Programs / Public Health / Communities / Wagandi «

 

About Wagandi

Wagandi is home to about 100 people and has around 20

homes. The community is located in the Panama province, in

Eastern Panama; the community is about 30 minutes away from

the town of Torti.  Wagandi is an indigenous community of the

Guna culture. Most community members work in agriculture or

raising livestock, and a few support themselves through small

stores. Additionally, many of the women of the community produce

handicrafts to sell.  The community does not have its own school;

there has been some disagreement between the community

leaders and the Ministry of Education concerning whether a future

school ought to be taught in the Guna language or in Spanish.

Wagandi is very open to working alondside Global Brigades; their

efforts to improve the community make Wagandi a great match

for collaboration with brigades.

 

Wagandi's Public Health Situation

Wagandi is located in Eastern Panama, directly next to the

Pan-American Highway. Wagandi does not have a health center

located in the community; the community members must travel to

the town of Torti to receive medical and dental attention. The

community has a pump aqueduct water system, with almost all of

families connected to it; however, when it does not work, the

community members bathe in the nearby river instead.

Very few families in Wagandi have cement floors in their homes.

Additionally, the communal building in the center of the community

has earthen floors as well. The community did have a water

committee, but it has fallen apart in recent years.  Community

members typically dispose of their garbage by burning it or by

throwing it into the nearby river.

 

The Public Health Solution for Wagandi

With the cooperation the leader of Wagandi and the support of local families, Public

Health Brigades has constructed and plans to continue constructing composting latrines for family homes

in Wagandi. One particularly valuable aspect of Wagandi is the nearby river. From this river families can

gather sand and gravel to use in the cement and concrete mixes for their latrines. This ensures the support and partnership of the families, but allows them to contribute in a low-cost manner.  Additionally,

Business Brigades will soon be establishing a community bank in the community to support the development of new public health projects.

 

Public Health Brigades Chapters that Worked in Wagandi
Public Health Brigades Chapter	Month	Volunteers
Pennsylvania State University	March 2013	32
Oregon State University	September 2013	25

 

Current Status

Last Visit: August 2014
The August summer internship team did a serious of surveys throughout the community to ensure that the community members were maintaining their family composting latrines correctly.  The public health team was very happy to find that the vast majority of the families were using the latrines correctly!

Project Photos

 

 

 

 

Visit Other Programs in Wagandi

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 Wagandi:

Business Dental Environmental Human RightsMedical    Microfinance