Description of Alto Bayano:

The Chepo/Bayano Mission in Panama is approximately 1/3 the geographical area of the Archdiocese of Panama. It is approximately 7,500 square miles in size and the terrain is a mixture of mountains, jungle and flat lands.

The climate is generally hot and humid during the five month rainy season which runs from August to December. From mid-December to May it is very dry with little or no rainfall. During June and July the winter rains gradually begin to fall.

A majority of the 75,000 - 80,000 people in the Chepo/Bayano area are Spanish- speaking subsistence farmers who live off the land, cultivating rice and corn. They normally live in huts with dirt floors and thatched roofs. Their meager existence is often plagued with disease and sickness. Proper medical help is often not available unless they carry their sick and infirm in a hammock for miles and sometimes days to the nearest hospital in Chepo.

There are two major Indian tribes which also live mainly in the Bayano Mission area. They are the Kunas and the Chocoe-Embera. Each speaks their own dialect, however, a number of them also speak Spanish. The Kunas are the largest group of Indians in Panama and very protective of their traditional ways. The Chocoe-Embera blend quite easily into the Panamanian society.

A small number of the communities in Alto Bayano are accessible via the Pan-American Highway.  However, a majority are only accessible by horseback, walking, or by river.

Alto Bayano is rapidly growing especially due to migration of people from other parts of Panama. This rapidly growing population is accompanied by an ever growing demand to meet basic human needs.

In any pastoral approach to evangelization, one has to take into consideration the whole person - both the spiritual and physical needs. The ideal situation is when local governments care for the physical needs of the people and the church devote most of its energy and resources to the spiritual care of the people. However, a majority of the population in most third- and fourth-world countries remain trapped in poverty because of corrupt politicians and an ever increasing foreign debt. Panama is no exception to the general rule.

Although the per capita income of Panama may be higher than some other third- or fourth-world countries, a vast majority of the people in Alto Bayano are far below any real socio-economic means which can help them rise out of their destitution and poverty. As in other countries, politicians gravitate toward large population areas and forget about the rural areas where people do not have the numbers or the means to make their power felt.