4 Houses in the Area of Providencia and Santa Rita Arriba, Colón, Panamá)

A week ago while visiting some remote villages and churches to evaluate locations for our annual Three Kings Day Celebrations, we came across 4 houses in the areas of Providencia and Santa Rita Arriba in which the families were in urgent need of food. At one home, the kids were eating just a bowl of white rice three times a day. Nothing else. There, as well as at another 2 homes, the kids could not attend public school because of the lack of shoes and uniforms. The one house had only a partial roof, which is a huge problem with the current monsoon rains as the plastic strips just give way. To address the immediate emergency of a lack of food, on Saturday we delivered a large bag to each home, which included rice, beans, milk, chicken, canned tuna/ham/beef, pancake mix, cereal, condiments, etc. This will get them thru the next couple weeks. We have contracted a tech from the Maintenance shop at MIT to install zinc sheets on the house lacking a roof and are buying shoes and uniforms for the kids so they can start going to school. Between the four homes, there were a two adults available to work, so we are looking to hire them directly or assist in obtaining employment in Colon. The key is to assist them in becoming independent and self-supporting.