The one-week Environmental Brigade provides student volunteers with the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in environmental management and education by empowering community members in rural communities in east Panama. Volunteers spend time with individual households to better understand the families’ as well as the region’s pressing environmental concerns and potential for improvement. Through interactive workshops and the building of physical structures, the volunteers provide the education and physical assistance necessary for these families to sustain long-term behavioral change which will benefit the well-being of not only themselves, but also their surrounding physical environment. As subsequent brigades build on each other, projects are continued through successive phases, year after year. Between brigades, our in-country team maintains relationships with our community leaders to ensure the continuation of projects started by brigades, and to provide follow-up on community members’ feedback as well as next steps.

At its core, Environmental Brigades is focused on reforestation, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and education. These specific projects will help address some of the most pressing environmental needs of our communities, improve the health of community members, support the development of sustainable businesses and agricultural practices, and provide the necessary education so that they can implement change for generations to come.