Profile: Kelvin Tse

GBB Panama Blog

Kelvin Tse, Business Administration

Blog 4

We’re back. It’s been quite an adventure. On our last night there, we told them that we would donate $2,000 to their up and coming company; they were pretty happy about that. It’s been interesting seeing the change in the dynamics between our brigade and the farmers. When we first arrived and spoke to them, there was definitely a sense of distance and skepticism between us. They did not seem entirely receptive to our ideas and there weren’t a lot of smiles. Fortunately, we were able to turn those frowns upside-down. I think a lot of the reason that we were able to win their trust and confidence was simply because they saw how hard we worked to help them. It really elicits trust when one shows dedication to a cause. So by the end of the trip, the farmers were visibly more comfortable and joking amongst themselves. They also made little thank-you speeches for us, shook our hands, and most importantly, gave us mini sombrero key chains. If it weren’t for the mini sombreros, I don’t know if the trip would have been worth it in the end. Upon leaving El Bale, I did feel like we made a positive difference. I think it’s important not to leave after a couple days thinking that the job is done and all is well with the world. It was a great feeling to know that our next brigade would most likely come back to the same location to follow up and help with whatever new problems they have.

The next one and a half days were spent visiting various places within Panama City and bonding. By the end of the trip, we were all very close. It’s amazing to me that in school I can see someone a couple times a week for an entire semester, chat with them every time, and still never become anything more than acquaintances. Through this trip, we went from total strangers to great friends in seven days. We’ve already planned a reunion party when we get back and I’m sure there’ll be many more to come.

This trip has been a great experience overall. Not only did we directly apply what we learned in school, we were also immersed (if only for a bit) within a different culture, met great people, and made new friends. We will definitely have another trip next year, so my parting words to you, dear reader, are to come out and join Global Business Brigades if you want to try something new, learn, and have a good time.

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Blog 3

It’s Wednesday today, and we will be leaving El Bale tomorrow. I’ve been sick for the past few days with something I caught from my buddy Jordan. As much as I enjoy the infinite blessings of his wonderful company, sitting next to him for 12 hours when he was reeking of disease probably wasn’t the best course of action. As a result, I have aches, fever, chills, and the sniffles. I hate the sniffles.

But, the most amusing (if one finds amusement in my pain) consequence of being sick has to be the chills. It’s 80-90 degrees outside. Everyone’s in something short of some sort: short sleeves, shorts, short shorts, and really short shorts. But, here I stand in stark contrast. I wear my long pants, my long sleeved shirt, and a thick black jacket. Everyone looks like they’re going to spend a nice day outside in the summer sun. I look like I’m about to go skiing. Such is the price I pay for having too much fun the first few days. Every day since I last wrote has been similar in terms of activities. We wake up bright and early to grab a hearty breakfast. Then we work for a couple hours thinking about how to help the farmers through workshops. One day, we went to visit the hives and also a bottling facility. When I say facility, don’t think “Coca-Cola” facility; think “tiny room with a huge jug of honey and bottles set in a very remote area in the mountains” facility. In any case, after our morning work, we eat lunch and then we work with the farmers to teach them whatever we have planned. So far, we’ve helped them flesh out a basic organizational structure and roles as well as taught them basic accounting and bookkeeping.

It’s been quite an ordeal trying to communicate with the farmers. We have two wonderful students on our trip, Alie and Dave, who are fluent in Spanish and act as our translators. But it becomes quite frustrating when you say something, wait for the translation in Spanish, wait for the response in Spanish, and then wait for the translation in English. Something that I noticed was that there would be a huge conversation in Spanish for what seemed like ten minutes, but when the translation came back to us, it would be something like “Yes, that’s good.” I don’t know Spanish, but I’d say something got lost in translation.

After working with the farmers until about 6 or 7, we would play sports or play with the children. These were definitely not mutually exclusive activities. These children had so much energy. They would run around laughing and screaming about 15 hours a day. I typically can only get in about 2 hours of laughing and screaming a day. If I try extra hard, I can sometimes squeeze out a third hour of exuberance. But whatever those kids had, I think we could all use a little more of it.

After the fun and games, we would typically eat dinner, and then have more fun and games. This could involve more sports and children, talking, or any of the myriad of games that our ex-camp counselor members knew. The vast majority of the games we played were pointless, juvenile, and immature. As a consequence, the vast majority of the games we played were extremely fun. Needless to say, life in Panama is good.

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Blog 2

Today is the second day of the trip and our first day in El Bale, the village we will be working with. It is 11:32 PM and I am holding a pen in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Why? Because the room for the boys is sans electricity. Oh yeah, and the girl’s room does have electricity. Take that gender equality. The beds we’re sleeping on are fairly shady. But we did get new sheets. How comforting. (Ha ha, get it?) All in all, not too shabby, but still the worst bed I’ve probably ever slept in. We’re definitely getting the real deal with this trip.

After four or so hours riding on the bus from Panama City, we got off and rode on the back of pick-up trucks with a sort of skeletal, metallic frame of bars over the beds. I definitely had the surreal feeling that I was a farm animal about to become someone’s future dinner. We rode in the trucks for about an hour through some impressively steep and rocky roads until we finally reached the village. The cool thing about the trucks we took was that they had “snorkels”. It’s basically exactly what it sounds like. But for cars. Picture a large plastic tube connected from the intake on the front of the truck that runs along the side and then up near the windshield to about that height. The reason, of course, is so that trucks can drive through rivers and other bodies of water that reach that level. Imagining these old beat up trucks trekking through water 5 feet high is certainly a little awe-inspiring. All this does is reaffirm the idea that, yes, we are in Panama.

Today we also met some of the locals for the first time. We played baseball, but unfortunately it was mostly Global Business Brigades kids playing. Nevertheless, a few of the locals joined in, including Father Roberto. Turns out, Father Roberto knows how to hit a baseball. Hard. Who would’ve thought that the village priest would crush us at our own national pastime?

After a delicious meal, we decided to make preliminary plans about how to approach the next day, what questions we should ask, and what we wanted to do. It was a little difficult getting everyone on the same page but it was also clear that everyone was quite motivated to make a difference. It was encouraging to know that we all shared a common goal.

Finally, because it was dark out by then, we went to their outdoor basketball court and just lay down looking at the night sky. It was absolutely brilliant. I ended up talking to one of the other members, Kevin, about possibilities of extraterrestrial life and the extraordinary scope of the universe. Looking into the sky and knowing that some of those stars simply did not exist anymore was something wonderful to chew on.  If even these massive balls of energy are fleeting, then what are we as humans?  Tiny blips in the grand scale of time and space - blips with fantastic senses of self-importance and entitlement. And that is part of the reason why we are here in Panama. “We” are not better than “them”. In the crushing, magnanimous face of the universe, we are still nothing. So why be petty? Why fight? The universe doesn’t care who’s right or who’s wrong. So what can we do? What should we do? Meet people. Learn from others. Just spread some love around the world. Because if we’re nothing anyway, we might as well be a big group of happy nothings.

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Blog 1

I am reminded of the upcoming trip when I open my fridge, rummage for food and find… typhoid. My appetite is suddenly suppressed at the thought of the live vaccine being fridge buddies with my edibles.

I don’t know much about Panama. Forgive my ignorance, but when I hear Panama, three things come to mind: the Panama Canal, drug cartels and malaria. It’s funny because I consider myself someone who is fairly cultured and knowledgeable. Yet, if you were to ask me about the people of Panama, their food or their culture, I would draw a blank. The best answer I could give you would probably be a rough mosaic of scenes recalled from glimpses of Telemundo and Univision (namely, incredibly attractive Latinas who are perpetually in distress). With that said, I find myself wondering about the most random minutiae a few days before departure. Instead of thinking about whether or not we would make a significant impact or in what ways I would be able to personally assist the farmers, I ponder what Panama will smell like. Dirty bananas, I quickly conclude. What type of shoes do Panamanians wear? I’ll probably see a lot of sandals and toes.

Besides these musings, I also seriously consider the question of what the people of Panama think of Americans. Especially in light of events through the last decade: are we still viewed as respectable or has our reputation been tarnished to a point where we must overcome the negative bias first? I am perpetually curious as to how the rest of the world views us and why they view us the way they do.

Ultimately, I am simply curious about the world and its cultures. I am admittedly clueless about Panama, but I am also completely open-minded and eager to experience whatever it has to offer. I think this trip will be a fantastic experience simply because instead of just touring and seeing, we will be doing. We will be interacting with local Panamanians; and for one short week, we will be immersed in Panama’s culture.

I think I am ready. I’ve got an open-mind, and perhaps more importantly, a plethora of bug repellants and anti-diarrhea medications.

I will be writing again about my adventures in about one week’s time. Until then, stay strong my loyal readers. All seven of you.

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