STRI Panama - June 20

Top: Kevin Cunningham '14 and Curtis Kirby '14 snorkeling at a coral reef near Portobelo; Middle: Brain coral; Bottom: Fish swim amidst the coral.

The STRI group has been without Internet access for the past few days, so we have a lot to catch you up on.  Monday morning, half of our group went snorkeling at a coral reef in Portobelo, seeing myriad colorful tropical fish, various types of coral, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and other marine life.  Meanwhile, the other half went ziplining through the jungle canopy. In the afternoon the two groups switched activities. The afternoon zipline group had an especially adventurous experience as they traversed the rain forest during a torrential downpour and got just a little dirty in the process.

Clockwise from top left: Alex Ghenea '14 prepares to take off; Alex ziplines over the treeline; Bradley Skeen '15,  Hollis Jennings '15, Tommy DiBona '15, Alex Ghenea '14, and Mr. Willis proved their toughness ziplining in the pouring rain; Meredith Jennings '15 yells in excitement while zipping through the rain forest.

Videos by Curtis Kirby '14:

On Tuesday, the group had the privilege to visit the Malambo Orphanage in Panama City.

Clockwise from top left: Kevin Cunningham '14; Blair Chase '14 and Amanda Siviter '14; Tommy DiBona '15, and Raúl Arenas (Colegio Brader) enjoy spending time with children at the Malambo orphanage; a sign celebrates the over 120 years of service the orphanage has provided to Panama City's children.

Malambo provides a home and family environment to over a hundred kids ranging from birth to age 18, including special-needs and HIV positive children.  The CHC students really enjoyed getting to meet, play with, and show love to the children and teens at the orphanage.  Seeing the smiles on the faces of the Malambo kids and the Cape Henry students as they enjoyed each other's company was priceless. Many of our students were able to use their Spanish abilities to communicate with their new friends. This time made a huge impact on our group, and we were sad to leave and wished we could have stayed with them longer! 

The Cape Henry group enjoys interacting with the children of Malambo orphanage. Top: Mr. Willis and Ms. Frasher; Middle: John Napolitano '14, Bottom: Bradley Skeen '15 and Meredith Jennings '15

This is the third year that Cape Henry STRI students have been involved with the Malambo orphanage.  Past students were touched by the experience and were inspired to make a difference there. As a result, during the past school year, the CHC Upper, Middle and Lower Schools worked together to raise money and collect supplies (including school and art supplies, clothes, and personal hygiene items) for the orphanage. We were thrilled to be able to present four huge duffel bags of donations, as well as a check for $600, to support the great work that is done at Malambo.  Thanks so much to all the members of the CHC family that contributed to this great cause!

Top: Maddie Spear '14 and Hlif Olafsdottir '14 pose with some of the children they met at the orphanage; Middle and Bottom: Alex Ghenea '14 is all smiles as he and a new friend have fun on the playground.

Click the photos to view full size!  Another update is coming soon.

Clockwise from top left: Hollis Jennings '15 at the orphanage; Jack Scanlon '14, Ethan Crawley '14, and Kevin Cunningham '14 practice soccer drills with a new friend; Madi Praver  '15 shares a laugh with a child at Malambo; Carly Roesen '15 is happy to spend time with the girls of Malambo.