After my morning, I headed into Boquete to go to the Paradise Gardens. As I walked up the long and dusty road, Stacy and Randy stopped and gave me a very welcome lift.

The gardens are really beautiful, cared for and nurtured (the way the children should have been).

I met Dolly, who is currently running the place and has been for the past 6 months. I was also introduced to Sarah, a young American who was volunteering there, and she took me around the garden and introduced me to the animals.

At present there are quite a few volunteers and everyone does jobs that match their skills. So it is that I am tasked with finishing off a beautiful (well it will be one day) seashell mural in the grotto, which is in the aviary.

But let me tell you a little about the place. Apparently an English couple moved to Panama in 2001 and they brought with them their pet Macaws. Well, word got around that they were bird experts and pretty soon birds were being brought to them. Then it was abused and injured animals. So that’s how it started. The couple landscaped the gardens beautifully and Paul (the husband) built pools and water features. It truly is spectacular. In 2003 they opened to the public. But following a car accident, they returned to England and sold the place. The new owners have had difficulty keeping managers. Indeed Dolly and her husband are leaving as soon as a replacement can be found. But Dolly does a great job together with her volunteers.

So I am spending the next 3 days finishing the mural. Several people have worked on it and each signs their names, so I’ll be leaving my contribution for posterity. As it is huge, I am finishing parts that have already been started first, so that it looks good as it progresses, rather than having lots of parts semi-completed (if you know what I mean).

It’s quite ironic really, I couldn’t have chosen two more contrasting projects to volunteer for. The sad thing is that the gardens and the animals get more care, nurturing and attention than the 65 children at Casa Hogar. Let me give you an example to illustrate what I mean. Remember I told you about the girl who will have to leave the orphanage? Well the gardens also have a resident that has to leave, Oscar the Yellow headed hawk. But unlike the girl, he is being trained in how to fend for himself. They started by putting live mice in his enclosure for him to catch, then chicks and finally small birds. He has to learn to hunt for himself before he can be released. A stark contrast to the way the orphanage deals with their wards.

Let’s just hope Pat and Bob can do something to improve their lives.

When I got back to the Cabana this evening I asked Ken about the girl and he said ‘bring her down to meet me and we’ll see what we can do’. So tomorrow I am going to the Gymnasio, where some of the older children are putting on a show. Tammy and the girl will be there and hopefully I can arrange for her to come and meet with Ken.

He said he could give her room and board and pay her about $150 a month. She could clean, cook, iron and hopefully deal with the reservations. But he said he wanted someone who could use their own initiative and I worry about that. How can this girl fill these requirements? Has she ever been shown how to cook or iron? Has she ever been allowed to use her own initiative? This is another of the failings (and that is not a strong enough word) of the orphanage. They don’t appear to do anything to ‘empower’ (I don’t usually use that word as it is grossly misused in my opinion, but it is the right word here) these children.

Sorry this has been a bit of a ‘soap box’ blog entry, but having worked in inner city deprived areas in the UK and then seen this, it makes me sick. Sure the UK has teenage pregnancy problems, but they get council housing, benefits and they still think the world owes them a living. Then I come here and see real deprivation and the futility and despondency etched on the faces of the children when they think no one is looking and it makes me angry and sad. Such a waste of a human life. Such a waste of potential. Such a shame! But, as Shelly a fellow boaty said, at least they had food to eat, a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs!

So guys and gals, the next time you’re feeling badly done to, just pause and spare a thought for the children at Casa Hogar! It might just make you feel better.

NEWSFLASH!!!!!

Oscar was successfully released into the wild and Pat has contacted me to say thanks so much as they have been trying to find somewhere for Farima (that’s her name) so they will start the paperwork to get her released ( Maybe I wasn’t so far off the mark thinking it was more like a prison) for an interview with Ken. So everyone keep your fingers crossed for her.