Programs / Human Rights / Communities / Ipeti Colono «

 

About Ipeti Colono

Ipeti Colono is a community of about 80 homes and almost 300 inhabitants.

It is located in the district of Chepo along the Panamerican Highway in the

province of Panama Este. Ipeti Colono is largely an agricultural community, 

where residents work on farms to produce crops such as corn and rice. These 

agricultural activities are the main source of income for 80% of residents.

Within Ipeti Colono is a single primary school, where half of the

community's population attends, though there are only four teachers for the

whole community. Ipeti Colono does not have its own health center, forcing 

residents to travel to Torti for medical or dental care. There are no lawyers

within the community, though a volunteer judicial facilitator has some legal

training, and provides guidance to community members on legal issues.

 

 

Ipeti Colono's Barriers to Justice

Legal services are difficult to access in rural eastern Panama for two primary

reasons: location and cost.  Most often, there are no legal services set up

within rural communities and are instead concentrated in urban areas. 

Therefore, rural Panamanians must travel multiple hours to access these

services. Not only does traveling to these urban areas cost money, but the

legal services themselves are frequently too expensive.  

 

In addition, there is an attitude of mistrust amongst the rural clients. 

Historically, there have occurred many cases in which lawyers have come to

rural communities, the community members have paid for the legal services,

but the lawyers have returned to the city without resolving the cases. 

Therefore, it is a challenge to gain  trust of the community members when it

comes to dealing with their personal human rights issues, and to prove not

all lawyers will take advantage of them.

 

Civic Engagement and Empowerment

By focusing on specific aspects of legal access and inclusion, Global Brigades’ Human Rights Program aims to empower communities like Ipeti Colono to overcome the obstacles mentioned above. Starting in January 2015, Brigaders have been able to tackle family law cases, execute pro-bono legal clinics, and perform educational workshops.

Family Law: The most common legal issues within the community include issues of alimony and childcare, land issues, domestic violence, and some violent crimes. Without a lawyer in the community, many legal issues go unresolved or unattended for many years, and seemingly simply legal troubles can go unanswered.

Legal Clinics: Global Brigade’s Human Rights Program has been able to offer their pro-bono legal services to community members in Ipeti Colono with the help of Panamanian lawyers as they are shadowed by volunteers. Both community members and volunteers work together to challenge the stigma of lawyers in the region by offering real, professional services for free.

Educational Workshops: Volunteers will present educational workshops in collaboration with the governmental organization MIDES (Ministry of Development). Capitalizing on the use of education as a tool for community empowerment, volunteers lead discussions and workshops with students and families about issues that have direct consequences and effects in their everyday lives, including: the right to education, the right to a life free from violence, sexual health, gender stereotypes, etc.

View Legal Cases for Ipeti Colono (coming soon)

 

Human Rights Brigades Chapters that Worked in Zapallal
Human Rights Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
Arizona State University Law	January 2015	14

 

 

 

 

Visit Other Programs in Ipeti Colono

Global Brigades strives to implement a model of Holistic Development in communities through a system of collectively implementing health, economic, and education initiatives to strategically meet a community's development goals. Learn more about the other programs being implemented in Zapallal:

 

 BusinessDental  Environmental Medical  Microfinance Public Health