More HIV/AIDS Awareness

I recently visited my wondeful volunteer buddy Mick on his Nobe Indian Reservation. We both work with Indigenous communities, although I live with the Embera tribe and he lives with the Nobes. Members of his community are much more bashful and demure than my community, which made our project of teaching HIV/AIDS to a group of 75 Nobe children quite a challenge.



(The volunteers and a handful of the kids from the HIV/AIDS presentation)




(Mick and the incredible view from his house. Before I came to Panama, I saw a photo of this house with a group of volunteers inside it on a blog. Who knew that I would be there months later with Mick- the follow-up volunteer- and our new group of friends).

Girlscout Camp

Recently, one of my best volunteer buds Emily and I decided to hold a girlscout camp. Well, actually, I thought it would be a good idea and applied for funding while Emily was out of the country, and she was such a good sport to make it all happen when she returned. So...I brought my Embera Indian group of 6 girlscouts across the country to meet Emily's Latin girlscouts and learn about HIV/AIDS. Ultimately, the intent was also to bring the 2 groups of girls together to try to tackle the racism against Indians that sometimes exist in Panama as well as encourage my girls to break the cycle of having lots of babies and at a young age (some of them have 8 brothers and sisters!). With all the help from Emily and her girlscouts, our camp was a great success. When post-tested, the gals proved they had a strong understanding of HIV/AIDS, and our 2 groups got along famously.



(Me and my girlscouts who, just like American teenie boppers, planned matching outfits)



(My and Emily's girlscouts in their traditional Indian and Latin skirts)

Borrowed Photographs

Since my camera is no more, I have been borrowing photos from friends. Here are a couple. The first is of me after surgery on my tootsies. The next is of Jake and Coco and their boat jam session. Lastly, my goofy volunteer buddies after a night of all you can eat pizza.