Annual Healthy Women´s Artisan Seminar; achieving goals 1, 2, 3… and 4?
by Natalie Petrucci CEC 68 and GAD Secretary
In July 2012, the 2nd Annual Healthy Women´s Artisan Seminar brought
talented women from across the Isthmus together for 4 days of
trainings, artisan practice, charlas on womens´ rights issues and
nutrition and much more! These ladies left empowered to be confident
saleswomen and group organizers. They also gained the tools and
knowledge to manage their business and improve the health and
wellbeing of their households. The fight to give the final
¨palabras¨of thanks and praise for the seminar amongst the
participants was a clear indication that the lessons had hit home and
everyone enjoyed their brief vacation from their material and spousal
commitments to the fullest.
As a facilitator, I felt like the seminar had a greater impact than
its intended goals of improving health and business practices of a
group of Panama´s talented artisans. To process these ponderings, I
began to reflect on how we volunteers had achieved each of the 3
Goals of Peace Corps service. Firstly, we had without a doubt
fulfilled goal number one, of meeting the need of trained men and
women. Our fabulous team of facilitadoras, including the last of a
dying breed of Community Economic Development Divas, impressed us all
with their abilities to make business planning and money management
trainings engaging and relevant for even the least confident
mathematician in the room. Through their efforts, I witnessed a
woman master a calculator for the first time in order to realize the
true monetary value of her work. Maybe it was all the estrogen in the
room, but seeing this woman succeed definitely brought a tear to my
eyes.
Beyond the business side of things, we were blessed with an expert
panel of SAS ladies who spoke on family nutrition and gardening, our
very own GAD Coordinator, Laura Geiken, presenting on early childhood
development, and a team of local allstar Panamanian professionals
covering a range of topics, including domestic violence legal rights,
sexual health and family planning. Goal 1: Check!
Next we have Goal 2, promoting understanding of Americans on the part
of Panamanians. While I feel we are almost constantly succeeding at
goal 2 by mearly being our goofy gringa selves, I did have the honor
of channeling my inner Billy Blanks (and ¨The Crew¨ in super tight
spandix) to lead morning Tae Bo classes to seal the deal. Morning
exercise was a great way to get the group pumped up and share a bit of
American culture. Plus, the women really enjoyed seeing how high they
could kick in a paruma or nagua. Get it sisters! Goal 2: Check . As
for goal number 3, this very article, as well as the countless stories
we share with loved ones back home about events like the Healthy Women
Artisan Seminar are examples of how we can open the eyes of Americans
to the reality, beauty, and hardship that exists in everyday life in
Panama. Goal 3: Check Again.
While I felt warm and fuzzy about all this goal achieving, I left the
Artisan Seminar thinking that for my two women from the Herrera
province, the significance of the seminar fell into a completely
different category all together. So what impact could be greater than
the 3 holy Goals of Peace Corps? In an attempt to articulate this
sensation, I am proposing a new, nebulously worded 4th Peace Corps
Goal, that could go something like this:
4. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples served on
the part of the peoples served.
If your reaction is something along the lines of ¨Hugh?¨ let me
explain. When our buss pulled into San Felix, my two Herrerana
artisans pointed at a Nogbe woman with stares and a hushed voice ¨Mire
a la india.¨ In their defense these women rarely leave our small
prominately Latino province and with the innocence of children, tend
to point out things that are novel or different to them (it happened
many times in the trip). Of course, I jumped on the opportunity to
educate. ¨Those women are not Indias, they are Nogbe, their dresses
are called naguas and they maintain their cultural identity and
traditions by wearing them, etc, ect.¨
No matter the attempts to rid racial or cultural stereotypes however,
words from a norteamericana do very little to change stigmas or
attitudes. For my two women, being among a Latina minority for the
first time in their lives was the most powerful lesson learned from
the seminar. I watched them grow from being obviously timid to showing
outward signs of affection and frienship towards women from Bocas,
Darien, Colon and the Comarcas. One stood up to speak about domestic
violence and how all of us women of Panama need to band together in
the fight and support one another. Another left stitching
traditionally Nogbe ¨dientes¨on her handcrafts and sewing a canasta
Embera style.
By the last day, I watched my two ladies exchange hugs and cell phone
numbers with their fellow artisans, but most importantly, that
¨India, ¨ who on day 2 became that ¨Indigena,¨ progressed to be simply
called, my friend Selina, or my friend Isabell. And while they didn´t
sign up to be painted with jagua, I can attest to their attitude
change and growth as individuals, understanding more about their own
people from different parts of the country and seeing them as equals.
Afterall we are all devoted mothers, daughters, sisters and in this
case, healthy empowered artisans.
Reference : Peace Corps Website
The Peace Corps' mission has three simple goals:
1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need
for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of
the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part
of Americans.
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