LLano Ñopo

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

Llano Nopo is located in Comarca Ngabe-Bugle and Global Brigades began working with community members in January 2021. Community members have access to credit through an established and thriving community bank which will support continued investment in local businesses and home improvement projects for families within the community. People in Llano Nopo are primarily dedicated to agriculture and fish mongering. Through Global Brigades a Community Health Worker was trained to provide healthcare support and ongoing trainings for community members.

Corregimiento: Comarca Ngabe-Bugle
District: Muna

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

HEALTH CARE ACCESS:

The community of Llano Nopo currently has a health center attended by a doctor and a nurse. When there is only a nurse available and a community member needs to see a dentist, they must travel to the nearest town with a full health center where doctors and occasionally dentists are on staff.  Visitors to the health center can expect long wait times given the limited staff and resources to meet the demand from all neighboring communities.

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Llano Nopo but has not yet begun with the Medical Brigades program. Now in the planning phase, mobile clinics and Community Health Workers training will start as soon as feasible.

 COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:

GB Panama’s Medical Dental team started the Agentes Comunitarios en Salud or ACeS program in 2016. “Agentes” from 10 communities in East Panama and Darien were Panama’s first community health workers. Llano Nopo is now one of the communities that are training 1 Community Health Worker who is fairly close to completing all training and starting visiting community members with health needs.

Some of the CHW’s primary responsibilities include:

  • Promoting healthy practices and maintaining contact with GB staff about their progress
  • Performing First Aid in the case of an emergency
  • Managing the Patient Referral cases of the community
  • Promoting involvement with other GB programs such as Human Rights, Public Health and Microfinance workshops
  • Recording and monitoring members of their respective communities who:
    • Are pregnant
    • Have a chronic disease
    • Are children under five
      years old.

Dental

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

DENTAL CARE ACCESS

In working closely with the medical program, the dental program provides fillings, extractions, and fluoride treatments as a standard part of medical brigades. Most community members do not have regular access to dental care due to the lack of dentist within a reasonable distance.

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

LLANO NOPO’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE

Community members in Llano Nopo lack access to financial resources within the community. The majority of community members do not have bank accounts and there are only limited informal forms of credit available. For example, a person could obtain ‘credit’ at a local store by buying something now and paying later, simply adding it to their ‘tab,’ but there would be no formalized credit transaction.

Larger financial institutions do not approve loans to community members without a fixed income, making it difficult for local micro-enterprises to grow and thrive. Most community members cite the distance to the nearest bank as the main discouragement to having a personal savings account. Even if individuals wish to travel the distance, not all community members can become members of these financial institutions–cooperatives require monthly membership fees, savings accounts often require a fixed income, and the cost of travel provides an additional barrier.

LLANO NOPO’S MICROFINANCE SOLUTION

The Global Brigades Business and Microfinance Team trained a new Community Bank in Llano Nopo in January 2021. To strengthen both the knowledge and trust in the Community Bank, the in-country team will evaluate the possibility of working with Brigades and TeleBrigades. This will encourage the opening of more savings accounts, growth of seed capital, and upon the completion of six months of executive board training, the Community Bank will begin giving out loans to bank members to spur economic growth and home improvement projects.

Economic activities : agriculture and fish mongering
Local businesses : kiosks
Community Banks : Yes

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Llano Nopo but has not yet begun with the Public Health Brigades program. Now in the planning phase, the delivery and installation of household health products will start as soon as feasible.

% of homes with latrines : 66%
% of homes with eco stoves : 1005
% of homes with water filters : 0
Common house materials : cement blocks and bricks

Local Reference Points

View the map to see the closest volunteer lodging facilities, hospitals, and other relevant points of reference.

  • Feature

The Largest Movement for Global Health and Holistic Development

“Global Brigades” refers to one or more Global Brigades entities, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity; “Global Brigades, Inc.,” “Global Brigades Health and Development,” “Global Brigades UK,” “GBO Ghana,” “Asociacion Global Brigadas de Honduras,” and “Fundacion Brigadas Globales de Panama”. Global Brigades Health and Development (“Global Brigades Canada”) is a federally registered Canadian charity independent from Global Brigades Inc.

Guidestar 2021