Panama: Tropical Ecology, Marine Ecosystems, and Biodiversity Conservation

Homestays

“Theory is good, but knowing how environmental issues are viewed and acted on by the public by living with the public is invaluable."

Spring 2010 student

Experience Panama’s rich socioeconomic and cultural diversity
The SIT Panama program includes several different homestays exposing students to different regions and ways of life in both Panama and Costa Rica. In sharing daily life with host families, students greatly improve their Spanish and directly witness how development and conservation affect different communities throughout the country.

Although exact locations can vary each semester, homestay locations can include:

Panama City
Experience the unique vibrancy and diversity of Panama’s capital and largest city.
Students live with families in Panama City for approximately five and a half weeks over the course of the semester. Students experience the ways in which rural customs are sustained in the midst of booming international banking and trade businesses; hone their Spanish skills through daily practice with their families; and gain valuable exposure to Panamanian traditions and culture. As one of the leading base locations for international NGOs, Panama City offers students many opportunities for exploring development and conservation issues and initiatives.

Loma Bonita (rural mountains)
Gain valuable insight into the challenges faced by villagers when dealing with environmental conservation, eco-cultural traditions, and human survival.
Students spend approximately four days with families who live in a protected area buffer zone in the interior of the country. Family livelihoods are based on subsistence agriculture and natural resource extraction. Students live and work side-by-side with their hosts, sharing daily activities of food production and other chores.

Santo Domingo (rural lowlands)
Discover how cultural ties directly influence resource use and choices for conservation.
On the Azuero Peninsula, students live with families and interact with a community known for its traditional folklore and strong cultural roots. Students participate in cultural activities and land use practices, helping to reign in cattle, mill sugar cane, milk cows shoulder-to-shoulder with the subsistence ranchers, and make cheese for sale. This homestay is usually four days.

Students with farmers from homestay communites at EARTH University

La Argentina, Costa Rica
Witness the ways EARTH University is working with families to improve the environmental conditions on their farmsteads.
Part of EARTH University’s mission is to transfer the sustainable technologies it develops to local communities. One of the communities where EARTH extends its mission and where students from EARTH carry out their field practica is the community of La Argentina, Costa Rica. SIT students have the chance to stay with these families for a short period to observe the remarkable work EARTH is carrying out.

Ngobe-Bugle Comarca
Observe firsthand the relationships and links between ecological conservation and poverty.
In partnership with the Ngobe Women’s Association (ASMUNG), students visit the Ngobe-Bugle indigenous comarca (one of five autonomous, indigenous territories in Panama). Students live with families who are members of ASMUNG in rural communities around Quebrada del Guabo. The area is one of extreme poverty and in some cases concomitant environmental degradation.

Naso-Teribe Indigenous Territory
Discover how mega projects and industrial interests are threatening indigenous livelihoods.
Located in the Palo Seco protected forest, the Naso-Teribe Indigenous Territory is nestled around the Teribe River where the Naso-Teribe population draws its livelihood through subsistence fishing and agriculture. Food production, still grounded in traditional practices, has kept forest and aquatic ecosystems intact. Students live with families and learn about traditional resource use, livelihoods, and contemporary threats to the Naso-Teribe way of life.

Boca Chica (rural coastal)
Experience the effects of tourism on fishing families in a Panamanian coastal community.
Boca Chica is a coastal community that has lived historically from marine resource extraction, including subsistence fishing, mangrove removal, and shellfish consumption. With the recent onset of tourism in the area, fishing families have begun to change their livelihood strategies and natural resource use. While living with families in this area, SIT students will witness how changes such as these affect resource use and consequently the ecosystems in which the fishing families have been a part.

Credits: 16

Duration:15 weeks

Program Base: Panama City

Language Study: Spanish

Prerequisites: Coursework in environmental studies, ecology, or biology Read more...