Bocas School Project

The Bocas School Project supports four indigenous schools in the islands of the archipelago of Bocas del Toro of Panama .

Bocas Programs

The Bocas School Project supports four schools, totaling 429 students, in the Bocas area. Bocas provides teacher salaries, food, and uniforms to each school. Most students attending Bocas School are from the indigenous Ngobe-Bugle tribes. Many schools in the Bocas area lack running water, electricity, and sanitation facilities. The children are often malnourished and may do not attend schools beyond the fourth grade. The goal of the Bocas School Project is to provide quality education to these underserved children and increase each school’s ability to serve students.

Why the need?

Three quarters of Panama’s economy comes from services such as operating the Panama Canal and tourism. However, nearly 30% of the population lives below the poverty line due to the cost of living and uneven distribution of the nation’s wealth. Although tourism in the Bocas area has brought about some jobs it also caused a rise in the cost of living for locals. Foods that community members relied on, such as rice and beans, are now unaffordable and still there has been little improvement in basic sanitation, access to clean water, quality education and medical care in the Bocas area. The increase of new residents has created challenges to the Ngobe peoples' way of life.

How Team Efforts Translate to Impact

All funds will directly support the four schools that make up the Bocas School Project — through providing teacher salaries, healthy meals to the students, access to supply water, and electricity each of the schools.

$20 will buy a uniform for one child so he/she can go to school.

$50 will buy a healthy meal a day for one child for the whole year.

$100 will pay a teacher’s salary for a week.

How Bocas School Project Creates Sustainable Global Change

Bocas School Project works to provide a quality education and school environment for children in the Bocas area. Bocas also employs local teachers to teach in the schools.