Brigading For A Cause: Global Brigades Panama Day 3

Written by guest blogger Bethany Bowen

Day three started at 6:30 in the morning; I woke up to roosters crowing and the smell of rain. That morning after breakfast we started a hike to the top a hill where there were cacao fruits ready to harvest. The goal of the activity was for our group to better understand what the people in the community do, and what goes into harvesting the beans. We set off with our rain boots, bottled water, and cameras, on what we were told was a 30 minute hike; an hour and a half later we reached the top. There were times during the hike that I didn’t think I was going to make it. The rain the night before made everything extremely slippery and the altitude made it hard to breathe; I fell five times.

Once we reached the top, we separated into three groups: one to chop down the cacao fruit, one to transport the fruit and one to open the fruit and get the beans. I opted for the latter, because it sounded like the least amount of physical activity. The fruit surrounding the beans tasted amazing; it was sweet, tart, and refreshing. We put all of the beans into a bag that had to weigh 100 pounds by the time we finished. One of the ladies that was helping our group made a comment that they would have to bring us breakfast in bed the next day because we would be so sore we wouldn’t be able to get up; that was a true statement.

At the end of the hike I had come to three conclusions: these people are amazing for making this climb all the time, the view was well worth the hike, and I will never be able to eat chocolate without thinking of this moment.

By the time we returned from the hike it was time for lunch, and I was starving. After lunch, our group went to the river. There is at least one shower in the community, but I think the river is the main way villagers get clean. We put on our bathing suits and walked 15 minutes to a special spot up the river. They told us to leave our stuff and swim to another area. The water was so cold that when I started swimming it was hard to breathe, then we rounded a bend in the river and I saw the most beautiful waterfall. There was an area to walk behind the waterfall, and I can remember screaming out of sheer shock at how amazing this experience was. Some people in our group had brought shampoo and soap and all 18 of us “showered” in the waterfall while people from the community laughed at the “gringos”.

When we returned, we had a meeting with the community about what they wanted from the workshops the next couple of days. The language barrier was still hard and the people were still very shy, and at this point I was still a little frustrated about the progress we were making. During the meeting, the people decided that they wanted a marketing workshop about packaging and selling, and an accounting workshop. This was progress; we had a direction, and then we started planning.

At the end of the day, I felt like we had crammed three days worth of activities into one. I was exhausted, but really excited about the workshops the next day.