Many people have lost their livelihood in this pandemic. Many other people are unable to do the things they need to do, especially here in Panama with the very restrictive quarantine. Maybe we can be creative and help each other out?
Wherever you are – My Spanish teacher could use extra work. She was teaching at a private school which is no longer paying staff since they are closed. Her husband is also not working at the moment so she’s supporting the family. She’s an excellent, experienced teacher who has helped me enormously. But I still have a lot to learn so I’m back in class again. If you want to learn or improve your Spanish – http://yairatutoria.com/
If you are local – Eduardo Horna has been a friend for a long time. He works with expats and tourists giving tours, finding housing, translating, and helping them with whatever they need to get set up in their new lives. Of course there are no tourists or expats moving in right now. I mentioned yesterday that our air conditioner bit the dust and we were in the market for a new one. But, most stores are closed. The AC tech couldn’t find a unit through his usual wholesale channels. Let’s put Eduardo on the job! City Mall seemed like a good option. They sell food so they are open, but they also sell about anything else you could imagine at reasonable prices. He returned a couple hours later with a new AC unit, and at a reasonable price!
We didn’t have to go out. We didn’t have to drive to the other side of town. We just put him on the job and he got it done. Now that the quarantine has loosened up for technicians, including AC techs, we should be able to get it installed soon.
If you need errands done in Chiriqui, contact Eduardo. I’m sure he’ll do whatever he can to help you out. We’ve known him for 8 years and can vouch for his honesty and integrity, and he’s just an all around nice and helpful guy. riochiriqui@gmail.com
Also, for local people –
The Boquete Brewing Company, one of our band venues, has been shut down but now you can buy their beer on line https://boquetebrewingcompany.com/index.php/store/?fbclid=IwAR1LegW4ugHSnKMRd4wa8_npkNZ-S6NjgLWRmlM3IeirIAcE8k2j0m4UJa4 They will deliver or you can pick up. Support them, buy their hand crafted beer, and enjoy their delicious product. You are allowed one 6-pack for home consumption.
Our other friends at Mike’s Global Grill are making food for pickup or delivery. https://www.mikesglobalgrill.com/ Check the website for menu options, and to order something yummy to enjoy in your quarantine.
These are only a few people I know personally, but of course there are many many, more businesses and individuals trying to survive this difficult time. Do what you can support them with work, purchases, publicity, donations, or whatever might help them through.
Above all, be kind to each other. I’m feeling better after a couple days of minimal social media, but maybe I should still put this at the bottom of every post for a while.
The Panama Adventure 
My heart really goes out to the people who have been devastated by this virus, including the families who have lost loved ones. I know people personally who have lost family members. I feel very fortunate to still be working from home and going into the hospital once in a while as I work in oncology research. We do have quite a few studies with Covid-19 patients which are easy to find on a Google search, as there is a public website that lists all clinical trials and where they’re being conducted. We are making progress but it’s slow.
Thank you so much for being so kind to those around you, and I hope your post will help them out and people will employ them if possible. I still dream of living in Panama but it’s not possible at this point in my life. I don’t know if I’ll ever live there, but I sure did enjoy my visit and can still dream. I always look forward to your posts, even ones that you think may be boring 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Thank YOU for working in medical research! I’m sure it will take a while to find a test a vaccine, but any forward progress is welcome. Oncology research may be even more important. It’s a terrible thing that affects so many people, where this epidemic will end somehow with or without a vaccine.
Even if you can’t live here, maybe you can spend time here in the future. Meanwhile take very good care of yourself and your family, and I hope the virus doesn’t take anyone else close to you.
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Beautiful and thoughtful post Kris, thank you.
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Thank you for taking the time to leave such a kind comment 🙂
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I wish it didn’t take a pandemic to do this, but happy to hear how people are helping each other in your community. In Pedasi, some people got together and with the support of the mayor, formed an organization to help the local people with food, medicine, pet food, etc. Many of us who are more fortunate have adopted families to help pay for their groceries and other supplies needed during this time. Many restaurants that were closed and some new ones have set up online or via Whatsapp ordering and delivery of meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) with no delivery charge and have even gotten very creative with their menus offering a lot of different choices now. We had no restaurant meal delivery before and I hope it continues even after the quarantine. One restaurant even has a program-for every meal purchased, another will be delivered to a person in need for free. 76 meals were distributed to different families in need the first week. Our packages we order from Amazon, etc. are now delivered to our home once a week, no extra charge; used to have to drive to Las Tablas 35-40 minutes away which would take up most of our allotted 2 hours. We don’t have large supermarkets or PriceSmart, but the Super chinos are having some things brought in and keeping their shelves stocked. We may not like being cooped up at home for so long, but this little town & district has no corona virus cases yet, and has really come together in this time of need. Take care.
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I think the majority of people are kind and helpful but yes, in these tough times we see that more and more. And I think some of the changes we are seeing might be permanent, like your Amazon deliveries and the changes in the restaurants, and more choices available in the chinos. Some good things will come out of this difficult situation. Take good care of yourselves!
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