Partnerships and local needs
Automatic audio transcript; may contain errors.

[0:00] Hi my name is Emily Talantino. I'm the executive director of GivenSurf and the new president

[0:04] of our club Rotario de Boca del Toro. I've been able to visit a lot of the smaller indigenous

[0:09] communities in the Boca Islands and really understand and see first-hand the needs.

[0:13] It gives us the opportunity to look at the overall community needs and how Rotary can

[0:17] help to address them. And those issues are really diverse. Even though Boca's has

[0:22] become a booming tourist place with beautiful beaches and surf breaks, you just go fifteen

[0:27] minutes by taxi or water taxi and you're in very isolated villages with

[0:31] limited access to education and medical care, no electricity, no running water.

[0:36] I think the most important thing when we're considering needs of what projects

[0:39] we want to tackle is first listening to the communities that we're serving so

[0:43] that they're invested and willing to also be a partner in the project.

[0:47] When we've tackled a project it's been something the community is requested

[0:50] and then they're required to participate so whether that's physically

[0:53] helping with the construction of a new school or the installation of a water

[0:57] system or potentially contributing some funds as well as the maintenance that may be required

[1:02] after a project is complete, they're completely invested in the project because it's something

[1:06] they truly understand how it's going to benefit their community.

[1:09] Hi my name is Alejandro Jonah, I grew up right here on this island and today I have the

[1:15] opportunity to be part of the new Rotary Club that we're opening here in Boca Seltoro.

[1:22] Very excited.

[1:23] I have been hearing about rotary in Panama since I was a child.

[1:28] I just was never too related to it, you know.

[1:33] But no, I have the opportunity and I'm very excited.

[1:37] I have been a witness of the great things that they have been doing.

[1:42] And well, I think it is a good time to start doing some of that here in Boca.

[1:47] having clean drinking water is one of the most important things we can think about when we want to grow healthy and strong.

[1:58] I mean it's not a place where you can just simply open the faucet, you know, and drink fresh water that is healthy.

[2:06] You would walk around the community and you would see the children with their big tummy, you know,

[2:13] and not full of energy as children usually are and well once there was

[2:21] improvement in their health and once they got fresh and clean water to drink I

[2:28] mean you could see the difference immediately