Arimae

  • Overview
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Business
  • Public Health

Overview

Arimae is a community in the Panama province, located right off of the Panamerican highway. It is about a 4 hour drive from the Panama City airport. A typical home in Arimae is made of wood and palm thatch. Arimae is an indigenous community, but what makes it unique is that the community is split evenly between two different indigenous groups: the Embera and the Wounaan.  The two different indigenous groups descend from common ancestors; they both live and dress similarly, but each has its own language. The most common forms of livelihood among the men in this community are agriculture and artisan crafts. The women usually take care of the home and also make and sell traditional crafts.  The main crops produced in Arimae are corn, plantains, and other fruits. 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. The top needs expressed by the community when Global Brigades began their partnership in Arimae were: legal protection of the land and improved access to health care.

Corregimiento: Santa Fe
District: Chepigana

Homes : 109
Population : 752
Water System : Yes
Community Bank : Complete GB
Electricity : Yes
Health Center : Nearby in Santa Fe
Community Health Workers : Yes
Homes with Latrines : 88%
Education in the Community : Up to 6th grade
Distance from Lodging Facility : 1 hour

Medical

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

ARIMAE’S HEALTHCARE ACCESS:

Even though Panama is a country with a lot of economic growth, this growth does not apply equally to all Panamanians, especially those in rural areas. This results in stark inequality when it comes to healthcare access. The Panamanian Ministry of Health (MINSA) provides two different types of health facilities throughout rural Panama: Centros de Salud and Puestos de Salud. Centros are the larger of the two, often found in municipalities, and typically have at least one physician on staff at all times with nurses and potentially a dentist. Puestos are found sporadically in rural communities and generally have a single nurse available. 

Even with this coverage, the Centros frequently lack a full pharmacy and the staff capacity to see every patient each day. After walking long distances or paying for a bus, rural visitors to the Centros can expect long wait times given the limited staff and resources to meet the demand from all neighboring communities. The physician density in Panama remains around 630 people for every one doctor. According to the World Health Organization, there should be a maximum of 435 people per physician to qualify a country as having adequate access to medical attention.

Arimae has access to a health center in the nearby town of Santa Fe. During their initial communications with Global Brigades, community members expressed that the top three illnesses in Arimae were diarrhea, skin infections, vomiting, and colds.

513

Volunteers

4,355

Patient Consultations

144

Vision Screenings

247

Health Education Workshops

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:

A group of CHWs from East Panama, trained in 2019

Arimae has 2 Community Health Worker that was trained by Global Brigades. Community Health Workers, or Agentes Comunitarios en Salud (ACeS), work on a volunteer basis as advocates for healthcare within their communities. Their primary responsibilities include: educating community members to prevent common illnesses, providing emergency first aid, supporting pregnant mothers and newborns, and following up with chronic patients. The presence of these volunteers and their advocacy for health within their community contributes to the sustainability of healthcare supported by Global Brigades’ Medical Program and is one of the most impactful disease prevention strategies in rural communities.

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Medical and Dental Brigade clinics are hosted in Arimae‘s school building. The various stations of the clinic are held in the classrooms. Each day of the brigade, an average of 4 educational workshops or charlas are facilitated with the clinic’s patients.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 367

 

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN ARIMAE:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Pennsylvania State University Medical Brigade March 2012 65 University of Washington Medical Brigade August 2012 30
Georgetown University Medical Brigade March 2013 45 Ohio State University Medical Brigade August 2013 30
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medical Brigade January 2014 21 California State University Bakersfield Medical Brigade June 2014 34
University of Michigan Dearborn Medical Brigade April 2015 21 University of Virginia & University of North Carolina Charlotte Medical Brigade March 2016 41
Indiana University-Purdue Medical Brigade August 2016 24 Stetson University Medical Brigade March 2017 24
Rutgers University Medical Brigade March 2019 30 Florida State University & University of Florida Medical Brigade August 2019 37
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Brigade January 2020 20 University of Tennessee & University of Mississippi December 2021 22
University of Waterloo Medical, Western University of Health  Sciences Medical & St. George’s University of London Medical Brigade August 2022 27 22

 

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 dental services within a reasonable distance in part due to the cost of procedures.

924

Dental Patient Consultations

575

Fluoride Treatments

385

Extractions

41

Fillings Performed

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Medical and Dental Brigade clinics are hosted in Arimae‘s school building. The various stations of the clinic are held in the classrooms. Each day of the brigade, an average of 4 educational workshops or charlas are facilitated with the clinic’s patients.

  • AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 367

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN ARIMAE:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Pennsylvania State University Medical Brigade March 2012 65 University of Washington Medical Brigade August 2012 30
Georgetown University Medical Brigade March 2013 45 Ohio State University Medical Brigade August 2013 30
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Medical Brigade January 2014 21 California State University Bakersfield Medical Brigade June 2014 34
University of Michigan Dearborn Medical Brigade April 2015 21 University of Virginia & University of North Carolina Charlotte Medical Brigade March 2016 41
Indiana University-Purdue Medical Brigade August 2016 24 Stetson University Medical Brigade March 2017 24
Rutgers University Medical Brigade March 2019 30 Florida State University & University of Florida Medical Brigade August 2019 37
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Brigade January 2020 20 University of Tennessee & University of Mississippi December 2021 22
22

 

Business

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

ARIMAE’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE

Given the rural location of Arimae, community members typically lack access to financial resources locally. The majority of community members do not have bank accounts and there is 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 microenterprises to grow and thrive. Most community members cite the distance to the nearest bank as the main discouragement to having a personal savings account. In order to gain access, members must travel to Santa Fe, a 30-minute bus ride, and some community members even have an account in the National Bank in Metetí, which is over 45 minutes away. Even if individuals wish to travel the distance, not all community members can become members of these financial institutions. As examples, cooperatives require monthly membership fees, savings accounts often require a fixed income, and the cost of travel and the lack of land titles as an indigenous community provide additional barriers.

214

Volunteers

336

Loans Disbursed

$9,110

Capital Invested

30

Saving Accounts Opened

ARIMAE’S MICROFINANCE SOLUTION

Members of the Arimae community bank

The Business Program works to stimulate the local economy by organizing community volunteers around a community bank, or caja rural, which is entirely owned and operated by its members. The Business Program provides training and support to help strengthen these community banks. In order to pool their limited funds together, increase the capital available to the community bank, and expand the impact of its financial services, each member contributes a capitalization fee for which they receive a proportional amount of the bank’s dividends at the end of its fiscal year. Upon the completion of six months of executive board training, the community bank begins giving out loans to bank members to spur economic growth and home improvement projects.

Arimae’s community bank was established in 2014 with the support of Global Brigades.  

ARIMAE’S BUSINESS SOLUTION

A small business owner in Arimae

Building off of a strong relationship developed in partnership with Global Brigades as a Holistic Community, Arimae looks to receive financial training and business consulting to expand and improve its local microenterprises.

As members of the Community Bank, Arimae’s micro-enterprises, led almost entirely by women or families, contribute to savings accounts and budget for loans to expand their businesses in the future. Through the help of Business Brigades, clients get advice on their most concerning business challenges and can also receive assistance in developing sustainable agriculture practices since many local businesses are based in cultivating produce and raising animals.

BUSINESS VOLUNTEERS IN ARIMAE:

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Business Brigade March 2014 28 University of Puget Sound Business Brigade May 2014 16
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Business Brigades January 2015 30 Oakland University Business Brigade May 2015 22
Penn State University / University of Bayreuth Medical Brigade July 2015 24  University of Southern California  January 2016  22
University of Maryland Baltimore County Microfinance Brigade March 2016 16 London School of Economics Business Brigade June 2017 13
University of Southern California Business Brigade March 2019 9 Alfred College February 2021 4
CUNY City College of New York October 2021 25

Public Health

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

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

 

Homes with Latrines : 38%
Homes with Eco-Stoves : 0
Homes with Water Filters : 0
Common House Materials : Wood & Straw

Legal Empowerment

Program Status

  • Planning
  • Active
  • Complete

ARIMAE’S LEGAL EMPOWERMENT  CHALLENGE

Legal services are difficult to access in rural eastern Panama for two primary
reasons: location and cost. Most often, there are no legal services set up
within rural communities and are instead concentrated in urban areas such as Panama City.
Therefore, rural Panamanians must travel multiple hours to access these
services. Not only does traveling to these urban areas cost money, but the
legal services themselves are frequently too expensive.

In addition, there is an attitude of mistrust amongst the rural clients.
Historically, there are many examples in which lawyers came to
rural communities, the community members paid for the legal services,
but the lawyers returned to the city without resolving the cases.
Therefore, it is a challenge to gain trust with community members when it
comes to dealing with their personal human rights issues, and to prove not
all lawyers will take advantage of them.

52

Volunteers

26

Legal Consultations

124

Participants at Educational Workshops

9

Family Cases Resolved

Civic Engagement and Empowerment

By focusing on specific aspects of legal access and inclusion, Global Brigades’ Legal Empowerment Program aims to empower communities like Arimae to overcome the obstacles mentioned above. Starting in January 2015, Brigaders have been able to tackle family law cases, execute pro-bono legal clinics, and perform educational workshops.

Family Law: The most common legal issues within the community include issues of alimony and childcare, land issues, domestic violence, and some violent crimes. Without a lawyer in the community, many legal issues go unresolved or unattended for many years, and seemingly simply legal troubles can go unanswered. Volunteers, in conjunction with Panamanian lawyers, have been able to resolve 9 law cases to date.

Legal Clinics: Global Brigade’s Legal Empowerment Program has been able to offer their pro-bono legal services to community members in Arimae with the help of Panamanian lawyers as they are shadowed by volunteers. Both community members and volunteers work together to challenge the stigma of lawyers in the region by offering real, professional services for free.

Educational Workshops: Volunteers have performed numerous workshops in Arimae. Capitalizing on the use of education as a tool for community empowerment, volunteers lead discussions and workshops with students and families about issues that have direct consequences and effects in their everyday lives, including: the right to education, child abuse, drug use, and child labor laws.

LEGAL EMPOWERMENT VOLUNTEERS IN ARIMAE

Chapter Date # Of Volunteers Chapter Date # Of Volunteers
Tulane Law School January 2015 9 University of Missouri May 2016 12
Indiana University & University of Kansas May 2017 11 DePaul University December 2019 7

 

Local Reference Points

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

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