Programs / Human Rights / Communities / Zapallal «

 

About Zapallal

Zapallal is a community of about 200 homes, with over 900 inhabitants. It is

located in the district of Pinagana along the Panamerican Highway in the 

province of Darien. Zapallal has a very young population, and it's economic

focus is largely agricultural. Many residents' primary form of income is through 

agriculture in the form of sales of yucca, plantain, corn, rice, and other crops.

Education is available in Zapallal through both primary and secondary schools, 

which serve over 200 students. Health care is not available in town, and 

residents must travel to Santa Fe in order to receive medical or dental care.

 

Zapallal'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 Zapallal to overcome the obstacles mentioned above. Starting in March 2013, 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. Volunteers, in conjunction with Panamanian lawyers, have been able to resolve 1 family law case to date.

Legal Clinics: Global Brigade’s Human Rights Program has been able to offer their pro-bono legal services to community members in Zapallal 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 have performed numerous workshops in the middle and high school of Zapallal. 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, child abuse, drug use, and child labor laws.

View Legal Cases for Zapallal

 

Human Rights Brigades Chapters that Worked in Zapallal
Human Rights Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
Cornell University and Dublin City College	July 2013	35
UNC Chapel Hill	March 2014	14
Tulane	January 2015	5
Rutgers University	January 2016	16

 

 

 

Visit Other Programs in Zapallal

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