Three men passed me on the beach. I was sitting in the shade when they returned back up the same way. I heard the shortest say, “sh_t.” I asked them if they were being bit by the sand fleas. It was that one word that made me ask if they were Americans. Here is their story.
In 1989 they left Panama with their mother to live with their stepfather. Two of the brothers were born in Bocas. The youngest was their father’s biological child, and he was born in Panama City. Their father was a veteran of the United State Military and worked in the Canal Zone and served in the military. He was living in California when he met their mother. She was a teacher. She worked for many years as an English teacher in Panama. She also worked in the interior, where she had to undergo hardships and live in difficult situations with her sons. When they she left Panama to marry their step father, they moved to Boston where she had some sisters. There she became a Spanish teacher. She was also certified in Special Education and mathematics. She eventually earned her master’s degree and worked as a vice-principal in Boston public schools. The oldest brother is retired military. He served for 15 years in the wars in Iraq. Their father, also a veteran supported his family as plumber. The second son has several businesses in Boston and the youngest is now working in Panama City as a supervisor of a call center. The brothers also are dismayed by the cost of food in a country where people earn between 1 and 4 dollars an hour. The youngest is paid three dollars and fifty cents as a supervisor of an American call center in Panama City. Beginning call center employees inside of the United States are paid at least 12.50 an hour. Their father was born in Almirante. His family owned the land where the high school currently stands. He didn’t like farm work, and that is why he moved away. They still own land in Bastimentos, and the brothers plan on visiting their small Finca tomorrow with their father. This was a poetic end to my stay in Bocas del Toro. I have learned so much from the many people who have shared their stories with me. I felt that the fact that this family had left Panama to live in the US is a loss of human capital from Panama. A loss of their mother’s teaching vocation and energy, and the loss of the potential of her three sons. The cost of systemic racism is poverty for the whole country, and the loss of human capital and energy. I was able to videotape all three men, and their story will make it into the video and letter plan on writing on Harold Hibbert’s behalf. I have at least 90 minutes of video and many pictures to use to make a convincing case for the need for sanitation infrastructure in Almirante. It is going to take a lot of work, and I am going to need the help of people who know more about technology than I do. I need to upgrade my computer, and I also need to find a good video editor program for this project.
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Kelly TurnerI participated in Panama Teacher Match 2016, a program funded by the US Embassy in Panama and implemented by the non-profit organization, Partners of the Americas, based in Washington, D.C. The program supports the work of Panama Bilingüe, a national initiative enacted by the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, to improve English teaching nationwide though extensive teacher training. Archives
September 2016
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