Panama Verde Camp

Two weeks ago the was a Panama Verde camp in a town down the road from me. Panama Verde is a environmental youth group that some volunteers have in their sites. I brought four kids from my town.
We hiked for about an hour to this waterfall. Initially many kids had pena (shy) about going in the water but eventually almost all did. They had a great time and I think the majority had never seen a water fall. In this picture is Colin in the sunglasses, Adam, Melissa, and Maria. You may notice that all the girls essentially swim in regular clothes, this is customary so female volunteers can´t wear bathing suits in their sites.



The other day a camera crew came from a channel 12 news based out of Panama City. They were filming a documentary and conservation and ANAM they government ministry that protects the forests. In the foto is a girl that sang a song about caring for the environment and one of the stores in my town. The guy in the long hair did a juggling act and really impressed everyone one in town although he only juggled 3 clubs.
In this picture you can see what is left of the rancho that was constructed when we were building the toma. More importantly you can see part of the 30 meter cable bridge that is suspending the 1 and 1/2 inch PVC pipe. We built this bridge to go around part of the hill that will most likely landslide. Obviously you can´t bury a pipe in a landslide zone. Here is a picture of Benicio digging out some of the ditch for the tube. At this time the tube has arrived at the tank and hopefully at the town in two days. On average it is about a foot underground, but will be more when going through pasture where cows can break pipe up to two feet underground when its muddy.

This is the famous human knot game we were playing with my group at the camp. I was assigned to 7 kids from different indigenous communities in the province. They choose to be called the Lions and all had to where their colors all weekend. I really liked most of the kids in my group they seemed to get along and have no problem participating. We did many games like this one including tug of war, sing along songs, and a blind folded trust walk.
Here is the four kids I took from my town with their official certificates that they attended the camp (its a big deal to them). Also in the foto is Sarah, who organized the whole camp and Ennio the financial director of Panama Verde. Everything at the camp is payed for as well as transportation. The money ultimately comes from the Kellogg's Foundation.
Here is some group members planting saplings. We showed them how to mix native clayey soil with sand and compost to make and ideal soil to grow in.
Here is another shot of Adam helping teach kids how to apply the compost without burning the roots of the sapling. I actually learned alot at this camp too! I didn´t exactly know how to plant trees!
Juan, myself and Joel at the waterfall.