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Press Releases 2003

February 21, 2003

Senator Dewine, President Moscoso and Ambassador Watt Visit New Horizons Worksite

United States Senator Mike DeWine, U.S. Ambassador to Panama, Linda Watt, and President Moscoso, paid a visit on Friday February 21st to the New Horizons work site at Quebrada de Guabo. The Senator, who represents the State of Ohio, thanked the reservists of the Ohio National Guard for the dedication and support they bring to the humanitarian project, benefiting the people of the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca in the province of Chiriqui.

During the visit Ambassador Watt presented 300 pairs of shoes to President Moscoso for the school children of Panama. A private American businessman donated the shoes.

Senator DeWine was was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1994. He serves on several committees in the U.S. Senate, including the Judiciary Committee, the Antitrust, Business Rights and Competition Subcommittee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

New Horizons is a humanitarian project that will benefit impoverished communities in Panama through the bilateral cooperation of the United States and the Republic of Panama. Participants include U.S. Reservists and National Guardsmen whose full-time occupations include engineers, businessmen and women, professors, doctors, lawyers, and teachers.

Panamanian participation includes various ministries and public institutions such as the emergency response team, SINAPROC, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, the National Air Service and the Panamanian National Police.

The reservists will be working in six communities in the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca. They will arrive in groups of about 400 reservists. Each group will work in Panama for two weeks before being replaced by the subsequent group. By the end of the project in May, some 3,500 reservists will have visited Panama to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Ngobe-Bugle. All the reservists will return to the United States and their regular full-time jobs at the end of their rotation.

Five countries in the hemisphere will be participating in New Horizons programs in 2003, including Panama.

In cooperation with the provincial government of Chiriqui and the Congress of the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca, New Horizons 2003 will provide the following humanitarian assistance:

3 SCHOOLS

  • Quebrada Guabo (two classrooms)
  • Las Lajas (three classrooms)
  • Quebrada Hacha (three classrooms)
     

3 MEDICAL CLINICS

  • Hato Julí
  • Cerro Iglesia
  • Quebrada Hacha
     

2 TOURING MEDICAL UNITS

  • each with the capacity to treat 10,000 individuals
  • Boca de Soloy y Hato Piló
  • Quebrada de Guabo y Cerro Iglesia