We have a newspaper in the Peace Corps in Panama that goes out quarterly. Since I started one of my goals was to submit an article and finally, my last month in country I did. So I thought I'd share it with all of you...
When I got to Panama I thought I was
going to change the world. I thought that by the time I left, everyone in my
site would be speaking English. No, seriously. You’re probably thinking, “Aw
that’s cute, Sydney. What a naïve baby child.” Two years of hard labor in
Panama will teach you a lot. First, you can’t come in and just do huge things de una vez. So I have to keep reciting
over and over again my favorite quote from Mother Teresa: “We can do no great
things, only small things with great love.” This motto will forever be etched
on my heart, and Panama has definitely reinforced it. Anyone who knows me well
has probably heard me say this once, or more like one hundred million times.
But when I think about my Peace Corps experience that is just the phrase that
comes to mind.
Of course we do great things here: we
build latrines and aqueducts, teach English classes, build libraries, give
various charlas about things from
teaching people to not poop in rivers to teaching them how to put on condoms.
We plant gardens and protect turtles and iguanas, we start recycling projects
and paint world maps. But are those really the things for which our communities
will remember us? My guess is no.
My guess is they will remember us for
the small things we did with great love. They will remember the time we wore a pollera and lead the 3rd of
November parade. They will remember the time we made a fool of ourselves dancing
at bailes or trying to speak ngabere. Or that one time we tripped and
fell, which they still laugh about. They will remember us for our smiles, our
laughs, the way we can’t manage to roll our rrs,
or the Halloween party we threw for the kids. They will remember us for the
small things.
And we probably won’t remember them for
the great things they did. We will remember them for the small things they did:
giving us heaping plates of arroz con
pollo, telling stories about the past, regalaring bananas. The one time
they came and helped us with the latrine building project or that time they
came to the health charla and
actually participated. The one time my counterpart told me, “the world needs
more people like you.” The one time they threw us a birthday party or walked
with us to pasear. We will remember them for the small things.
The memories of Panama I will take with
me probably won’t be the great things either. It will be the small things. All
the times the kids came to my house to play Uno or read my books; the hours
sitting with my neighbors hearing about how it’s going to rain or it’s really
hot; the times spent in the river with everyone; when Chelsea and I made fruit
dryers at my house; the times at Santa Clara, Las Lajas or Bocas beaches with
other Peace Corps volunteers; all the times I saw grandmas with shirts in
English with things like “don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me;” the
one time I made chili and corn bread at my house and took like 15 pictures of
the meal because I was so proud; the day Austin, Kim and I built my shower. We
will remember Panama for the small things.
The Peace Corps is full of great
memories and friends, but in the end, honestly it’s all the little things that
add up to make the experience great: the small gifts from friends and
neighbors, the small successes in projects, the hugs from students. I will
never forget my experience here and the small things that I did and received
with great love.
For those PCVs that still have most of
their service left, my advice to you is to not make such a big deal about the
great things, but instead focus on the small things. Remember the love you
received from the people around you: other volunteers, neighbors, students, the
random pavo on the bus who doesn’t
make you pay full price. (Insert inspirational music here.) Peace Corps can be
frustrating and lonely sometimes, but when we celebrate the little things, I
guarantee your service will be happier and you will feel more loved and
blessed. I couldn’t ask for better memories from Panama and I will definitely
miss this place. Although my suitcase will be pretty empty because I’m going to
be leaving most of my dirty, smelly, holey, moldy clothes here, it will be forever
full of the memories and things that can’t be seen but that I will carry with
me wherever I go. So thanks Mama Teri for your wise words. And now my challenge
to each and every one of you (and me as I go back to the good ol’ U.S. of A.)
is to go out and do small things with great love. I dare you.
