Janine, Kristen, Robyn, Kathleen, and Linnea: Panama Day 3

Group Blog for Room 1
Written by Janine Villot
Contributors include Janine Villot, Kristen Corpion, Robyn Sagal, Kathleen Pombier, and Linnea Eberhart

Monday began our real objective in Panama: touring health facilities and volunteering at our first organization, Nutre-Hogar. We began our day by touring the Policentro Medico. It was a sobering experience to see such an important facility so awkwardly built. There was chipped paint everywhere, and the physical therapy department suffered from many setbacks: placement on the second floor (making it difficult for the more critical patients to visit), lack of equipment (they need parallel bars, shoulder workout equipment, and heat packs), one doctor for two centers, and troubles with funding. The physical therapy department was for secondary care and does not tend to severe cases--it´s placement marks it as an afterthought, but the patients we spoke to seemed satisfied with their care.

The entire Policentro facility was crowded, and the government funding and proceeds from radiology and the pharmacy are clearly not enough for their needs. One of the workers even complained about the marginalization of people with mental disabilities over people with physical disabilities. While it seems the medical workers try to give quality care to their patients, they obviously do not have the means, and patients sometimes have to wait for a week to be seen. While the government offers free health care for the disabled and cheap health care to others, the patients still suffer from the insufficient funding.

After the tour, we took pictures at a ruin of a colonial era church and visited the Panama city market. Both were fun, and the lunch at Niko´s Cafe quite delicious. Afterwards, we were off to Nutre-Hogar, an organization that services malnourished children from birth to age five. Thirty children stay at the facility for three to six months, being fed and cared for, apart from their parents. They serve some two-hundred-fifty-thousand other children with nutrition. The clinic is much needed and very devoted to helping the children and the parents who come to visit them. Most of their needy children come from the indigenous population (which suffer from the highest poverty rates), and some children with severe disabilities have been abandoned there, despite how they are not equipped to service children over five. One child there is thirteen, and his disability has made it impossible for him to be placed, even with the Sisters of Calcutta, who say male children are too heavy and their waiting list too long. That organization probably also suffers from the same understaffing issues. What is interesting is that while Nutre-Hogar is a non-profit organization that is not religiously based, it does have religious affiliations, as one of their main donators was a Catholic monsignor, and the Catholic Church donated donated Nutre-Hogar´s first home. A group of Jewish women also exapnded the playroom and had it painted colorfully and decoratively.

Nutre-Hogar has six volunteer physicians, one social worker, five helpers, an occupational therapist, a stimulation teacher, two physical therapists, a nutritionist, a formula preparer, two cooks, and a launderer--all of which are insufficient to give the children the attention they need, though their health is obviously improving. According to the social worker, they have had no deaths on site--a fine achievement, given the physical state of some of the children. Many of the children suffer from neglect and poverty, and some from disabilities that need attention. All were beautiful and very agreeable to sixteen strangers from America playing with them and feeding them their dinner. We all found it very hard to leave them at the end of the day.

Janine notes the Policentro Medico we visited seemed equivalent to American government-funded clinics for Hillsborough county health insurance--it would be interesting to compare the problems of a Hillborough county clinic for people with the county health insurance versus this medical facility. Nutre-Hogar just left her stunned at how few people were there to devote time to the thirty children in their care. She thinks they need more than donations--they need to engage their community in volunteering their time to help them out with the children. She enjoyed playing with the babies, but it broke her heart to leave them behind as they cried for everyone to return. Their desire for attention might be as serious a problem as their malnutrition. Children need more than food to thrive. She also found it amazing how religion steps into the void the Panamanian government leaves behind, such as with Nutre-Hogar and with the drug and alcohol rehabilitation--as a Religious Studies major, this interests her greatly.

Kathleen worked with a boy named Joshua, who liked to cuddle and do high fives. His smile made it especially hard for her to leave him behind. She was disturbed to see a two-year-old the size of a 6 month old and at the situation revealed at the Policentro, where Panamanian people can have free or discounted health care, but not food.

Robyn was very concerned for the thirteen-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who was too big for his crib and how there was no room to get him a proper bed. He has been unable to be placed due to his disability, which is extremely unfortunate. Despite the sadness, she enjoyed working there and watching a Kuna woman making a mola at Nutre-Hogar while her baby took a nap. She noticed the staff at both the Policentro and Nutre-Hogar appreciated what they had, despite their lack of equipment and materials. On a personal note, she appreciated how Kristen, who is very engaged in campus activities and volunteerism, took up the role of a mentor for her during a later conversation.

Linnea agreed with most everyone else, and she personally felt that while at the Panama city market she was treading in her father´s footsteps, as he is a military man who has been to many markets like that before her. It gave her a sense of inheritance.

Kristen particularly enjoyed mentoring and inspiring the rest of us in Room 1 to become leaders and take advantage of opportunities to become actively engaged in volunteer activities. In addition to what was said before her, she was greatly concerned about the constant instability in the medical infrastructure due to how each new administration changes the rules and laws surrounding medical care. She also appreciated how both the Policentro and Nutre-Hogar allowed so many critical questions by all the students, each varying according to his or her interests and areas of study.

We look forward to working at Nutre-Hogar again and being able to help, even though it´s just for a short period of time. Monday´s experience has certainly made the desire to help these organizations far more real and driving for all of us.