Panama Ponderings: People are People

The longer I am here, the more I am reminded that, in the end, people are people. We may have cultural differences, different ways of doing things, different means, different ways of expressing ourselves – but we are overwhelmingly alike. I think this is one of the primary lessons of being a Peace Corps Volunteer – or any experience that immerses you in a foreign context.

In the beginning, first arriving in Quebrada Pastor, I would often complain with other Volunteers about the quirks and challenging of living in a Ngöbe community. But now, having adjusted to the superficial things (like the food we eat, differences in language, emotional expression), and being able to pick about the differences based on context, opportunity, and privilege (like education, exposure to other people, ability to travel, abundance of choice, managing money, perspective and understanding of health, handling unpredictability) – in the end, a lot of the challenges and issues that we face are universal. So many of these obstacles to my work here are just people issues.

There is the same kind of range in personalities, in attitudes, in values, and in abilities in this community as there is in any other. Same characters, different context. Some people are leaders, some people are responsible and dependable and honor their commitments. Some people care about the greater good, take an interest in the outside world, are always helping others, and share what they have. Some people love being the center of attention. Some people love taking all the credit. Some people only look out for themselves and their closest kin. Some people are always in squabbles with others, always causing drama. Some people never show up when they say they are going to, even if they are really fun to be around and want to like them. Some people wait and watch and won’t participate until someone else is courageous enough to make the first move to act. Some people are noisy obnoxious neighbors. Lots of people look to blame someone else and won’t take responsibility for things going wrong. Or won’t even put themselves in a position of responsibility in the first place. And everybody likes getting free stuff.

That all sounds like people I’ve known all my life. And so the things that are most frustrating are the same frustrations as always.

But I do enjoy the unique position here of being able to experience and observe all of this, partly as an insider and partly as an outsider. And it is basically my job to figure out how to deal with all these different types of people. And the context is different enough that I actually have to think carefully about whether someone’s behavior reflects a cultural difference, a difference in context, or just their personality.

I’ve been holding a Water Committee Seminar almost every weekend since I got back from America. The primary purpose of the Seminar is to teach good aqueduct management, to build capacity within the new Water Committees that have been formed in anticipation of the aqueduct project for which I have applied for funding (we hope to build two separate aqueducts – one to serve the 7 houses of the Santos family – Ángel’s family – and one for the 15 houses of the Beker family, on a different hill). The Seminar covers the basic connection between water and health (like the importance of good water storage and treatment) how to manage a Water Committee (running good meetings, working as a team, managing funds), and how to maintain and operate an aqueduct (the technical details). So far we’re just over halfway done.

I also invited the other four existing Water Committees in the hope that they can help teach the new Committees about their successes and failures and offer the opportunity to increase their own capacity. One Committee – the best-managed one in the community, from what I can tell – has been regularly attending and proved useful in this.

I was really hoping that the Water Committee for the school-and-center-of-town aqueduct would also attend. I have been wanting, since my arrival, to improve the functioning of their Committee. Especially now, as we anticipate making some physical improvements to the system during school vacation, this seems like a good idea. However, no one has yet attended a session.

One of the most striking areas for improvement in this particular Committee is exactly what we talked about in the last two days of the Seminar – working together productively as a team. Meetings are often poorly run, work days are filled with interpersonal conflict, and when people see the lack of participation and motivation of others, it further demotivates everyone’s sense of responsibility. Everyone just complains about everyone else shirking on their jobs and shifts blame to someone else. No one wants to be on the Committee because it is such a thankless job.

And yet, this is the aqueduct that supplies both the school of 300 students and 30 houses with water, which has existed since 2002 when the government built it. Somehow the Water Committee has been able to keep it running this long, which is actually quite impressive. Once in a while, somebody probably ought to recognize them for that. And, after all, it is important work: the students need water during the day at school, so everyone in the community – not just the homeowners who are also users – depends on the function of this aqueduct. And everyone agrees that it’s important.

If only the members of the Water Committee had been attending the Seminar. We could have talked about all of that. We could have talked about the importance of positive communication, how providing positive feedback and reinforcement an appreciation can motivate people to keep working in their positions, to take pride in their responsibilities. How having a well-run meeting means that no one will be wasting their time, so meetings do not have to be a dreaded thing to be avoided. How rules and agendas make that easier and more possible to achieve. How everyone needs to play their role on the team to share the load and solve complex problems, how no one can do it alone, but everyone working together make it possible. If only they were willing to talk about these things.

And then I realize that, even though these seem like really simple and obvious solutions, these kinds of problems – lack of responsibility, wasting time, weak motivation – plague organizations and places of work everywhere, for the same reasons. People are people, after all. But people are also capable of fixing these things, with a bit of effort and a bit of desire. I haven’t given up hope on my people yet.

Pictures:

It’s Panamanian holiday month! Starting off with Independence from Colombia day, with a parade down the highway through Quebrada Pastor.

Visit to Renacimiento, the neighboring community, to spend Flag Day with Chelsea, my new closest Volunteer. Apparently one of the traditions is oiling up a smoothed-down bark-less tree and telling the kids if they can get to the top they can keep the money in the bag up there.

Just another gorgeous day. Thanks to El Niño (I’ve been told), it has been unusually and unseasonably dry in the Bocas del Toro province – several weeks now with little rain (when we are used to it raining at least every three days). It’s been so dry that the mud has all but disappeared – once you start seeing cracks in the earth, you know the weather is being weird.

Water Committee Seminar – giving presentations about the importance of the protecting the watershed, thinking about how we work based on our values, and playing a teamwork-themed icebreaker.

New Adventures! Gorgeous hike through the jungle 3 hours to Quebrada Pueblo, home of new Environmental Health Volunteer Saswe, to do a safety inspection on her new house.