A New Adventure

This morning, I officially accepted the position as National Sanitation Coordinator for Peace Corps Panama! I will be living on the western side of the country, supporting current latrine projects and assisting current PCVs to prepare, manage, and sustain sanitation projects. It is a unique opportunity because it is a job that the Panama has not had for quite some time, and they are hoping to make it a permanent position.

The bottom line? I will be here in Panama until October 11, 2014.

I am still sad about the evacuation from my old site and can't wait to see my community again for my goodbye party in May, but I am also very excited about this opportunity. It is a way to continue the work I have been doing in a more stable region, and to further develop the Environmental Health program, so that one day in the future when Peace Corps is allowed to return to my region, they will be trained and ready to pick up where all of us have left off.

On a personal note, it will also give me a chance to get to know the other side of the country, to work with a lot more Volunteers, and since I will be living in a community with electricity, running water, and internet, it will be much easier for me to start thinking about life after Peace Corps.

It will take some time for the job to get processed and my housing to get lined up, so for now I will continue being homeless, living in a hostel in Panama, but at least now my life has some direction again. I am incredibly grateful for the time I had with Playona and for the opportunity to continue my Peace Corps service in Panama.

“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.” 

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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