Puerto Lara – Global Brigades

Overview

Puerto Lara is located in the biodiverse region of Darién, East of Panama City. Global Brigades began working with this community in 2016. Families in Puerto Lara are members of the Wounaan ethnic group. Community members maintain much of their traditional lifestyle, speaking Wounaan as their main language, and living in traditional wooden homes on stilts. 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 Puerto Lara are primarily dedicated to agriculture and the sale of artisanal crafts. When Global Brigades first started their partnership with Puerto Lara, community members expressed that their top needs were: improvements to education, health, and housing.

Corregimiento: Santa Fe
District: Chepigana

Homes : 70

Population : 529

Water System : Yes

Community Bank : Yes

Electricity : Yes

Health Center : No, closest is in Santa Fe (20min by bus)

Community Health Workers : Yes

Homes with Latrines : 100%

Education in the Community : Up to 9th grade

Distance from Panama City : 4 hours (220 km)

Medical

Program Status

Planning
Active
Complete

HEALTH CARE 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.

Puerto Lara has a Puesto de Salud. When a community member needs to see a doctor or dentist, they must travel 30 minutes away by bus or car to Santa Fe, the nearest town with a full Centro de Salud. The top illnesses reported by community members in Puerto Lara are: pneumonia, common cold, and skin infections.

177

Volunteers

1,358

Patient Consultations

65

Vision Screenings

56

Health Education Workshops (Approx.)

COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:

A group of CHWs from East Panama, trained in 2017

Puerto Lara has 2 Community Health Workers that were 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.

Medical brigaders present a charla in Puerto Lara’s school, 2018

BRIGADE INFORMATION

Medical and Dental Brigade clinics are hosted in Puerto Lara’s school building. The various stations of the clinic are held in the classrooms. Each day of the brigade, an average of 10 educational workshops or charlas are facilitated with the clinic’s patients.

AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 362

MEDICAL/DENTAL VOLUNTEERS IN PUERTO LARA:

Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers	Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers
Penn State University / University of Pennsylvania	May 2016	35	Pennsylvania State University	January 2017	32
University of Central Florida Medical	March 2019	30	Florida State University & University of Florida Medical	August 2019	37

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.

490

Dental Patient Consultations

237

Fluoride Treatments

258

Extractions Performed

24

Fillings Performed

BRIGADE INFORMATION

AVERAGE PATIENTS ATTENDED: 362

MEDICAL/DENTAL BRIGADES IN PUERTO LARA:

Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers	Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers
Penn State University / University of Pennsylvania	May 2016	35	Pennsylvania State University	January 2017	32
University of Central Florida Medical	March 2019	30	Florida State University & University of Florida Medical	August 2019	37

Water

Program Status

Planning
Active
Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Puerto Lara but has not yet begun with the Water Program. If there is a need, the Water Program will begin implementing a new water system or any necessary repairs to existing infrastructure as soon as feasible.

Water System : Yes

System Type : Gravity aqueduct

Homes connected to water : 100%

Water Council : Yes

Business

Program Status

Planning
Active
Complete

PUERTO LARA’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGE

Community members in Puerto Lara 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.

93

Volunteers

206

Loans Disbursed

60

Saving Accounts Opened

$5,660

Capital Invested

PUERTO LARA’S MICROFINANCE SOLUTION

Puerto Lara caja leaders with a representative from the World Bank

The Global Brigades Business and Microfinance Team trained a new Community Bank in 2015 in Puerto Lara.They also brought Microfinance and Business brigades in order to strengthen both the knowledge and trust in the Community Bank. This encouraged the opening of more savings accounts, growth of seed capital, and upon the completion of six months of executive board training, the Community Bank began giving out loans to bank members to spur economic growth and home improvement projects.

PUERTO LARA’S BUSINESS SOLUTION

GB staff helps a small business-owner from Puerto Lara fill out a Kiva loan application

In addition to the Community Bank, Global Brigades supports established and start-up micro-enterprises. Agro-businesses are prominent forms of commerce within this community and adequate book-keeping and maintaining relationships with customers, as well as proper agriculture cultivation can lead to increased revenues for business owners and employees.

As members of the Community Bank these 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 will receive advice on their most concerning business challenges and can also receive assistance in developing sustainable agriculture practices.

BUSINESS VOLUNTEERS IN PUERTO LARA:

Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers	Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers
Texas A&M University	January 2016	29	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	March 2017	21
University of Southern California Business	December 2018	23	Pennsylvania State University, University of Florida, & West Virginia University Business	May 2019	20

Public Health

Program Status

Planning
Active
Complete

Global Brigades is working on the implementation of the Holistic Model in Puerto Lara 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 flushing toilets : N/A

Homes with latrines : 100%

Homes with baths/showers : N/A

Common house materials : wood, zinc

Legal Empowerment

Program Status

Planning
Active
Complete

PUERTO LARA’S LEGAL EMPOWERMENT CHALLENGE

Students listen to a client during a legal clinic in Puerto Lara

Legal services are difficult to access in rural Darien 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. 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 among the rural clients. Historically, there have occurred many cases in which lawyers have come to rural communities, the community members have paid for the legal services, but the lawyers have returned to the city without resolving the cases. Therefore, it is a challenge to gain trust of the community members when it
comes to dealing with their personal human rights issues, and to prove not
all lawyers will take advantage of them.

15

Volunteers

20

Legal Consultations

141

Participants of Educational Workshops

5

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 Puerto Lara to overcome the obstacles mentioned above. Starting in 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 simple legal troubles can go unanswered. Volunteers, in conjunction with Panamanian lawyers, have been able to resolve 5 family law case to date.

Legal Clinics: Global Brigade’s Legal Empowerment Program has been able to offer their pro-bono legal services to community members in Puerto Lara 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 the school of Puerto Lara. 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 PUERTO LARA:

Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers	Chapter	Date	# Of Volunteers
Pennsylvania State University Legal Empowerment	May 2018	4	Indiana University Legal Empowerment	May 2019	11

Local Reference Points

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

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