Faithful Servant Missions

• Blog
• About Panama
• Join the Cause
• Donate to Panama
• Book a Trip
• Community Involvement Gallery
• Costa Rica

About Panama

Panama

Faithful Servant Missions in Panama – Manos de Fe

The Ngobe-Bugle are an extremely poor indigenous people living primarily in the remote areas of western Panama (Comarca Ngobe-Bugle, Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro). They live in the most primitive of conditions (thatched roof, hammocks) and many times migrate to find work. One of the areas of migration is the area of Caizan near Volcan, which is an agricultural area.

The Need

An analysis by the World Bank in 2000 entitled the Panama Poverty Assessment, Priorities and Strategies for Poverty Reduction tells the story. Some of their findings are as follows:

• Over 95% of indigenous residents (almost 200,000) fall below the poverty line and 86% live in extreme poverty.
• Extreme poverty is highest among the Ngobe-Bugle, Panama’s largest ethnic indigenous group.
• Extreme poverty is defined as unable to consume 2,280 calories per day with all resources allocated to food.
• The Ngobe-Bugle have the worst poverty rate among all the 7 indigenous tribes in Panama.
• The Ngobe-Bugle children have the highest incidence of malnutrition (over 50%)
• Malnutrition is worst from the age of 12 months to 17 months after the child is weaned and solid foods are introduced.
• Infant mortality rates (reported) are about 40-50 per 1000 live births in the poorer areas of Panama (compared to 12.7 for Panama as a whole or 8.8 for neighboring Costa Rica).
• The poor (in particular the indigenous) have shorter life expectancies, higher rates of infant mortality and malnutrition. They continue to die from preventable infections and communicable disease.
• Literacy is particularly poor in the indigenous populations, especially among women.
• The Ngobe Bugle have the lowest percent of literacy (64%) compared to Panama overall (92%) or Costa Rica (95%). This puts them on par with Rwanda.
• 12% of extremely poor children end up repeating grades in school and dropout rates are high.
• Close to 60% of poor primary school indigenous students do not have textbooks. Lack of money is the main reason.
• Indigenous homes average 4 people per room.

The Project

Members of FSM have had a longstanding relationship with the Church in Panama and in 2007, approximately 4 acres of land was purchased near Plaza de Caizan and is the site of a children`s home (orphanage) and multipurpose building.

Several different orphanages in Panama were visited and meetings with the Social Services Director for Chiriqui Province was conducted. A cottage (6 children per home) format was preferred over a larger building. This allows children to be in a more natural setting with one “aunt” for each small home. Two cottages have been completed. The homes are three bedrooms and two bathrooms (approximately 900 square feet). More cottages will be added over the next several years as labor, teams and financing are available.

A multipurpose mission center has been completed that teams from the United States can stay in for mission trips. In addition to the orphanage, approximately 40 local poor families are fed every month. These families receive staples such as beans, rice, salt and other staples which are delivered to remote areas around Caizan, some by horseback.