La Vaina July 1999 - Page 3
| La Vaina - July 1999 page 1 | La Vaina - July 1999 page 3 |
| Announcements | Maureen's poems |
| Editor's page | News from the medical desk |
| Stuff from Matteo | The Mejorana in Guarare |
| "Desert Island" Disks | The July VAC |
| La Vaina - July 1999 page 2 | |
| Kosovo Conundrum | |
| Just Map It | |
| I just wanna Dance |
R.A.W. Women Rebecca, Alicia, Wendy Three PC business volunteers From New York, NC and Indy Brought together to be close peers. They hang, talk and laugh, drink and dance, Eat and shop, snuggle and cuddle, Always with wonderful, fun plans They never seem to go idle. Deeply quiet and peaceful
rooms Crazy as they may sometimes
be - Maureen T. Ong Ante
Calm across the
horizon |
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NEWS FROM THE MEDICAL DESK Hemos recibido instrucciones de Washington D.C. donde se recomienda a todos los "posts" realizar EVACUATION DRILL una vez al año. Les hacemos saber que: algún día, de algún mes, los Voluntarios de alguna región de Panamá escucharán por RADIO la siguente frase: "VOLUNTARIOS DEL CUERPO DE PAZ FAVOR DE PRESENTARSE A LA REUNION REGIONAL HOY DIA". Al escuchar ésta frase, los Voluntarios deben proceder según el Emergency action/Notificacion Plan que les fué entregado a todos, inclusive los Trainees por lo que se les recomienda que SE LO LEAN Y SE LO APRENDAN MUY BIEN!!!!!! (The evacuation plan the index I of the Volunteer Handbook) MID-TERM MEDICAL NOTICE We want to remind the Bäri Kuane "All Business - Sept. 98" PCVs that their Mid-Term Health Evaluation date is from August 30 to September 10, please call us and make your appointment. We need you for 3 days, the viáticos will be deposited in your bank accounts at the end of July. WILLY AND LOURDES OUT OF THE OFFICEFrom September 12 to 18 they will be out of the country in a PCMO meeting in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Dra. Aytza Amador will be covering for us from 2:00 pm TO 4 pm daily in the office. If you need anything please do not hesitate to call her. In case of EMERGENCY she (Dra. Amador) will have Lourdes’ beeper - so call as if you were calling Lourdes and Dra. Amador will answer your call. Remember to always put a return phone number in your message! Anonymous Safety Reports at the COS Conference July, 1999En la COS Conference de cada año, se le pide a los Voluntarios por terminar que nos escriban en forma anónima si han experimentado algún caso donde se haya visto amenazada su seguridad y que ellos no lo hayan reportado a la oficina. Este año, de 17 Voluntarios por COS recibimos 10 reportes anónimos que enseguida vamos a detallar Incidents that were not reported:
Safety Recommendations for PVCs and PC Panama: 1.- PCVs keep track of of bank account balance and checks/ATM card 2.- Tell PCTs that no matter how much they trust people or families they live with, they have a good chance of being robbed 3.- Stress safety concerns to PCTs. It is important to get people thinking about prioritizing safety from the beginning. 4.- Give periodic safety reminders 5.- Publish information of reported incidents 6.- Reinforce the use of common sense Al comparar las recomendaciones dadas por los Voluntarios de este año con las que dieron los Voluntarios anteriores, nos damos cuenta que el denominador común es USE COMMON SENSE. |
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THE MEJORANA IN GUARARE
For five days every September, people gather from all over Panama to celebrate the patronales of La Virgen de las Mercedes in Guarare, Los Santos. The celebration usually begins on the 23rd of the montha dn culminates on the 27th. This year things are a bit different. Chemist, teacher and folklorist, Profesor Manuel Fernando Zarate, dedicated much of his life to educating people and instilling within them an interest in and practice of Panama's folklore traditional music (both instrumental and voice). In 1949 he founded a folklore festival to be held each year in his hometown of Guarare, on the eastern coast of the Aszuero Peninsula, to celebrate both the patrona and the folklore: the Fesitval Nacional de La Mejorana. These five days in late september are dedicated to polleras, traditional dance and music, contests, ox-cart parades, bull fighting and tipico dancing (in the evenings). You won't catch a glimpse of a single electric guitar nor encounter the persistent vibrations of buyatecas, as there are no modern instruments or music permitted during the event. It is dominated by Spanish guitars, violins, churucus, tambores and, of course, the mejorana. The people in Guarare, and the rest of the province, are proud of the tradition in the Azuero and so in this year, 1999--the 50th anniversary of the Festival and the 100th anniversary of the birth of Manuel Zarate--the Mejorana will be celebrated for 10 days instead of 5. Yes, 10. The dates this year are the 18th - 27th of September. Last year, as many of you are aware, 20 PCV's stayed in Guarare to celebrate Panama's largest folk festival. This year, again, you are all welcome. There is a wonderful woman in La Enea de Gaurare, Alda Bustamante, who has warmly opened her home to volunteers on many occasions and specifically the Mejorana. This year is no different. The days that volunteers may syat at her home are the 23rd-27th. Also, there is a maximum number of people who may stay there, as space (in her house anyway) is not infinite. If you are interested in staying at Alda's during the Mejorana to get a little taste (or a big bite!) of this great Panamanian tradition please call me to let me know when you'll be coming and for which days. At that time I can get you directions (if you don't already know them). If it turns out that more volunteers are interested in staying than fit in her house, Will Woodfield in Agua Buena, a mere iguana's skip stroll from Guarare, has graciously agreed to billet people in his house as well. Everyone's welcome. As a little hint: the best days to come this year will be Friday-Sunday, the 24th-26th of September. The parade complete with diablos limpios and sucios, the last 49 queens of the Mejorana empolleradas, colorful Congo dancers from Colon, and much more wil take place on Sunday, the 26th (PQS). I hope to see you all there in whatever traditional garb you may own. Also, bring at least one nice get-up as we are all invited to dinner in the home of a good friend in Guarare over the weekend (probably Saturday night). Please remember to call or write me to let me know when you're coming. See you in September... Melanie
Emerson |
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VAC Minutes July 5, 1999 ATTENDEES: Erika Boehm, Brad Herring, Jacobo Brace, Sharon Sweeney, Ryan Nathan, Krista Zimmerman, Melanie Emerson, Jenny Moon, Julie Brown, Karen Townsend, Krista Cramer (in spirit!) HATS, HATS, HATS - Peace Corps Panamá hats are available in the office for $10 for volunteers/staff and $12 for all others. Ask a Vac member or Dayra if you are interested. T-SHIRT DESIGN CONTEST - Please turn in your entries by September 30 (to the VAC box). Free shirt and hat given to contest winner! We are planning to offer other colors than white - your requests have been heard! We would like to have the shirts ready by the AVC. ALL VOLUNTEER CONFERENCE - VAC is looing into Santa Clara again this year. We discussed activities for the weekend, and thanks to Ryan's suggestions from Ecuador, the possibilities include a talent show, dance conjunto, volleyball, crafts, photo gallery of volunteer life, three-legged races, discoteca and much more! NOTE: Groups or Committees--if you would like to meet during the AVC, submit an informe to VAC in order to ease scheduling problems (again, to the box). As viaticios and hotel selection have been hot topics lately at P.C., administration is looking into making arrangements with various hotels to accomodate volunteers and their budgets. A list of frequently visited hotels was made and will be submitted to Janice. A process is underway to try to get better rates from hotels in the City and to potentially raise the volunteer viatico. TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME - Thank you to all who participated in the annual softball game! The rains held at bay as volunteers from Peace Corps and JICA romped in the mud. Final score unimportant as a good time was had by all! Until next year's rematch...Everyone should thank Karen T. for her pizza perseverance. TOPICS FOR THE NEXT MEETING Monday, August 30, 1:00pm in the office - everyone is welcome! Decide on AVC location Assign job roles for AVC preparation Form draft schedule of AVC New hotels/viaticos update |
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