UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 10, Page 1
November 2, 1995
Delaware, Panama mark 30 years of partnership

     The Delaware-Panama Partners of the Americas will celebrate the
30th anniversary of its successful partnership with day and evening
events on Friday, Nov. 3, in Clayton Hall.
     The public is invited to attend special seminars, a luncheon, a
reception featuring jazz musicians and a dinner dance, all planned to
celebrate the success of this organization, which has linked Delaware
citizens, schools, colleges and others with similar peoples and
institutions in Panama.
     The daylong event begins at 10 a.m. and includes a full day of
informative sessions about the country and people of Panama, as well
as highlights of various partners' projects, organized and implemented
by Delawareans and Panamanians working together. The afternoon will
include a video tour of Panama and a reunion led by all of the past
presidents of the organization.
     The reception, featuring jazz musicians, begins at 5:30 p.m.,
with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and music and dancing from 8:30 p.m.-1 a.m.
Prices for all of the events vary depending on whether or not one is
affiliated with the program or the University.
     Special guests from Panama for this event include Melva Yee,
current president of the Panama Partners in Panama City and president
of the National Nurses Association of Panama, and Jose Camargo, the
president of the Chiriqui Partners of Panama and an agricultural
extensionist.


History
     The Delaware-Panama Partners is one of the first and strongest
partnerships of the Partners of the Americas, which began in 1961 when
President John F. Kennedy announced the Alliance for Progress to help
Latin Americans help themselves. Kennedy called on the peoples of the
Americas to join in "a vast cooperative effort, unparalleled in
magnitude and nobility of purpose."
     In pursuit of these goals, the alliance initiated a grassroots
program that paired each state in the U.S. with a country or region in
Latin America to foster mutual understanding and to provide
assistance.
     Delaware was partnered with Panama because both are small in size
and population, largely rural, bisected by a canal and have sea
coasts. Today, the cities of Wilmington and Panama City have even more
in common as international centers of banking and commerce.


UD connections
     Over three decades, the University has been the strongest link in
the Delaware-Panama chain. In June 1995, Lawrence Donnelley, associate
provost for international programs, and other faculty and students
went to Panama to renew institutional ties between UD and three major
universities there. Today, ties with Panamanian universities can be
found in almost every college on the campus. The College of Education
provides a Winter Session course in Panama.


Projects
     Current projects implemented by Delaware volunteers are providing
technical assistance to a beekeeper association and a women's food
processing cooperative in Panama. Honey and jam products and photos
from these projects will be on display Nov. 3.
     The beekeepers' project has been nominated for an international
outstanding program development award from the American Express Co.
(Delaware-Panama Partners has received this prestigious cash award
twice in the last 10 years.)
     Other important projects include a high school youth exchange, a
Panamanian folkloric dance show in Delaware, a democracy education
seminar, an endangered species of Panama campaign, scallops
production, goat herding, swine management, aquaculture, vocational
education, family life education, solar dehydration of tropical
fruits, raising rabbits, cassava "potato" chip development, artists in
residence, museum conservation, environmental education center
management, apparel production, swimming and other sports.
     For more information about the organization or the Nov. 3 event,
contact John Ewart, president, at 645-4060, or Andy Settles, executive
director, at 368-8263.
                                                          -Beth Thomas