CHAGRES, PANAMA

OVERVIEW I PROJECT DETAILS I GET INVOLVED

Overview:
ESW has been involved in an ongoing effort to provide solar electricity to Santo Domingo, a small village in the Chagres River Basin lacking access to electricity. In the past several years, ESW teams have successfully installed several solar panel systems, offering much needed power for a variety of applications in the town. The most recent project included installation of a computer system for the school in Santo Domingo, and the implementation of the solar powered freezer and lighting system in the community of Santa Librada.

Project Details :
The Chagres River Basin is a 300,000 plus area of national rainforest in Panama located in the central part of the isthmus. Chagres is the source of over 40% of water required for the operation of the Panama Canal, and 80% of the water used domestically by half the nation’s population. Because of its huge economic, social, political, and environmental significance, Chagres National Park formally became a protected area of the Panamanian government in 1985.

Much of the population in Chagres works as ranchers and subsistence farmers, especially since cattle-ranching is one agricultural occupation that has fewer risks and greater income compared to other types of agricultural activity. Still, most inhabitants in the park’s 34 villages face significant challenges.

The community of Santo Domingo is one such village. Santo Domingo is located in the upper sub-river basin of Lake Gatún in the western part of Chagres. The people of Santo Domingo are under the jurisdiction of the district of Salamanca. The community consists of 69 people (49 adults and 20 minors). There is an approximately 3 to 2 ratio of adult men to adult women. There are 19 families in Santo Domingo living in 15 houses. Despite the fact that Santo Domingo was founded over 40 years ago (well before the founding of the national park), and has a 10 kilometer trail of national park trail through the village, the community has never received access to electricity due to regulations of the park. Some of the other challenges the community faces are the lack of a paved road to the community, poor access to medical care (the nearest medical services are 3 hours away), and limited education (there is only one teacher for a single multi-grade school).

In December 2005, an ESW-NU scoping team traveled to Santo Domingo with members of the Panamanian NGO, Centro de Estudios y Acción Social Panameña (CEASPA). From this trip, the scoping team determined a project for ESW-NU to undertake with the community of Santo Domingo.

In August 2006, a team trip traveled back to Santo Domingo to install solar panel systems that powered electric fences for two ranchers. These fences not only separated the pastures, but also protected livestock from Jaguar attacks which were a problem in Santo Domingo; for example, over the last 12 years a single family had lost about 25 cattle to Jaguar attacks. The August 2006 trip team installed two solar panels and two charge controllers in these ranches, and connected them to the existing batteries and fence chargers.

The focus of the 2006 December trip in Chagres was the installation of a battery charging system and lighting system at the school, while also checking on the existing fence chargers. In addition, an existing solar panel was fixed and used to provide lighting for the community church. The building of the lighting system served not only as a vehicle for providing more access to electricity, but also as a way to bring the community together to work on a common goal that the entire community would benefit from. The majority of the community participated in some fashion, and a number of young adults eventually became part of the solar committee which would maintain the systems.

In December 2007, ESW-NU completed two new projects: installation of a computer system for the school in Santo Domingo, and the implementation of the solar powered freezer and lighting system in the community of Santa Librada. The solar powered freezer was installed because the community stated that there was a need for the teacher to have a place to put food instead of carrying it everyday to the school. A solar-powered freezer system was decided upon, and would be implemented in December, and maintained by the school committee. The team also collected information for designing systems that could provide solar energy for the homes in Santo Domingo. Currently, both the community of Santo Domingo and ESW are both looking for partners and funding to implement house electrification within the community. Further work with these projects will continue making tangible improvements for people in Chagres, while providing both students and community members a significantly deeper understanding of the importance of sustainability.

Get Involved:
Check out descriptions of the project positions and download the application:
Intermation Project Positions
Position Application

For information on how you can get involved contact the Vice President of International Projects Suelyn Yu