Focus on Panama

  Panama

Panama City

Durations of Program: 5-8 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 3-6 months
Dates: Year University Study (fall): July 2010- July 2011/ Semester Community Service (fall): July 2010- Jan 2011/ Short Summer program: June- August 2010

Description: The warm and hospitable people of Panama's will welcome you with open arms. The country's name comes from a Native American word meaning place of many fish, and here you'll find beaches of unparalleled beauty with coral gardens lining their shores and rainforests with exotic animals and rare birds everywhere. Mestizos, people of mixed Native American and European descent, make up 70 percent of the population, but the country is also home to seven different indigenous groups and boasts sizable West Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and American populations. From the cosmopolitan financial center of Panama City, to the Chiriqui Highlands cloud forest, to the isolated San Blas Islands in the Caribbean, there's much to experience and learn in Panama.

Highlights: * Year and Semester Programs:

You'll attend school from March through December, which will likely consist of 10 to 14 subjects in the sciences, humanities, or business. Each day of the week offers a different schedule of subjects. You will attend mostly lecture-style classes. While homework is taken seriously, there are also many extracurricular activities like sports (baseball, soccer, and basketball) and dance, providing you with the opportunities to make friends. AFS offers several trips to sites around the country, including the beaches, and there are two optional trips at an additional cost to the San Blas Islands and the Embera Drua Indian Reservation.

* Summer Community Service and Language Study Plus Program:

This program will help you understand the social, family, and cultural life of a small community in Panama. You will volunteer in the community, learn Spanish, participate in recreational activities, and enjoy excursions to help you explore more of the country. After a two-day orientation in Panama City, participants are placed in host communities in groups of eight to ten. You'll stay individually with a host family, perform community service at local elementary schools in the morning, and attend Spanish class in the afternoon. Spanish classes are only for the first two weeks, then you'll get to use what you've learned. Service activities could include making physical improvements to classrooms and other facilities. There's also a one-day outing to an ecological site near Panama City.

Qualifications: Age on departure reflect both the years and month(s) of the age of the applicant at the start of the program. For example, if the age is listed as 16.1 the applicant should be 16 years and 1 month at departure.

Cost in US$: Year Programs: (USD 9,000- USD 12,000), Semester Programs (USD 8,000- USD 11,000), Short Summer Programs (USD 6,000- USD 8,000), Gap-year Programs (USD 8,000- USD 12,000)

Experience Required: no

Age Range: 16 above

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• In-Person Interview Required
• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network

AFS Intercultural Programs/USA's Mission Statement: AFS Intercultural Programs is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world. AFS Intercultural Programs is a leader in intercultural learning and offers international exchange programs in over 50 countries around the world through independent, not-for-profit AFS organizations, each with a network of volunteers, a professionally staffed office, and headed up by a volunteer board.

Year Founded: 1947