Fieldnotes: Blogging on UNICEF's child survival work in the field

Media Relations Officer Richard Alleyne is traveling and sent the following notes from Panama. More to follow, with pix:

Day 1: El Dorado, PANAMA
I’ve arrived in Panama and at first blush my impression is: why does UNICEF need to be here? Panama City is a built up metropolis with high-rises, lit up billboards and new construction projects seemingly everywhere. This of course is not the whole story and like most urban environments around the world, stark poverty exists just in the shadows of skyscrapers and ultramodern shopping malls, and children are the most vulnerable in these situations… Panama is no exception.

After an afternoon briefing with UNICEF’s country office staff these disparities were confirmed and we were told that our trip to the western region of Panama the following day would afford us the opportunity to see UNICEF programming at work among Panama’s largest indigenous group, the Ngobe Bugle. We were also told that in these rural, difficult to reach communities the level of poverty and exclusion we observed would far exceed what exists as urban decay in Panama City.

Day 2: Chiriqui, PANAMA
To get to western Panama we flew out of a small airport just outside of Panama City called Albrook. After a 45-minute trip we landed in the city of David. From there we drove for another hour or so into the province of Chiriqui. We were on our way to the village of Boca Macho. The landscape was lush, the climate humid and hot. Though our delegation had 4WD vehicles, the roads leading into Boca Macho were hazardous and extremely difficult to negotiate. Boca Macho is in the comarca (a term similar to US Native American reservations) of the Ngobe Bugle. UNICEF has been supporting the efforts of the community of Boca Macho as its community leaders endeavor to improve access to education and sustain better practices around nutrition, especially for children. In indigenous communities like that of Boca Macho, growth stunting due to nutritional deficiencies range between an alarming 65-85 percent. Panama’s national average is at 20 percent.

Four years ago the parents of Boca Macho decided to build a school in their village. Prior to this the children of the community would have to walk more than an hour to another village in order to attend school. We were told that the impetus to build came after a young girl from the village drown while on her way to school trying to cross a flooded river.

A ranch school was constructed and after one year only 18 children were in attendance, and there was one teacher. There was no middle school. As a result of a survey, field visits and a project proposal facilitated by UNICEF, the community of Boca Macho obtained the construction of a new concrete school building. The school registration increased to 51 children. A middle school was opened and two teachers are currently working.