Ngobe-Bugle Schools
Ngobe-Bugle Area, Chiriqui Province, Republic of Panama

Years of sacrifice have built a better world for our children.

Please enjoy a brief 6 minute video of the Molejon people taken by Matthew Salton during the 2006 Mona Foundation visit: view video.

Schools Consolidated

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.

Additional Kindergarten

Mona Foundation continues to support the children at Molejon and is now building a new kindergarten in the town of Soloy. The Ngobe people plan to add one class each year, starting next year with first grade, until there is a complete school through high school level. Mona Foundation will continue to support this effort until their dream is realized.

A visitor who accompanied one of Mona Foundation's trips to this area was struck by the truly grassroots nature of the project. She marveled at how much has been accomplished; all initiated and carried out by the Ngobe themselves. “It shows the nobility and capacity of the people,” she said. “When we spoke with the chief, he was collected, calm and dignified. The Ngobe know what they want. They're decisive and have a vision for their future. What we provide is support for that vision. People are smart everywhere. If they're poor or illiterate, that doesn't mean they don't have capacity or don't know what to do.”

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Needs for 2008

• $15,250 Stipends for 6 Teachers
• $150 Teachers' Training
• $300 Substitute Teachers
• $1,800 Social Security, Teachers
• $350 School Administration
• $250 Parents Orientation
• $250 Ministry of Education Fees
• $150 Development FUNDESCU
• $3,000 Community Grant
• $525 Molejon School Kitchen
• $11,000 Build Soloy Kindergarten

How You Can Help

Please contact us or send your tax-deductible contributions to:

Mona Foundation
218 Main Street, Suite 404
Kirkland, WA 98033
(425) 743-4550
Email: monafoundation@monafoundation.org
Online: Contribute Online with your Credit Card Here

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