Ngobe-Bugle Schools

Most of the indigenous families of the Ngobe-Bugle tribes of Panama live in the mountainous jungles, far from any services and isolated from the rest of Panamanian society. Ninety-five percent of them subsist as farmers and are extremely poor. But such circumstances have not stopped these noble people from seeking educational opportunities and moral and spiritual development for their children. To construct schools, they carried cement on their backs to their mountaintop villages. For years, Ngobe volunteers taught in these remote village schools until they were consolidated into the one larger one at Molejon. Mona Foundation supported these schools for seven years with nutrition assistance and curriculum and training development for the teachers. Now Molejon School is officially recognized by the Panamanian government and receives their support in the form of school lunches and boots for the children in the rainy season. The government gives teachers full scholarships to attend the Ngobe-Bugle University for weekend classes and also supports their social security program.