The Library Renovation Project

In the time I've been in Panama, I have spent an inordinate amount of time wishing I could make a difference, leave some sort of legacy, a noticeable impact, etc. Unfortunately, the nature of teaching makes results and effectiveness of teacers difficult to gauge. Many teachers I've talked to have said flat out that the fruits of our labor in the school will not be apparent for many years. It's all quite understandable. However, as a hard-working, goal-oriented person, it's a bit disheartening to hear that all my hard work will seem to amount to nothing in the two years I'm here. However, that might have just changed.

Recently, I've been talking with neighbors and community members. They, as usual, are discouraged that I haven't started community English classes. This pair of women phrased it better than most, citing the community's lack of initiative in setting up classes or collaborating with me. They said that I've been here for 9 months and they've yet to take advantage. "But Nick, why don't you just start the classes yourself?" Good question. Well, it's difficult to get projects done alone, especially when you're in a foreign county and culture, living in a close-knit community. If I start classes without real interest already built up in the community, it wouldn't be sustainable. They'd come one week, get bored, and stop coming. So they need to meet me half-way in anything I do here.

The conversations (by my probing) transitioned to the community library, a space used in the past for classes in literacy and other useful skills. It actually has some books, which is huge. The place used to have computers and electricity. The problem is that since no one was willing to work there for free, no one managed the space. The light bill went without paying, and so the lights eventually got cut off. Kids would take books without asking, and never returned them. You can imagine the rest of the story. Of course, I was drooling at the potential of the place and community members got excited about a new catalyst in the form of a Peace Corps volunteer.

Step 1 was getting the key. It turned out to be a wild goose chase. One person said they gave the key to Fulano (So-and-so), who then gave it to someone else to use this day. I went to no less than 5 different people, but I tracked it down. I now hold on to that key with my life. If I didn't, who knows what could happen?

The next step is cleaning up the place. It's not too bad, but there are bats hiding all in the roof and behind the circuit breakers (or whatever they're called). So that'll take some doing. I started by my lonesome, but some kids have helped on occasion. A few ladies have come as well to help.

After that I want to form a library committee to make the project more formal. That has proven unusually difficult. Ladies are willing to sign my little declaration, but we've set up meetings to get more involved. Two meetings and abysmal attendance have me down, but it's the culture. People say they'll come to your meeting. "Of course," they reply. And then they don't show up...

I'd like to:
-repaint the walls
-possibly redo the floor
-stock the place with new books, encyclopedias, children's stories in Spanish and English
-get new tables, chairs, a whiteboard (and possibly, possibly high-tech items like a copy machine, projector, etc.)
-start my English class by the new school year, end of February into March
-get an Infoplaza (internet cafe, more or less) in the space

We'll see how it goes. I'm gonna need a lot of help.

This doesn't look as bad from a distance. Perhaps I should have taken close-ups of the dust and gunk everywhere. Aside from that, it's a great space. And it actually has books, some of which are worth keeping!

This is the other side of the space, which I'd like to convert into an internet cafe. It's supposedly a "streamlined" process, seeing as how there's money in the federal budget to build these Infoplazas all across the country. As soon as we can write a letter to our representative, we'll have to wait. But even before that, we need to get a committee together.

Also, you'll notice chéchere in the corner. This is one of my favorite new words: it's a technical term for junk. People use it all the time.

Aside from the standard cleaning, we have to combat critters like bats in the ceiling and wasps' nests in all the windows. Bright side: we have windows with screens.

The possibilities are endless, and with the support from my community, this could be that one thing I've been searching for in my service, that brass ring.