Tucuti: Gateway to the Perilous Darien Gap

Continued from Xplorer Journal: Navigating the Impenetrable Darien Gap...

As our expedition team finished breakfast, Vidal, a leader in the Tucuti community invited us to visit the town's school and observe the children at study in its classrooms. I was an English teacher in South Korea for a term, and Tucuti reminded me very much of the small town where I was located. I jumped at the offer and stepped in with his brisk pace.

We arrived at a building with architecture that I recognized: simple cinder block construction painted white, with the bottom half and roof edge, blue. I knew we were at a Panamanian School. The C.E.B.G. Inocencio Quintanar Blanco, is the main primary school for Tucuti. According to Vidal, the youngest students use the classrooms in the morning, and then the older students come in the afternoon as there are not enough classrooms to accommodate both at the same time. The other problem is the desks; only the small children fit on the seats, so the older must push them out of the way and have class while sitting on the floor. Do they complain? No. They are happy to have their books and a school with teachers to explain the subjects.

I toured each of the classrooms, surprising the students with my unexpected entrance. They responded similarly to the Korean children I taught, fascinated to see a tall white blond-haired girl. Their stares varying from excited to scared, made me smile. I speak some Spanish, so was able to introduce myself and communicate enough to put them all at ease. And, they were able to respond in English with a few phrases such as "hello, how are you?", "I'm fine" and "goodbye, nice to see you." They also eagerly gathered around their teachers for me to photograph them. What a wonderful experience... I believe they thought so too.

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