Today all of the environmental volunteers visited a Peace Corps worker at her site. It was an hour or so north of Panama City, on the Chagres River, which is the largest river in Panama, and flows into the Panama Canal. It is the only river in the world which flows into both the Atlantic and Pacific. We visited an indigenous site, inhabited by the Envera tribe. We had to cross the river in a dugout canoe to get to the village. It was a big canoe, holding up to 15 people. It was made from one huge log, hollowed out by two people, taking two to three months to complete. They last a long time. This one was 19 years old. It leaked a bit of water, but not much.
We all really enjoyed the visit. We saw the projects the PC volunteer had created, which included homemade clay ovens, and a solar panel to give electricity to the school. The village has no electricity, and has running water most of the year. By the end of the dry season, the water level is very low because it all is used by boats going through the locks of the canal. Each time a boat goes through it releases a great deal of water into the ocean. During this period they need to use water from the river.
We also visited her house, which was very nice inside.
While it is unlikely that Heather and I will be in a village like this, it was very interesting to see what a PC volunteer does in an indigenous village.
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