CMU SIFE’s Panama Brigades offers the opportunity for students to apply their education in solving real world problems while enabling underprivileged communities to achieve their goals. The team comprises of students from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds and each of them brings a different perspective to the project.

The brigade believes that they will be able to enrich the lives of the community members and those of the students involved by bridging cultures and encouraging global citizenship. We hope that this endeavor will lead to the personal and professional development of all students involved.

This project was created with the aspiration to become a significant part of the Carnegie Mellon community, and send groups of students to Central and South America on frequent service trips to develop and implement 2 - 4 year sustainable projects.

The long-term plan of the Panama Brigades is to develop sustainable Agritourism--a style of vacation that takes place on a farm and encourages tourists to participate in farm activities--on the Trapiche farm while also creating an Agritourism cooperative in the rural region of El Cope. Their goals include implementing a Business Plan and timeline to start agritourism on the farm; developing and implementing a Marketing Plan for the cooperative; connecting with the local tourism industry; monitoring progress to ensure sustainability; and ultimately generating a new source of income for the farm and the community.

The eagerness of the Granja Trapiche community coupled with its optimal location of the farm and the motivation of all stakeholders - our partners in Panama and our team - indicate great potential for the project. Through consistent communication, a developed system of monitoring progress and frequent trips to the region, the team aims to ensure the sustainability of the project.