Rewards of Volunteering

I have had the opportunity to volunteer at some pretty cool places down here when I’m not in class.  As with any other volunteering I have done, it has been a very rewarding experience. 

Casa Trisker is an orphanage in Alto Boquete.  They have over 80 children living there of varying ages.  I went to help with the new project of planting a garden.  Once it is up and running not only will it be a wonderful source of food for the orphanage, but also a valuable tool for the kids to learn about gardens and take on the ownership of caring for it. 

Casa Trisker

We started by tearing up the weed overgrown earth and clearing a patch for the garden.  After a lot of work it was ready to plant.  We planted a variety of vegetables and herbs, hopefully with all the Boquete rain they will thrive and produce soon!

Amigos de Animales is an effort to help the animals and reduce the number of stray dogs and cats in Boquete.  Once a month a couple of veterinarians come to Boquete and the locals can bring their dogs and cats in for free operations; mostly for the ‘snip snip’.  I spent some time there on Sunday and saw over 70 animals come through.  My job as a volunteer was to care for the animals post operation, as their anesthesia wore off.    

The Five Little Kitties!

Most of my time was spent with Flopsy, a border collie looking pup.  She was one of the slower to come back and it was over 2 hours of my massaging her before she was ready to go home.  I think she just loved the relaxation, because every time I would stop petting her she would start stirring, as if to say “What is going on here, why are you stopping?” 

I also helped five little marmalade kitties who came through, they were absolutely precious.  The little kitties were so tiny, weighing only 1 lb., they had to be sandwiched in between heating pads to keep their temperatures up post op.  After about 20 minutes with the extra heat they started to stir and then it was all cuddles!