• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result

Starting A School In Panama Near Los Islotes

My #1 2021 Goal

Kathleen Peddicord by Kathleen Peddicord
Jan 03, 2021
in Lifestyle, Panama
0
Santa Catalina, Veraguas, Panama.

iStock/Faustino Sanchez

219
SHARES
3.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

This is the time of year to remember, recalibrate, regroup, and reset your sights.

Where have you been… and, more important, where are you going from here?

For Lief and me, as we stand on the threshold of 2021, the answer to that question has a great deal to do with a piece of beachfront property that we bought, nearly a decade ago now, on Panama’s Azuero Sunset Coast.

Finally, our vision for this stretch of Pacific paradise is becoming clearer.

Lief and I like to wander. At this stage, though, while we still prize change and contrast, we’re increasingly preoccupied with an urge to establish roots… to build a home for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren, and beyond in a place where our neighbors share our ideas about what’s important and interesting… and where we’re all able to embrace the best of Mother Nature while also enjoying the comfort and convenience of top-end 21st-century living.

A place where we and our families can live independently, even self-sufficiently… while enjoying each other’s company and also contributing and helping to improve the greater local community all around us.

This is our plan for Los Islotes, as our Azuero Sunset Coast undertaking is called.

Our Plans For Los Islotes

On this stretch of the crashing Pacific we are working to create a society for people who appreciate the beautiful natural setting, the privacy, safety, and elbow room this part of Panama offers, and the prospect of settling down long term, full- or maybe only part-time, among like-minded folks with similar perspectives and priorities.

Our efforts were building momentum. We’d become one of the biggest employers in the region.

Then, in March, we—like businesses across Panama—had to shut and lock our gate. Our crew laid down their tools and went home to ride out the storm that was to follow.

Finally, last month, we were able to re-open and to begin the work of getting back to work.

We’re back to planting trees, creating gardens, designing stables, and fencing off corrals for our horse population (whose number increased by two this year all on its own… during the pandemic lockdown two unexpected foals were delivered… reminding us that Nature wins and life carries on).

With high season for this part of the world upon us, they’re also sprucing up our Panama Jack’s beach bar and generally pruning, clearing, cleaning, and applying a fresh coat of paint.

Over the past years that Lief and I have been spending time on this coast, we’ve gotten to know some of our neighbors.

One of them told us something not long ago that got my attention. She explained that the schools in the region have trouble finding good teachers.

“As you know, there are three little schools in the area around Los Islotes,” she told me. “All of the kids who attend walk to reach the schools each day.

“Some of these kids,” she continued, “walk up to two or three hours each way. The trouble is, many days they arrive at school to find no teacher.

“Some of the teachers are more committed than others, but it’s not unusual for a teacher not to show up…”

If a kid so wants to learn that he’ll walk three hours to get to the nearest schoolhouse, someone ought to be there when he shows up to teach him something.

We’ve been trying to support these little schools over the past few years. We’ve donated books, computers, and other materials and supplies. It’s been a well-intentioned but ad-hoc, irregular, and, I realize, far from comprehensive effort.

A Main Priority For This Year 

One of my primary 2021 goals is to step things up on this front. With the help of our Los Islotes Project Manager Carlos Correa, we intend finally to open this year a Student Center for kids in the area interested in learning. It’s a first step toward starting a school.

A landowner in the area has donated a piece of land in a central location. Live and Invest Overseas and Los Islotes will provide the money to build and outfit a four-room schoolhouse. We’ll hire an administrator and recruit additional volunteers to help her with teaching and tutoring.

As we’ve done with all our overseas operations over the past decades, we’ll begin small and let things evolve organically. To start, the Student Center will offer English-language classes, computer literacy classes, after-school tutoring, and a lending library.

Over the summer, I shipped a dozen boxes of books to Panama, which Carlos collected for me and delivered to our Los Islotes office where they now await the day we’ll be able to stack them on our library shelves.

Of all the plans I’ve made for this New Year, this is the one I’m most excited about.

If I could, I’d move out to Los Islotes full time and volunteer my own services. Pitching in to build this little schoolhouse and then spending time there each day with the kids from the area who make their way to it is one of the most worthwhile pursuits I can imagine.

And, indeed, starting later this month and for the next few months at least, Los Islotes is where you’ll find me.

I share this plan with you in case you intend to be in this part of Panama and might be interested in becoming involved. Starting sometime later this year, we’ll be in the market for someone to help manage our Student Center, as well as a couple of good teachers.

Primary qualification is that you promise to show up.

You can reach me here if you’d like to know more.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Peddicord
Kathleen Peddicord
Founding Publisher, Overseas Opportunity Letter

Comments

Tags: 'Los Islotes'live panamaretire overseasretire panamaStudent Centervolunteer panamawork panama
Share88Tweet55
Previous Post

Low-Humidity Retire Overseas Options

Next Post

The 2 Biggest Concerns Retirees Have Before Living Overseas

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord

Kathleen Peddicord has covered the live, retire, and do business overseas beat for more than 30 years and is considered the world's foremost authority on these subjects. She has traveled to more than 75 countries, invested in real estate in 21, established businesses in 7, renovated historic properties in 6, and educated her children in 4.

Kathleen has moved children, staff, enterprises, household goods, and pets across three continents, from the East Coast of the United States to Waterford, Ireland... then to Paris, France... next to Panama City, where she has based her Live and Invest Overseas business. Most recently, Kathleen and her husband Lief Simon are dividing their time between Panama and Paris.

Kathleen was a partner with Agora Publishing’s International Living group for 23 years. In that capacity, she opened her first office overseas, in Waterford, Ireland, where she managed a staff of up to 30 employees for more than 10 years. Kathleen also opened, staffed, and operated International Living publishing and real estate marketing offices in Panama City, Panama; Granada, Nicaragua; Roatan, Honduras; San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Paris, France.

Kathleen moved on from her role with Agora in 2007 and launched her Live and Invest Overseas group in 2008. In the years since, she has built Live and Invest Overseas into a successful, recognized, and respected multi-million-dollar business that employs a staff of 35 in Panama City and dozens of writers and other resources around the world.

Kathleen has been quoted by The New York Times, Money magazine, MSNBC, Yahoo Finance, the AARP, and beyond. She has appeared often on radio and television (including Bloomberg and CNBC) and speaks regularly on topics to do with living, retiring, investing, and doing business around the world.

In addition to her own daily e-letter, the Overseas Opportunity Letter, with a circulation of more than 300,000 readers, Kathleen writes regularly for U.S. News & World Report and Forbes.

Her newest book, "How to Retire Overseas: Everything You Need to Know to Live Well (for Less) Abroad," published by Penguin Random House, is the culmination of decades of personal experience living and investing around the world.

Related Posts

White sand beach and beautiful palm tree in La Miel, Panama.
Panama

Is Retiring In Panama Still A Good Choice? If So, Where?

by Kathleen Peddicord
January 20, 2021
0

Last week, Lief Simon and our entire Panama-based Live and Invest Overseas team showed the hundreds in attendance at our Live...

Read more
Panama City Skyline from Cinta Costera Park, Panama City, Panama.

How Panama Became A Great Economic Success Story

January 19, 2021
Refreshing Cocktail at beach in Belize.

10 Reasons To Reinvent Your Life In Beautiful Belize And 9 Challenges

January 17, 2021
Perfect tropical paradise beach with palm trees and hammock 350x250

Most Frequently Asked (And Not So Crazy) Questions About Retiring Overseas

January 10, 2021
The colorful urban skyline of Panama City, Panama.

The Current Events In Panama–How The Little Isthmus Shines

January 8, 2021
Keel-billed Toucan, shot in Panama.

The 10 Best Places To Discover Wildlife In Panama

January 7, 2021
Avenida Balboa at Dusk in Panama City, Panama.

The Panama Golden Visa: Residency And A Second Home For The Price Of One

January 6, 2021
Next Post
Senior couple walking on the beach.

The 2 Biggest Concerns Retirees Have Before Living Overseas

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

Get Your Free Panama Report Today!

​​Simply enter your email address below and we'll send you our FREE REPORT - 101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama.
 

how to retire overseas

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2021

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

WANT TO RETIRE OVERSEAS?

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll immediately send you a free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE in style overseas. Each day you’ll learn about the best opportunities for international living, retiring overseas, offshore diversification and asset protection, and investing in real estate around the world.

Get Your Free Panama Report Today!
 

​​Learn more about ​​​PANAMA and other countries in our free, daily Overseas Opportunity Letter​​, as well as our ​In Focus: ​Panama ​newsletter​​​​​​. Simply enter your email address below and we’ll send you our FREE REPORT – ​​​101 Things You'll Wish Someone Had Told You About Panama.
 

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.