Profile: Jordan Wong

GBB Panama Blog

Jordan Wong, Business Administration

Blog 4

On our last day in El Bale, I was one of the lucky few who got to dress up in a bee suit and actually participate in harvesting honey from nearby hives. After breakfast, we donned on big boots, garden gloves, a full body suit, and an astronaut-like mask. Our trip began in the bed of a truck as we rode towards the hive site, voicing our final words before we encountered the bees, and our likely death.

With a smoke contraption that awoke the bees from their slumber, we witnessed swarm after swarm of bees zipping all around us. The sound was eerie, thousands of ‘zzz’s’ vibrating and echoing in my eardrums. Bees clustered onto our helmets, covering them completely. As we packed up the last of the wax honey sheets into our boxes, one of the bees entered Kevin’s mask. Calmly, we left the site and in the truck bed ten minutes down the road, we set it free. We survived, but more importantly, we experienced an event we will not soon forget.

Other highlights of my trip were riding a jet-ski for a couple minutes at a nice beach near the Panama city (before it broke down), attending a beautiful church service led by our host and El Bale community leader, Padro Roberto, singing and learning songs by Padro by a bonfire, playing games with the local kids, and going clubbing in the city.

As a group, GBB formed strong bonds with one another. Whenever we get together, there’s an amazing amount of love and respect for one another. If anything, the trip was worth it for this fact. Our inaugural trip to Panama was such a feel-good experience on so many levels. Most of us are ready to start making preparations for our follow-up trip. I know I am.

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Blog 3



I have decided to dedicate a paragraph to the amazing food we ate in El Bale village. We had our own cooking team that spent hours in the kitchen preparing our delicious meals. I think the overall consensus was that the fried chicken we had for dinner a couple times was among our favorite dishes. There was also the mushroom gravy that went with everything, rice, fried plantains, Hojaldres (fried dough for breakfast), and sandwiches- all meticulously prepared by our cooks. They made sure our bellies remained satisfied the whole week.

The next few paragraphs will summarize our impact on the bee honey farmers. Prior to our encounter with these people, we were lectured on the importance of community involvement in order to achieve successful sustainable development. Throughout our engagements with these people, their commitment to helping us help them was always apparent. We ran several workshops, one on the organization of their cooperative, one on the accounting/record keeping, and one on marketing their product. After each, especially the marketing workshop, it felt like they became more comfortable with the concepts we drilled into them.

Each successive day brought a transformation on the faces of these people. They started out as weary travelers, who walked 4 hours to El Bale, pessimistic of the knowledge we had to offer them. But these furrowed lines changed into wide smiles, as they realized they were on there way to starting something great.

Together, they formed a cooperative between farmers dispersed all throughout the countryside, separated by a days worth of traveling. Together, they decided the future course of their business: establishing the goals of their co-op, getting funding and guidance from GBB and a parent organization called EPACO, acquiring a license so they can be recognized by the Panama government as a legitimate business, and finishing their construction of the store. Together, they began an enterprise that they will last for years.

We experienced many frustrations. The language barrier was difficult. We had trouble organizing ourselves into functional groups. Much of our discussions and ideas turned out to be unnecessary, too complicated, and/or obsolete. But overall, we made a real and positive difference in the farmer’s lives. We will learn from our mistakes and come back to Panama with a clearer purpose.

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Blog 2



Experiencing poverty firsthand is supposed to give us perspective on all that we are blessed with, all the things in life we take for granted. And to a large extent this is true. I miss electricity and warm water. I appreciate our relatively higher quality of life. But there is something quite beautiful about the simple way of life these Panamanian people lead in this remote village.

They are lucky to have the most beautiful night sky I have ever witnessed. Billions of stars exploded and shimmered on a jet-black canopy that stretched from one horizon to a universe beyond plain sight. We each lay on our backs and wished upon shooting stars.



They are lucky to play the sports that I grew up learning half way around the world with such raw passion. They don't have the uniforms, equipment, coaches, and team mothers that I enjoyed. However, they do have an amazing competitive spirit that stems from their simple love for the game. I played baseball, soccer, and basketball with local teenage young men. Their talent and skill in each sport was amazing. I threw fastballs as hard as I could, and they rocketed my pitches into homers. One young man dribbled the soccer ball through my legs on two occasions. They made me feel like I'm getting too old for sports. 

 They are also lucky for good food (they feed us well), gorgeous sunrises, family-oriented community, and no technological modern-day distractions. What they lack in their monetary wealth, they make up for their simple zest for life. This is the perspective I have gained.

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Blog 1

March 6, 2009, Los Angeles

Aloha, my name is Jordan and I have the privilege of being your blogging correspondent for the USC Global Business Brigades's inaugural trip to Panama. As my friends approached me with the idea of starting a Global Business Brigades Chapter here at USC last fall, I was skeptical, to say the least. But now, after several months of preparation, the reality of the task before us is just beginning to dawn on me.

Perhaps the most exceptional aspect of our program is that it allows us to work directly with the people of Panama. We will be able to use the business knowledge and skills we have acquired in the classrooms here at Marshall and apply them thousands of miles away in a small Panamanian village. More specifically, we are hoping to create a sustaining business model for a local bee honey farm. I am very excited at this unique opportunity to influence real and positive change for these impoverished people. The work we have set out to do won't be easy. We will sweat. We will work through language and cultural barriers. We will create flow charts, marketing strategies and sales contacts. We will spend hours deliberating about viable solutions. We will fight to make a difference. So by no means is this trip about fun and games. I don't expect anything less than giving our best.

There are some doubts as to whether we will be able to actually make a difference. There are some fears of adjusting to the living conditions of a third world country. I myself had to take three immunization shots, buy cans of bug spray and brush up on my non-existent Spanish skills. I also often wonder if my stomach will be able to handle the food they provide us. But nevertheless, I am going with a strong mindset that I will seize this occasion and make this an unforgettable experience with my fellow brigaders.

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