Our First Brigade as Pixels & Words

Our Picasa web albums link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ucsdgeb09

A post-brigade report will be compiled and videos will follow in the coming weeks... stay tuned! For now, do enjoy the following blurb and a surplus of photographs of the countless memorable moments in beautiful Kuna Yala.

Global Environmental Brigades at UC San Diego visited Panama for their very first brigade to assist the indigenous Kuna people install photovoltaic panels onto one of their main buildings where they hold congressional meetings. This project allows the Kunas to not rely on unsustainable power sources such as batteries or diesel-powered generators for their electricical needs, while at the same time significantly reducing the amount of toxic pollutants - such as lead, cadmium, carbon monoxide, etc. - released into their surroundings which pollute their food and water supplies. Our group also spent time introducing effects of climate change, water & nutrient cycle, and waste reduction to both the kids and adults.

Even though the Kunas are traditionally known to be conservationalists who genuinely value the richness of their land, it is our goal and hope that the current as well as future generations will gain a fresh perspective of their natural environment and the imenient weather shifts through the educational activities that were implemented. And because we were not there as tourists but as brigaders who came onto their land with the priority of making culturally sensitive and sustainable positive change, the Kunas embraced us warmly with their open minds, hugely rich culture & traditions, and even a journey to a sacred area deep in the rainforest.

If it was at all possible to summarize our privileged week of living alongside the Kunas in their spectacularly beautiful, essentially autonomous, region of the Kuna Yala - it was a time of immense cultural exchanges, spectacularly gorgeous sceneries, as well as hands-on learning experience in an environment that magically promotes awareness of natural systems and the anthropogenic responsibility in maintaining such delicate balance.

Enjoy the slideshow below with some of our favorite moments:

And a short slideshow of highlights from our trip... with a soundtrack! Made by Nikki.

Our Very First Brigade Begins Tomorrow!!

We are flying into Panama City - tomorrow! SUPER EXCITED!

- Jonathan

Winter Brigade Itinerary + Information on the Kuna people

As a reference/model for future brigaders - here's the preliminary itinerary for our winter brigade.

Here's some great background reading on about the Kunas and Kuna Yala, their semi-autonomous tribal region and the country's largest tract of rainforest.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuna_(people)
• http://thorup.com/cuna.html
• http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/04/21/panama.deforestation/index.html
• http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2001/6/panamaskuna.cfm
• http://www.eurac.edu/Focus/indigenous_americas/indigenous_kuna_yala.htm

Also! An excellent video of Alan Duke from CNN exploring Panama's Kuna Yala rainforest with Earth Train's Nathan Gray and Lider Sucre of Panama's Biodiversity Museum.

Fundraising Events

Raffle at Eco-Fashion Show w/ Alpha Phi Omega - Nov 7th, 7:30-9:30pm, $ from raffle ticket sales will go to us :)

CPK - Nov 16th, 11am-10pm. FLYER: http://www.tinyurl.com/geb2009cpk

BJ's - Nov 23rd, 11am-11pm. FLYER: http://www.tinyurl.com/geb2009bjs

Rubio's - Nov 30th, 2pm-8pm. FLYER: http://www.tinyurl.com/geb2009rubios

Other Students' Experience

These photos from UCSD Global Business Brigades' trip to Kuna Yala in June will definitely give you guys a better idea of what our trip will be like - especially if we are going to the same place to install solar panels for the Kuna people!

Below is a clip of a brigader giving a short testimonial of Public Health brigades in Honduras:

Potential Projects in Panama!

**As of Oct 25th, 2009** - our group is currently voting for the project to take on for winter break, and Project 1 & Project 2 are in the lead. Final result will be decided by Sept 29th. Future brigades could be continuing the project which we will be starting.

Project 1
Working with Planting Empowerment (plantingempowerment.com) to build a native plants nursery/greenhouse in Arimae, Darien Provence, which will help with reforestation efforts in the region
More details: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AX7PNalTi7_EZGZiYmtwMnBfODdkNGg4OHBmcQ&hl

Project 2
Installing solar panels for the indigenous Kuna people in Nusatupu, which is an island in the Kuna Yala comarca
More details: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AX7PNalTi7_EZGZiYmtwMnBfMTM2ZmRnYzdxY2g&hl

Project 3
Building an eco-stove & compost toilet alongside ANAM (the Panamanian government's environmental arm: anam.gob.pa/joomla) in Finca las Acacias, a cooperative farm of ~29 arces in Burunga in the district of Arraijan
More details: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AX7PNalTi7_EZGZiYmtwMnBfMTIxZms3emt2aGg&hl

Project 4
Implementating a waste management plan in Buenos Aires, near the border of Chiriquí and Veraguas provinces for a community of mixed latino and Ngobe/Bugle people
More details: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AX7PNalTi7_EZGZiYmtwMnBfMTA0Z3ZuN3RxZ3M&hl

News from Panama!

I just got an email from Anna, who is the in-country coordinator for GEB. She has recently arrived in Panama and have already found a number of viable, sustainability-related projects to take on with local groups such as alternative energy generation and trail-building for ecotourism.

Exciting stuff! There will be more good news to follow :)

My Experience & Photos from Public Health Brigade in Honduras

My first experience with Global Brigades was in March of 2009 - during my Spring break. I traveled with a group of about 70 UCSD students to Honduras, where we were organized into 4 groups responsible for different projects - medical, dental, public health, and water. I was with the public health group, and our tasks included building a water-storage unit called the pila at an assigned household, as well as educating both the children and adults the importance of personal hygiene in preventing contagious and water/air-borne diseases. The households which received our aid were determined by in-country coordinators who interviewed the family based on their needs. Our large group stayed at a stylish (I want to say late 19th century Spanish style) and clean facility called El Rapico, and was joined by fellow brigaders from Northwestern as well as Oregon State. The accommodations and food were far beyond what I had expected coming into one of the poorest Central American countries. The staff treated and fed us extremely well.

The village we worked at is called Los Pajarillos, and each day (for 5 days) we took a what must have been a leaf spring suspension-equipped minivan (for all the car geeks out there, you know this is bad news...) to travel about an hour 15 minutes on mostly dirt and rocky roads passing through small towns, sugar crane fields and factories, boys and men with machetes, starving dogs, and cowboys on bicycles. It's an uncomfortable ride, but this vastly different and intriguing world transforms your sore butt and back into part of the experience. As you will discover in the photos, our group of 3+1 (students + local staff) finished the beautiful, and hopefully not leaky, pila on the 4th day. We spent time during lunch and after work on most days feeding & playing with the children at the village. Everyone in the village was very open to our presence even though most of us didn't speak Spanish. The kids absolutely loved us and their smiles were simply genuine and unforgettable. On the last day at Los Pajarillos, our group formulated an education lesson for both the children and adults to teach them about the existence of germs & bacteria and how to minimize the intake and spread of these disease-causing micro organisms. Remember, this is completely revolutionary to them!

I understand this was not an environmental brigade, but believe that through these pictures the value and format of our adventures could convey how a week spent helping people you have never met before can be so valuable and unforgettable. My hope and belief is that our trip this coming December will be just as amazing!!

Part 1


Part 2


Photos by yours truly.