Fundación Pro-Niños de DariénEl Descanso, the sole place to eat between Panamá and Darién. There we stopped for breakfast, surrounded by toucans.

There we had hojaldras and salchichas, a salubrious repast. The restaurant also sells soaps with different herbal fragrances, made in Santa Fé, Darién. To my knowledge, this soap is the sole product which actually says “Hecho en Darién (Made in Darién).”

This is the road now leading to Darién, vastly improved and quite easy to travel. There are numerous police checkpoints along the way, providing splendid security for travelers.

A new sign welcomes visitors to Darién, bringing us from one Darien (in Connecticut) to a very different one, in Panamá. We were heading for Nicanor.

The children of Nicanor awaited us, and gave us a wonderful reception. It was good to see everyone there – and they had a lively celebration planned for us.

Here, a Darien educator and a Darién educator greet one another, on behalf of all colleagues on both sides of the virtual bridge.

We are guests at a reception which includes speeches, songs, and folk dancing.

The country kids do some typical folk dances enjoyed in Panamá for a great many years, and it is our pleasure to join in the dancing, celebrating the bond between the two Dariens.

There is an outdoor kitchen, in which mothers volunteer each day to cook for the students. Looking beneath the banana leaf, we find a delicious rice dish with chicken, all cooked over a wood stove. We’ve been invited to have lunch with the kids and their teachers.

This is the remodeled dining hall….very pleasant and comfortable.

The indoor kitchen has a new refrigerator…and they were planning to prepare chicha de guanábana, to celebrate my visit. The students have guanábana trees in their orchard.

The classrooms look wonderful now, and there have been many improvements. The computers work, and the children are learning to use Word. The connection to the Internet has been made, but there is a glitch with the antenna which has to be figured out. Hopefully, our friends with the Peace Corps can help with this challenge.

This is the school’s library, built with the proceeds of the first two Variety Shows

at MMS. Formerly an abandoned structure, it is now a fine library to assistant the Nicanor children in learning many exciting things.

The rest room facilities, situated in back of the school, could use some repair. The sinks are for hand-washing, as the water at Nicanor is not potable.

This is the poultry facility. The chickens provide eggs and then the birds are consumed by the students. After the rainy season subsides, a new batch of chickens will be raised.

The Nicanor School has two large frames filled with pictures of Middlesex Middle School students, and Darien newspaper clippings about our project. A bit of translating was necessary.

Our project moves into its third year. Soon, communications will begin between the students on both sides of the “bridge.” Meanwhile, improvements are still needed at Nicanor School, and we’ll continue to extend a helping hand to our friends in the rainforest. We look forward to the day when we may communicate frequently on the blog, videoconference, and all meet in person. The two learning communities are united, in a very real way.

In 2008, students at Middlesex Middle School, in Darien, Connecticut, undertook the project of building a permanent virtual bridge between their community and the remote, rural province of Darién, Panamá, where their town found its present name over 200 years ago. They discovered that Darién is Panamá´s largest and least-populated province, situated in the heart of the Central American rainforest, on the isthmus which connects North and South America. They also learned that resources are not abundant and that, in order to blog and videoconference with students in the “original” Darién, they would need to stretch a helping hand across the miles to enable the required technology to exist and function.

Middlesex Principal Dr. Boccanfuso recommended that the school sponsor a school in Darién. Working through Panamá´s top-rated non-profit organization, La Fundación Pro-Niños de Darién, MMS students formed Darien a Darién to build a virtual bridge of friendship between the two places with different names, and staged two variety shows to raise funds for the building of a computer lab filled with laptops specifically designed for use in the high heat and humidity of the rainforest. Through the students’ diligence and generous donations from parents, this dream materialized in 2009. Nicanor School, in Darién, now has a computer lab of its own.

These are Nicanor School’s new computers, built specifically for use in the rainforest.

This is Nicanor’s beautiful new computer lab.

Nicanor’s classrooms were remodeled after Variety Show 2, and we are told by our friends at the Fundación Pro-Niños that Nicanor is now the only school in the province which has tiled floors throughout the building. They also have remodeled indoor and outdoor kitchens, and likewise a refurbished dining hall. Children at the school grow their own nutritious lunches in the school’s garden and orchard.

The children show a visiting MMS teacher their orchard and garden. Since the second variety show, they now have a new poultry facility and lots of chickens which they are presently raising.

The Panamanian government has a project which they call Conéctate al Conocimiento. In English, this means “Get Connected to Knowledge.” Because of the Middlesex Darien to Dariénproject, the government has pledged to connect Nicanor School to the Internet and to maintain that service. If all goes well, students in the two Dariens will be videoconferencing and blogging — exchanging ideas, viewpoints, and learning — before the year is out.

Seeking to build a playground for Nicanor School — and perhaps a fence to surround the site, which is now viewed as a replicable model for other educational institutions in the region — students at MMS are presenting Variety Show 3on the 5th of November, at 8:00. All reserved seats are $10, and tickets are available now. The bridge to Darién is being strengthened, along with the friendship enjoyed by students on both sides.

EL ESPECTÁCULO 3 será el 5 de noviembre a las 7:00 de la noche. Sigue el proyecto DARIEN A DARIÉN.

Los estudiantes de Middlesex Middle School esperan poder empezar este año con videoconferencias y otras comunicaciones con sus nuevos amigos de la escuela Nicanor. Como ya saben todos, el pueblo de Darien, en el estado de Connecticut (Estados Unidos), tomó su nombre de Darién, Panamá, hace unos 200 años. Ya estamos construyendo un puente virtual entre los dos Darienes, brindando una amistad sincera. Con el tercer espectáculo, estaremos ofreciendo apoyo y, a la vez, celebrando el éxito que ha tenido este proyecto estudiantil. Este año, si Dios quiere, tendremos la oportunidad de empezar un intercambio de ideas y cultura, con correo electrónico, teleconferencias, y mucho más.

¡Qué siga para siempre el proyecto Darien a Dariény los lazos bien fuertes que existen entre los dos Darienes!

In the spring of 2008, students at Middlesex Middle School in Darien, Connecticut, began an exciting new project, the successful completion of which was expected to link the Fairfield County town to the remote, mysterious rain forest province of Darién, Panamá, where its name originated. MMS students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades were intrigued to learn that their town – once known as Middlesex Parish – borrowed its present name from that portion of the Panamanian isthmus which connects North and South America. The impenetrable rain forest of Darién causes the Interamerican Highway to suddenly stop in Panamá, thus rendering impossible a trip which might otherwise allow motorists to drive from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Fascinated to know that their town’s name was taken from a place where roads are scarce, where monkeys and huge harpy eagles are in tropical treetops, and where tapirs and jaguars and sloths roam the rainforests, students expressed a strong desire to communicate with the young people living in that beautiful part of the world.

It so happens that a Middlesex teacher lived in Panamá and still has many friends there. In this photograph, the teacher is visiting with boxing legend Roberto Durán, a native of Panamá.

Middlesex entered into an agreement with a highly-respected non-profit organization in Panamá called La Fundación Pro-Niños de Darién, asking their help in identifying a specific school in the rain forest which we might sponsor. The purpose of their friendly alliance would be to provide our students with an opportunity to communicate with, and get to know, students from the “original” Darién, by means of videoconferences, blogging, and the effective use of other 21st century communication media….and to assist our new friends in acquiring the necessary technology to enable them to communicate with us. In order to raise the funds to make this dream a reality, students put together two spectacular variety shows, selling out on both occasions and earning enough to help our new friends to acquire a school library/computer lab.

These talented students, wearing Panamanian camisillas, served as masters of ceremonies for the well-received Variety Show II on October 30th, 2008. Between the two very entertaining benefit shows, funds were raised to enable the Fundación Pro-Niños de Darién to begin constructing a computer lab, a new dining hall and kitchen, and a poultry facility for the Nicanor School, where students raise their own crops and grow what they eat each day.
In order to facilitate the Darien to Darién venture, Mr. Smith made his first trip to the Panamanian province in 2008.

When he lived in Panamá, as an 8th grader, the MMS teacher was unable to see the remove province of Darién, because no roads existed there. As a result, he only heard about Darién, while he lived in Panamá City and began focusing on a career in the entertainment field.

Students in the 8th grade enjoyed a special Darien a DariénDay at school in 2008, engaged in activities ranging from the making of molas and guanábana ice cream to the singing of Panamanian songs and playing games popular in the original Darién.

The Darién a Darien: un solo mundoproject now celebrates its first anniversary. Although the students at Middlesex Middle School are very eager to begin corresponding with – and getting to know – the extremely likeable people of Darién, it takes time for the process to begin. The Panamanian government has an important program called Conéctate al conocimiento, which means “Get Connected to Knowledge.” Under the auspices of this initiative, schools in rural regions (el interior) are provided by the government with Internet connection and maintenance. Nicanor School was placed on the list to receive this service, and we are presently anticipating completion of the necessary work. As soon as this has been accomplished, it is the hope of all the members of our two learning communities that the virtual bridge will unite us for many, many years to come.

Darien, Connecticut, USA

Darién, Panamá — La Escuela Nicanor

Somos similares en muchas cosas, ¿verdad? También somos individuos, y vivimos la vida con nuestras propias tradiciones, costumbres, y rarezas. En esta sección, vamos a escribir de la rutina diaria….es decir, lo que hacemos nosotros todos los días, incluyendo las cosas básicas que hacemos antes de salir para la escuela y también las actividades específicas que hacemos para divertirnos.

Nuestros estudiantes aquí en el otro Darién, en Connecticut, van a contarles algunas cosas interesantes para que lleguen ustedes a conocer un poquito las culturas que tenemos en los Estados Unidos. Queremos que nos digan algo de sus propias rutinas diarias. Somos buenos amigos – y debemos conocernos aún mejor. ¡Vamos a bloguear!Let’s share thoughts about our daily routines, customs and practices. Do we follow a daily schedule similar to that of our friends in Darién, Panamá? Let’s find out!

Cuando yo vivía en Panamá, hace muchísimos años, la fruta que más me impresionó fue la naranja de Boquete. Nunca en mi vida he probado otra fruta de esa calidad. En aquel entonces, la naranja de Boquete era el orgullo del país entero. Cuando regresé a Panamá en 2007 y 2008, de esa joya panameña nadie hablaba. Parece que ya es desconocida…pero les aseguro que en 1959 todo el mundo gozaba de la naranja de Boquete…..tan dulce y jugosa.

En este momento, la guanábana – que no existe en los Estados Unidos – es la fruta que a mis estudiantes les interesa tanto.

El 26 de noviembre, celebramos en nuestro colegio un Día Darién, con actividades extraordinarios y oportunidades para aprender más de Panamá, y especialmente de Darién. Yo compré una máquina para hacer helado, y conseguí pulpa congelada de guanábana. Algunos estudiantes de Darien, Connecticut, probaron – por primera vez – helado de guanábana. Muchos dijeron que ya es su helado preferido.

¿Qué hacen ustedes con las guanábanas que hay en Darién? ¿Las comen con frecuencia? ¿Las usan en chichas y otras bebidas? A nuestros estudiantes les encantaría aprender mucho más sobre esta fruta que es, para nosotros, casi desconocida.