San Miguelito Stake Employment Workshop

So each week we have set up times to teach the employment workshop in one of the Stakes here in Panama.  The Sunday before we try to visit some of the wards in the stake to promote the workshop, and usually we've sent flyers and information through e-mail to the leaders.  We then usually have one workshop taught over two evenings for three hours each during the week and one workshop on a Saturday where we teach the whole thing for about five and a half hours.  During the week, we spend some time in the center organizing our teaching materials and manuals for the day's lesson and working to get other times set up for other stakes.  The rest of the time in the center is spent doing homework, or we head out and see the city and things around town.  We actually only spend about 20 hours a week on the internship and most of that is taken up in teaching.

The workshop is broken up into four sections, one focused on helping people identify their career goals (work, education, etc.) as well as the talents and abilities they have to help them reach those goals.  I love this section because so many people don't allow themselves to see all of the many abilities that they have. One of my favorite activities of this section is when we split the students into small groups and one person from each group share one of their achievements with the rest of their group.  The other members of the group then identify abilities and skills that they imagine would be needed to accomplish this achievement.  It's awesome to see how people start to realize all of the abilities they actually have but hadn't thought about before.  I also really like how they can't try to minimize themselves and say "Well, I don't really have that ability," because other people see that ability in them.  We then tie it in with the scripture from D&C 46 which talks about how gifts are given from God and explain how they can have confidence in these abilities they've learned they have.  It's wonderful to see how empowering it is for them.

The second part talks about the resources people have to help them achieve their goals.  We mainly focus on helping them learn the importance of networking and the effectiveness networking has on helping them find work or learn what to do to achieve their goal.

The third section prepares people to interact with others in their network and have effective job interviews.  We have a lot of interaction and activities in this section, and it's fun.

Finally, we discuss what people can do to maintain their job when they're hired and how to progress in the field.  Because we have to teach the whole workshop in such little time (usually it should be taught in twelve hours, but we have to try and squeeze it into five or six) we usually just introduce this section and have a small discussion about it then invite them to review it at home.

So far, we've had really good experiences teaching, but all the people who have come actually already have work and are leaders in the church, so they just want to know about the workshop.  Here are some pictures of the last two groups we taught in San Miguelito Stake.

Casco Viejo and Panama la Vieja

So Panama has some pretty old places!  This week we were able to visit the original site of the city that was destroyed by Captain Morgan, the pirate!  He ransacked the place and then burned it.  Here are some of the first buildings we saw in the area.

This first one used to be part of an old church (I think that's what the plaque said.)

 And there's a great view of the ocean and part of the Corredor Sur which is one of the main roads circling the city.

It was interesting to me to see how the people treated this area just like any other area.  There's a football net and pile of trash just in the middle of the center.  It was just an example for me of how Panama is still developing in many areas, even those with strong cultural/tourist interest.

Unfortunately, our trip was cut a little short because my fellow intern was robbed, so we decided to leave the area.  We were both physically safe, we just left one camera short with what we came with....  I don't really know how to positively chalk that one up as one's cultural experiences in another country, but there you go.

Despite these set-backs we've still had a good rest of the week visiting a place called Casco Viejo a couple times.  This site is where the town moved to after Captian Morgan destroyed it.  I loved the buildings here.  There's a big mix of styles as well as well kept buildings and completed emaciated ones.  Sometimes there is just a well kept outside with ornate columns and carvings and then nothing behind the empty windows.

There are also a lot of buildings in the process of being restored or that were kept up well, and the detail is amazing.

I am also impressed by how they make the plants decorations.

And there are TONS of churches! Most are closed, but this one was open and impressive.  I loved seeing the symbolism in the church, but I didn't really like how sad all of the saints looked.  I can understand why people say it feels so somber in a Catholic church.

There's supposed to be a church with a golden alter that was saved from the ransacking by Morgan because it was painted black, but I haven't been able to see it yet. It was closed when I went last time.... I didn't approve.

And I LOVED the street art!

I think this might be one of my favorites...

And such great words of advice from the street.

In general, I really like Casco Viejo.  I'll make sure to include more pictures... sometime, but for tonight, I'm finished.