For those who do not know me yet, which is the majority of you out there, my name is James Moses and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in rural Panama.
        I live in a community called Guanico Abajo located in the Azuero Peninsula on the southern coast of Panama in the province of Los Santos. It is a very dusty and bumpy 30-minute ride south of Tonosi if you would like to find it on a map.
        The people of Los Santos are famously hospitable. They keep their folkloric traditions alive through their music, dress, and customary foods.
        One of my favorite local customs is the "junta" which literally means "together". This is when someone buys a couple chickens to cook, someone else gets the rice, and another brings a bottle a rum and the entire community shows up to help a single family.
        The junta usually involves either building a house, putting on a new roof, or it may even involve building a new boat. These tend to require the better part of a Sunday. It is during these glorious occasions that one truly feels the camaraderie and sense of sharing that has made this part of Panama famous.
        Guanico Abajo is lucky enough to be located near one of the few beaches that are host to what the locals call a "Arribada".
        Between the months of august and December thousands of sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in the soft sands of our beach. Fortunately for the turtles there exists a local committee whose job it is to guard the eggs and control the egg harvest and also to make sure that enough are being re-planted in the turtle nursery to ensure productive numbers in the future.
        I wish I could tell you that this is being done effectively but my experience has shown me that it simply is not. The eggs are constantly being stolen and sold under the table, and all the while the numbers of eggs being planted is rapidly decreasing.
        The local population of roughly 300 people relies on the turtle egg harvest to supply anywhere from 10% to 40% of their annual income.
        The money you donate will end up in the pockets of the local residents as if the eggs were sold to the buyers. The difference with this program is that instead of the eggs being used for human consumption they will be put back into the sand, allowed to hatch, and return to the ocean where they can mature. This program is helping to ensure the future health of the turtle population as well as provide a continuing form of income for the local residents.
        Marine biologists estimate that for every 2000 eggs that are deposited by a female marine turtle only one is likely to survive to produce offspring.
        To put this into real-world numbers, this means that it takes about 167 dozen eggs, or roughly $167, to adopt one healthy, mature, and ready to reproduce sea turtle. This may seem like an incredibly small amount to you and I but can represent 2 or 3 month's wages for a local Panamanian. Here we begin to understand the problem and can also begin to see how conservation needs to find its way into the marketplace.
        Luckily there are people like you who can help to conserve our turtle populations. We have formed a small group in conjunction with the existing turtle committee to deal with the issue of managing the turtle eggs.
        This is where you can help. Conservation is becoming more a matter of buying the resource at market price. With every dozen eggs you "adopt", or $1 you donate, I will personally handle the purchasing and re-planting of this most precious natural resource into the turtle egg nursery. Part of your donation will also be used to maintain the turtle nursery, provide research and education for the local community, and to ensure that the eggs are left to hatch.
        I hope you find time to take a moment to consider the wonderful opportunity you have to make a real difference simply by making a financial donation.
   This is a true grass-roots effort that works with the local population through education and conservation. Every dozen eggs put into the turtle nursery represents future opportunity for the local community as well as the health of the world at large. We thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

The Sea Turtle Egg Committee of Guanico Abajo
James Moses, Peace Corps Volunteer