a story's all in how you tell it.
You've got letters, but how you arrange them
is how your story goes.
We had a Jack Pearson cassette tape that we used to listen to on family road trips when I was a kid, and I still remember the lyrics to almost every song (Mom, Dad, and Brendan, a throwback! https://www.jackpearson.org/albums/singin-our-own-backyard) Using this link you can listen to the tape. I have learned so many lessons in the Comarca, but if I had to sum up the biggest lesson, I would play you the song Life is Kinda How You Spell it.
Let me back up. I want to give a little history of where I live, so you can better understand the current situation of the Ngäbe. When the Spanish arrived in Panama, they forced the indigenous people out of their homelands and up into the less fertile land of the mountains. As the country developed (majorly due to the canal) the indigenous areas were left behind. In my corregimiento, the first elementary school was built in 1972. So my host dad Victor started kindergarten in that year at age 7. My uncle Domingo started kindergarten at age 10. Slowly, high schools, health centers, churches and roads were built in the Comarca (and are still in the process of getting built). Our access road was cut in 1997. So when my neighbor was born in April 1994, a month before me, Lleya gave birth in the house. And when he started having seizures at six months old she hiked over three hours to the only hospital in San Felix, carrying him in her arms, crossing cow pastures and rivers. The Comarca, an official indigenous province with both modern and traditional governance, was formed in 1997 after a group of Ngäbes marched from San Felix to Panama City to testify in front of Parliament after decades of protesting for a Comarca. They literally walked 375 kilometers (233 miles) from San Felix to Panamá! The Ngäbes continue to demand more from the government by peacefully protesting.
Today, the Ngäbe people are at a crossroads. You turn to the left and see pristine, minimally impacted jungle rich in fruits and medicinal plants. You turn to the right and see concrete: construction of dormitories at the school, water tanks, and new electrical poles. In the two years I've been here, our access road has gotten paved, reducing the nausea-inducing hour-long bumpy commute to a smooth ride that can take as little as 20 minutes. I've seen two aqueducts built and four schools expanded just in our little municipality. I can now charge my laptop at my next-door neighbor's house thanks to our representative installing them a solar panel. Development is hugely beneficial in some ways - high school education is finally possible, all kids are vaccinated, maternal mortality is going down. You can see with your own eyes that the food security programs are working; almost all of the youth are way taller than their parents! But of course there are downsides as well. Overpopulation and depletion of the commons are becoming increasingly problematic. Young people, mostly men, leaving their communities for seasonal agricultural work has brought an HIV epidemic to the Comarca. (More about HIV in a later post)
Everyone in my community is poor, in a monetary sense. But there is an incredible difference in the lenses through which people view their own lives, and this is where my lesson comes in. There are people in Cerro Gallina who consistently complain that the government doesn't care about them, that their lives are so hard and will never get better. They complain that the kids don't care about speaking Ngäbere and preserving the culture for the next generation. And these are all valid complaints. But THEN you have the people who care so deeply. Those that take so much pride in their culture, language, and customs. Victor who helped bring laying hen projects to many families in the community. Dionicio and Yesi who patiently teach me Ngäbere and speak Ngäbere not to make fun of the gringa who can't understand, but because they love their language. Marcelino who is on a crusade to eliminate slash and burn farming and get everyone to adopt more sustainable techniques. Melvin who sweated for weeks to build two beautiful and successful fish ponds with no formal training. Milton who has working on starting an organic tomato business right in his backyard. Dinora and all the high schoolers in Dupí who celebrate their culture during tourism week. Rudy who leads us in the traditional jeki dance. Elsa who constantly looks for ways to grow the artisan group pa' seguir adelante. Hiraldo who is amazingly dedicated to his university studies. Domingo who works in construction all around our district in order to send his kids to college. And these are just a few.
Basically I have seen that although everyone comes from roughly the same place, some people struggle to get by and others do very well. People who capitalize on the chances that they come across, go in search of new opportunities, who value and appreciate their humble lifestyle are the ones that give me faith. It's truly all about the way you spin it. The Comarca could advance greatly in the next 50 years, or it could spiral downhill. I don't know what's going to happen, but I believe in the altruistic souls I have come to know and love here.
I have to leave all of these people so soon (30 days left) and my heart is breaking. But I have seen so many hopeful things that keep me going and I'm excited to be around another year in San Felix to keep up with my gente.
So my first grade teacher was right all along and I've learned that lesson well
Your mind helps create your reality like using letters when you're learning to spell
So when the sun comes up each morning with possibilities from A to Z
Choose the ones that are happy and healthy and wise and that's how your day will be.
In work news...
Victor finishing up the tank roof. We just have to do two more mortar layers on the inside floor and one more on the outside walls we'll be done. There is a light at the end of the tunnel...
Screenshot of a Facebook post from Rigoberto, a muchacho from fellow volunteer Jake's community. He came to acting camp in January and recently helped out with an Elige Tu Vida seminar at the high school in Cerro Iglesias. The caption translates to "Don't get tired of doing good, because that which you give without expecting anything in return, everything you plant you will one day harvest in abundance." The peculiar grammar assures me that these words were not copied, they came from his heart. My work is validated by rare statements like these. You are the future!!
No comments:
Post a Comment