An Audiobook, Water Filtration, and Shakespeare!
In May 2018, Sharon and I returned to a spot where we had vacationed for two nights two years earlier—only this time, we would be volunteers for three weeks!
The La Loma Jungle Lodge in the Bocas Del Toro islands off the coast of Panama made such an impression on us in just two days that we knew we wanted to get back there. As life happens, it took a bit longer than we had hoped.
From the wonderful owners (Henry and Maggie) to the local Ngäbe staff and villagers to the beautiful surroundings and the delicious hand-made food, it was a true gem and well worth the travel.
As part of our volunteering, Sharon and I each took up a few service projects:
- With her MD knowledge, Dr. Sharon organized medical kits with basic supplies homes would need to avoid costly doctor visits, and made visits sharing basic hygiene and other prevention tips to keep the family healthy—all spoken in Spanish!
- In my—let’s call it—”functional” Spanish, I assembled and explained how to use low-tech water treatment systems, to help cut down on diseases transmitted by drinking dirty water
- We also both worked with Henry and Maggie’s son Lucho, teaching various subjects: Sharon took math and sciences, I went with literature and Shakespeare!
- And as if that wasn’t enough (in addition to helping with the lodge and guests), I decided to create a multi-language audiobook version of Kojoro and the Story of the Palm Hats, an adaptation of a Ngäbe Tale
Samples of the audios below!
The Audios
Lucho performing the PROLOGUE of Romeo and Juliet in both English and Spanish!
This kid did such a great job! Much better than my Spanish would have been… 🙂
With the Kojoro story, I had a number of people recording with the microphone I had brought (in case I needed or wanted to do any audio during my travel). I worked with local villagers as well as staff from the lodge, it was my first time producing and directing an audiobook, which included giving directions in Spanish! I thought it went very well, and I really enjoyed helping everyone create this experience.
Perhaps I’ll be doing more of this in the future…
I completed full versions of the English and Spanish versions and sent them off to Henry and Margaret. I’m posting a few samples so you can hear how it sounds in three languages!
English version (intro and beginning of story):
Narrated by Maggie and Lucho
Spanish version (beginning of the story):
Narrated by Janabeth and Hector
Ngäbe version (the credits of the book):
Narrated by Ostina
Hope you enjoyed the quick trip to Panama!
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What do you think?