"There were three and a half days in the Panamanian jungle. Students with astronauts, Emmy award winners, journalists, inventors, musicians and entrepreneurs gathered. The event served as a trigger to break down the walls that limit access to information and ideas.
Questions, answers, smiles, tears, sweat and company shared the audience at the Institute Kalu Yala, located in the community of Tres Brazos in La Mesa Pacora."
-Anaximena Esquivel (La Prensa)
I am so honored to have had the opportunity to participate in HATCH- by far one of the most transformative experiences of my life. I spent a week in Panama, surrounded by the most inspiring people and brilliant minds.
Yarrow Kraner, the founder, developed HATCH with the idea to bring people together to help reach a common goal and this mission is very apparent upon arriving- everyone is there to help each other and to work together rather than compete.
HATCH took place at Kalu Yala, an institute started by Jimmy Stice, in the Panamanian jungle. The mission is to build the world's most sustainable town. The students there are divided between the various programs and hard at work designing, researching and developing things for the future town.
Riding in the back of a pickup on the way there, it quickly became obvious that where we were going was a very unique place. Once we arrived the interns and staff greeted us with the warmest smiles and directed us to our rooms- about one hundred different tents in a big open field. We dropped our things and fled to the river, "the rio" as the students call it, to cool down.
That evening we ate a deliciously gourmet meal freshly cooked by the farm to table program in the glowing light of solar-powered lanterns. It was a great way to start the week to come, and truly only the tip of the iceberg.
The next day was the beginning, and all the HATCHers fled in from all different parts of North and South America. The Kalu Yala institute was instantaneously filled with diverse, interesting, accomplished and incredibly intelligent people. Conversations during every meal were often a combination of mind-blowing and inspiring. I would be sitting under the night sky with an astrophysicist to my left, and artist to my right, a marketing expert next to me and an engineer across from me, discussing an array of topics.
In the mornings there were workshops like farm tours and yoga sessions where we focused on the synchronization of breath. After breakfast, we sat in the amphitheater and listened to presenters speak about their passions, their experiences, their successes and their stories. Throughout the days we participated in several group workshops; one of which was setting our intention for the event, our "ask" in other words. This challenged me to think about what it was that I needed help with or guidance with and forced me to be straightforward and to just ask. I feel like we are so often taught to be independent and self-sufficient that we are frequently discouraged to admit when we need help. This exercise broke down that barrier and made us form our wishes into plain and simple terms.
Another exercise we participated in was identifying our inner superheroes. We determined our names and our super powers and in smaller groups, we talked about ourselves in third person from the perspective of our superhero. This was a really eye opening way to think about our lives and it really helped put things into perspective. We would sit in an intimate group of unfamiliar faces and speak about ourselves and the struggles or successes we are currently facing. When we finished speaking, the members in our group would ask questions like how we, the superhero, can help our human or how we can use our powers. In text this may seem like a childish or even cheesy exercise but in reality it was very powerful.
After reconvening and listening to intriguing talks about the environment and how our world is changing, the HATCHers divided into three groups- sustainability, creativity and entrepreneurship. We then pinpointed certain issues and would brainstorm solutions. We all made a commitment to follow through and take action even after the event finished. With the array of people in our groups, there was no lack of knowledge nor experience and everyone brought something unique and valuable to the table. The sustainability group discussed ways to use art to communicate climate change and we brainstormed various ways to incentivize reducing the use of single use plastics. We also talked about the very obvious effects climate change is having on local people in rural areas of developing countries- such as entire islands getting wiped out due to rising ocean waters- and pondered how we could spread awareness about the changing climate.
When our minds were filled to the brim with ideas and thoughts, we would break for an incredible meal, like ceviche in cantaloupe. We would meet new people every night at dinner and with full stomachs, listen to more speeches and eventually live music by various artists from various different backgrounds. Tired and worn out from the day, we wandered back to our tent village and drifted to sleep, excited to see what the next day would hold.
After three days of living off the grid in the peaceful jungle, we loaded into cattle cars and returned to civilization. We were brought to a modern and luxurious hotel in Panama City- a stark contrast to the conditions we had just come from. Our closing ceremony consisted of 125 people on a boat during sunset in the Panama Canal, smiling and laughing as we attempted to dance in the swaying waves.
I am so grateful for this experience and really looking forward to see the things that will come out of it. I am inspired and motivated to do good. #becauseofHATCH
To read more about...
•Kalu Yala: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/8628176
•The people who attended: https://hatchexperience.org/hatch-panama-2016-attendees/
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