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¡Buenos días a
todos y todas! I hope that everyone's well, and keeping warm and dry
across the nation, and wherever else you might find yourself in the
world. Here in Panama we are drying out, heating up, and getting
ready for CARNAVAL which begins next week!
And PCPF is heating up too! In the past three months we
completely sold out of calendars (thank you to everyone who
purchased!), which resulted in $5,148 for small, volunteer-led projects
in DC. We successfully raised $3,061 in the annual mailing, which
funds go to large volunteer projects and scholarships for blind
students. Also, we are adding a fourth student to the roster of
Bud Keith Scholarship for the Blind.
So now that we're rocking and rolling with all of the many functions
PCPF serves. . . let's talk ANNIVERSARIES. As you may have heard,
Peace Corps turns 50 this year, and PCPF wants to make sure you're able
to commemorate this important milestone. Please see more
information below, and be on the look out for emails and Facebook posts
(not a member of PCPF's Facebook page? Go check it out!)
Also, let's not forget that Peace Corps Panama turns 50 in 2013.
We are already working on a Panama-based reunion and will be sending
out basic information at the end of the year. However to make
this reunion a success we need your help! Please see information
in this article of El Bo about Group Liaisons. We need your help
finding those long, lost volunteers!
On a final note, thank you again for giving me the honor of serving as
president of PCPF. It has been an enriching experience -
connecting with RPCVs, brainstorming about how to keep us relevant, and
most especially, getting to stay connected to Peace Corps and
Panama. Les deseo muchos éxitos en todas sus funciones
diarias. ¡Y chao pesca'o!
La Presidenta,
Valerie
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Peace
Corps Panama Friends Board of Directors
Valerie Whiting, President
Sarah Schmidt, Vice President
Jaime Holland, Treasurer
Hugh Smith, Secretary
David Modzelewski, Panama Liason
Jerry Lutes, Bud Keith Fund Committee Director
Valerie Whiting/Ed O'Brien, Membership Committee Director
Alicia Añino, Communications Committee Director
Steve Spangler, Webmaster
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PCPF Supported Projects
PCPF, through you, contributes to Peace Corps
Partnership Panama projects (see PCPF's Facebook page for details on
specific projects) and raises funds for the Super Small Program
Assistance grants through your calendar purchases.
Since January, PCPF has supported 8 Peace Corps Panama
Partnership projects for a total of $1,650, and raised $1,411 the Bud
Keith Fund . PCPF sold 429 Panama calendars and raised $5,148
for Panama's Volunteer Action Committee's super small project fund. 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.
Thank you for your continued support!
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PCPF Welcomes Fourth Bud Fund Scholar
by Jerry Lutes
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Angeline and her
grandmother
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Angeline Oro Cruz joins
Alejandro Martínez, Erika Pimentel, and Melfín Guevara as a recipient
of a Bud Keith scholarship for the blind. Like Erika, Angeline
lives near Arraiján, making access to the schools and services in the
capital difficult. She is only eight years old, too young to
commute to the capital by herself. She lives with her
grandparents. They have found a private school near them that is
willing to work with Angeline. The Patronato Luz del Ciego, the
institution that recommended Angeline for the scholarship, is teaching
Angeline's teachers and grandparents how to help Angeline. PCPF
will provide a $50/month stipend for tuition and school supplies, paid
only during the school year.
Angeline's scholarship is the direct result of your generous
contributions to the Bud Keith Fund. Those contributions totaled
$6,333 in 2010. Please keep them coming by donating now.
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PCPF Group Liaisons
By Dave Modzelewski
PCPF Panama Liaison (el Canafistulo de Pocri 1968-1979
Group 15)
As Peace Corps nears its 50th anniversary in 2011 and Peace Corps Panama hits
the same mark in 2013, PCPF is excitedly working on reconnecting past
volunteers to Panama and the Peace Corps experience all of us shared.
Planning for a big reunion in Panama in 2013 has begun and its success
will depend on all of our efforts to make contact with lost
friends.
As the Panama Liaison for Peace Corps Panama Friends I
have taken on two responsibilities:
1) Group
Liaisons
To enlist one or two persons from each group of Panama
volunteers (there are 66) starting with the initial grupo in
1963 who, with assistance from PCPF will reach out and re-engage fellow
RPCVs from their group. The initial task will be to identify RPCVs, and
update addresses both snail and email for as many volunteers as
possible. (Perhaps we'll establish a friendly competition between
groups to see which can gain the highest numbers and percentage of
contacts). If you are interested in becoming a group
liaison contact me at davidmodz@gmail.com or
(413) 297-4528 or (413) 736-4187 and I will try to provide you
with some assistance in your search for our Peace Corps Panama friends.
Liaisons will get
regular updates from me regarding our progress.
2) Photography Project
My second task is to
begin to develop a photographic retrospective of Panama as seen through
the eyes of Peace Corps/ Panama Volunteers. If we are successful in
this effort we envision a traveling exhibit of the photos both state
side and throughout Panama and perhaps a permanent home for the exhibit
somewhere. If you are interested in submitting a photograph or
photographs for the proposed exhibit a set of submission guidelines
will follow. We plan to create a website so that all of the submitted
photos can be viewed.
The tasks may be
monumental...but let us begin.
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Group
7 Accepts Challenge
By Steve
Spangler
Group 7 has taken
up David's challenge to find our 44 members who served in Panama from
1964 to 1966. We have located 37 of our members and are
still searching for others. And, after talking to most of
our members, we have begun planning our first-ever Group 7
Reunion. We will meet during the Peace Corps 50th
Anniversary celebration in Washington D.C. from September 23-25, 2011.
**JoEllen Day
Keating is our Group 7 Liaison to David. If you were in Group 7,
please contact JoEllen at jw4dk@aol.com or 540-882-3217.
**If you were in
another group, please contact David Modzelewski at davidmodz@gmail.com or 413-736-4187 to
find out who is the Liaison for your group or to volunteer (pardon
the word) to be the Liaison for your group.
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Arriving at Tocumen: Steve Spangler, Larry Feltz, Matt
Murdock, David Hines, Peace Corps Panama Director David Boubion, and
Joe Spencer
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In training in Tucson, AZ: Rosalyn Kobrin Baum, Bryna
Nordorf Herbold, JoEllen Day Keating, Wendy Yamasaki Macdona
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Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Celebrations
by Alicia Añino
Since 1961, when then Senator John F. Kennedy tasked us
to promote world peace and friendship, more than 200,000 volunteers in
139 countries have answered that call. Thus, when Kennedy was elected
President of the United States, Congress approved the establishment of
the Peace Corps in 1961; and still, 50 years later this civil service
program continues to change lives around the world. We have been
part of that change: since 1963 there have been over 60 groups in
Panama.
The worldwide inaugural launch of "Peace Corps Month"
started March 1! A comprehensive list of stateside
activities celebrating Peace Corps' anniversary can be found
at http://events.peacecorps50.org/ where
you can also submit your region's celebration
activities. PCPF is planning stateside activities, as well
as a Peace Corps Panama anniversary reunion in Panama in 2013.
Here are known PCPF
global house parties scheduled this week:
- March 1st (yes, it's too late to attend this
one!), Development Alternatives Inc., Bethesda, MD
- March 2nd @ 6:30 PM, Contact David
Modzelewski, davidmodz@gmail.com, 33 Florentine Gardens,
Springfield, MA
- March 6th @ 7:00 PM (RPCV-AmeriCorps alum
networking event), Contact Alicia Añino, alscampb@iupui.edu,
3254 Maumee Court, Indianapolis, IN
PCPF has started
work on a photographic retrospective of Panama. Ideas for this
project include a US and Panama traveling exhibit, or permanent
home TBD for the exhibit. If you are interested in submitting
photographs for this exhibit contact Dave at davidmodz@gmail.com.
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Spotlight:
Thanksgiving in Panama
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Ismael
Martínez with his students
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On
November 24, 2010 a group of university students studying English
at the Centro Regional Universitario de Coclé celebrated
Thanksgiving in Panama. Ismael Martínez, a passionate English teacher
in Coclé organized the event to help his students learn
about this rich U.S. tradition. The celebration was complete
with turkey and pumpkin pie, and some students even dressed up as
Native Americans.
Currently-serving Peace Corps Volunteers and international AFS
(American Field Service) students were special guests.
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Mark's
house in Las Huacas del Quije, Coclé (circa 1999)
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PCRV Profile: Secrets of the Survivors
by
Mark
Eastburn
With
the ten-year anniversary of my Panamanian "adios" fast
approaching, I've been asked to take a few moments and reflect how my
time in Las Huacas del Quije influenced my return to the United States.
Since I'm now married to a Panamanian citizen and have two children
with dual citizenship, some days it feels like I never left. But in my
twin careers of teaching and writing, the contrasts between my
experiences in Panama and the U.S. have been quite sharp. My students
rarely have the slightest idea what life is like in a rural village
nestled upon the hills of Coclé-they can't fathom the concept of no
electricity, no iPhone, no television, no video games, no indoor
plumbing...and don't even get me started on latrines. When I show them
pictures of my former site, however, my students are usually struck by
how happy everyone appears. There may be poverty, but happiness
abounds. And that might be the most valuable lesson I can offer our
consumer-driven culture-people can be just as happy as we are without
so much buying and selling and rushing to and fro.
I've been writing ever since I returned from Panama, first to get down
a slew of ideas that had been swimming around in my head, and later to
organize everything into a coherent book. Several manuscripts have come
to fruition as a result, from a science-fiction novel titled My Girlfriend Is a Squid
to a post-apocalyptic love story called Prudence. In everything that I write,
characters and events are constantly forming from experiences that
began with my Peace Corps service, so if any of my works get published,
I'll have Las Huacas de Quije to thank. Of course, getting published is
always the hardest part of getting a novel done, but the lessons I
learned in the Peace Corps help put it all in perspective-my hard work
didn't move mountains, and I failed at many things, but I still managed
to make life a little more interesting for my Panamanian friends. If I
can accomplish the same in future endeavors, I'll consider them a
success.
P.S. by Alicia Añino
You can buy Mark's book, Secrets
of the Survivors on amazon.com; it's a great reptilian
read! And you can read his blog at www.markeastburn.blogspot.com.
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 On the Blog - PCPF on Facebook
Here's what "bochinchoso" RPCVs are talking
about:
PCPF is funding all kinds of dynamic projects: aqueduct,
composting latrine (can someone make ME one?), rainwater catchment
system, wood saving stove, etc.
Panama Canal closes due to flooding and the subsequent water crisis in
the city
President Martinelli promotes the contruction of a 3rd
and 4th bridge over the canal
Group 66 swearing-in ceremony
Peace Corps Journals:
Follow Peace Corps Panama volunteers on one blog spot!
Recommend PCPF on Facebook to all
your friends; let's get 500 members for the 50th
anniversary.
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La Vaina
 by Jerry Lutes
Research Enhances Volunteer Experience
"Wondering what drink to order on a first date? What cubetazo do
you bring to the pre-game party? Will the beer I order negatively
affect my masculinity? These were the questions that faced us as
we undertook the monumental task of deciding once and for all the best
beer in Panama." What beer won the volunteers' taste
test? Find out in La Vaina. Read La Vaina every day!
The
January 2011 La Vaina edition
is now on the PCPF website.
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 Tú
Opinión
We'd love to have you be part of "the gossip"!
You can...
- 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;
- send us
feedback and photos of an activity in your region celebrating the
50th anniversary of Peace Corps; or
- publish
photos on www.panamapcv.net, PCPF Facebook
page, or link to an on-line photo album.
Email tú opinión to: editorelbo@gmail.com
or asanino@linuxquestions.net.
Sincerely,
Alicia Añino
Peace Corps Panama Friends
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