My Name Is Kenia

Hola, I am Kenia Alvarez

I am a teacher in rural western Panama

I teach 23 children in a one-room school

I have grades 1-6 My school is very

remote

It can be difficult to get to my school

In Panama, it rains a lot

The road gets very muddy

Sometimes almost impassable

My school is far from my home

I live in the coastal town of Los Remedios

My school in El Banco is in the mountains far away

It is a long trip to school

On Sunday afternoon I take two buses for three hours to get to the town nearest to the school

Then I walk for an hour and a half up the Mountain road

I live at my school during the week

I live in one room The school is very

remote, and it is very dark and quiet at night

I am there five nights each week

It is a little primitive

When I started here, there was no electricity

There was only one water spigot for washing

The school had an out house for me and the students

My Inspiration

My father is an educator

He inspired me to become a teacher...

...and to become the best teacher that I can be

Academic performance

My students perform well compared to other students across Panama

Panama evaluates students on a scale from 1-5

My students perform within a range from 3.9 – 5.0

Academics

El Banco students have participated in contests in

Poetry, oratory, debate

Spelling, writing, and reading comprehension

Overall Performance

My students show more academic development than normal, and that has brought me positive attention

Other activities

I also work to include students in a variety of activities such as observance of national holidays

Here some girls are dressed in traditional festival costumes

Enhancement

Students wore costumes for this special activity

We called it “Dia Civil”

My School is in a very poor community

It is difficult for parents to make a living here, much less support their students in school

Mentor in community

As one of the only educated people living in the community, I am often called upon to be of assistance to families or citizen groups as issues arise.

Other roles

I am not only the teacher, but at times the secretary, and other times a nurse, as needed.

Local ladies come daily to prepare lunches for the children, so I do not have to be the cook.

Minimal Materials

As a remote school, we get very little support from the Ministry of Education

I bring materials, frequently that I have bought, and present them to the students...

Student School Supplies

...then the students copy the information into their little “cuardernos” – or notebooks. These cuardernos were supplied by Club Rotario de Boquete.

The first “connection” with Rotary

A few years ago, Hector Sanchez, a member of Club Rotario de Boquete, who owns a farm near our school, would drive by and he noticed that the power lines ran along the road...

Electricity comes to El Banco

...but they were not connected to the school. Hector undertook the initiative to get the power connected to our school.

First step to real “connection”

When Hector later wanted the Internet at his farm, he agreed to place a relay tower on his property – IF the company would supply free Internet access to my school!

Now we are really connected

In less than a year, we went from a school without electricity, to a school with active Internet access.

Workshops Rotary also made it

possible for me to attend two valuable workshops. One was about teaching read-ing comprehension.

The other was especially for multi-grade teachers in Panama City.

International Help

In 2008, a group sponsored by the Sylva Rotary Club of North Carolina came to my little part of Panama to help rebuild a kitchen and dining facility...

The termites were winning

...that were on the verge of collapse due to termite damage.

Doing it right

This time, a concrete foundation was built with steel floor joists...

Professors and students from WCU

...and the rest of the structure, above ground, was built with wood.

A true group effort

Many of the volunteers had never built anything before...

These guys worked fast!

...but fortunately some of them had.

The group from NC worked really hard and fast to build the entire structure in three days.

There were medical personnel with the group

The doctors and nurses conducted medical screenings of my students and any parents who wanted to come.

There were other activities too

I

Some of the younger students did creative and playful things with our children while their parents were waiting to see the doctors.

And there were productive activities

There was painting, circle games, and the children could even get their hair cut.

In the end...

...it was great fun, and the community will never forget that visit!

From Chiriqui to Cherokee

And of course, it was the Rotary Clubs of western North Carolina and Panama that made it possible for me to come and visit here in 2012.

It was a very busy 4 weeks!

15 SchoolsWCU & NCCAT2 SCC Campuses2 Churches6 Rotary Organizations

Over 50 Presentations

I visited elementary students

I Spoke to Middle School Students

Participated in High School Spanish Classes

Told my story to college students

Visited many Rotary Clubs

And received some “Good Press”

I was very excited about the opportunity I had to visit North Carolina: to be in your schools, to see places I had never seen before, to do things that I had never experienced before. I hoped to gain perspectives that I could take back to my students in Panama, that would help them to see and understand the larger world around them...

...the ultimate purpose

...and to give them excitement about venturing further in their own lives.

But Wait!That’s not the end of the story!

Thanks to The Rotary Foundation, District 7670, Franklin, Sylva, Cashiers,

and the Boquete Rotary Clubs a Matching Grant was awarded to:

Build bathrooms for the students and the teacher at my school as well as provide solar energy for a school more remote

than mine (45 minutes by boat).

From This

To This

And This

And From This

And This

To This

And at Tierra Oscura This Solar Power

Allowed Computers and Internet for the First Time

This Journey 2 Years LaterHas Also Brought Me

Some New Adventures

Like Visiting Washington, DC

Making Snow Angels

Attending a Robbie Burns Dinner

Flying in a Small Piper Cub

AndOf Course

What Happenedin Florida?

Stays in Florida!

Rotary and Rotarians are Very Important In My Life

They have allowed me to see and do things I might never have experienced

It has made me a better teacher

Rotary and Rotarians are Very Big In My Life

Most importantly it has made big and positive changes in

the lives of my students