer field near Alamosa where a Flight-for-Life helicopter was
waiting to take me to a trauma hospital in Pueblo.
I was very lucky... that the two men were within voice range and were
willing to help, that the Army National Guard was nearby and so
incredibly skilled, and that the 911 and Sheriff's department did such
a great job in coordinating rescue efforts. Yes, I could have been more
careful. Should I have worn a helmet or been using an ice
axe? Perhaps, but in the end it simply came down to not
effectively executing one step.
I would like to thank everyone who sent notes of support and get well
wishes. They were all very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Roy Knoedler
Group 54, 2004 - 2006
Click here to read the full copy
of Roy's amazing story!
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 PCPF - Continuing Volunteerism
PCPF members Jamie Thornberry, Jerry Lutes, Hugh Smith,
and Steve Spangler organized a group of friends and family to load a
shipping container of bicycles and sewing machines to be sent to
Goodwill Industries in Panama.
The ten PCPF workers spent Saturday, June 27, processing minor repairs,
remove and tie pedals to bikes, and loosen and turn handle bars and
packing 490 bikes into a 40-foot shipping container. They also packed
in 11 sewing machines, and hundreds of helmets, bike racks, handle bars
and spare parts.
The donated bikes were collected in the Washington, DC area by Bikes
for the World (www.bikesfortheworld.org).
The container was shipped to La AsociaciŰn PanameŇa de Industrias de
Buena Voluntad (www.goodwillpanama.org) in
Panama City.
See photos and video on the PCPF home page: www.panamapcv.net.
We encourage PCPF members to seek out service projects in your local
communities!!
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 Tú
Opinión
Feedback and Articles Ideas for El
Bochinche
Ideas for the Editor of El Bochinche
- Write an opinion
piece or article for El Bochinche.
- Promote a non-profit
you work for or support to PCPF members.
- Share an update about
yourself with Peace Corps Panama alumni.
- Publish photos on
www.panamapcv.net or link to
an on-line photo album.
Email tú opinión
to: editorelbo@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading
El Bochinche.
Sincerely,
Sarah Schmidt
Peace Corps Panama Friends
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