Our La Loma Community Involvement
We’re deeply committed to working with the Bahia Honda community to improve the lives of all who live here. In practice, this means a lot more than fair wages and charitable donations. Over the past decade, we’ve collaborated closely with residents to establish a number of community development projects. Through education, environmental awareness, heath, cultural pride, and income generation programes, we hope to help empower people to overcome the many obstacles of daily life.
Education is Power
Founded by previous guests, Education is Power has worked with La Loma since 2011 to provide scholarships to kids in the Bahia Honda and Bahia Roja communities to help with school costs such as transportation, supplies, and school fees. These scholarships allow kids and some adults, who may not otherwise have the chance, to attend schools that are located outside of these communities, including University.
Education is Power has also helped to install power and internet at the Bahia Roja school, solar panels at the Bahia Honda school, and has worked to set up women’s health seminars.
Currently we are working to raise money for repairs on the solar system in Bahia Honda and equipment to make internet available in the school. We are also hoping to raise additional funds to add a kitchen to the school, so that the kids can be provided a healthy lunch everyday while learning.
If you are interested in supporting this project with a tax-deductible donation, please donate here.
Give and Surf
Founded by a former volunteer at La Loma, Give and Surf has been working in Bocas del Toro since 2011 to support local communities through education and community-based initiatives. What began as a connection to La Loma has grown into a nonprofit organization that operates year-round in the region.
Give and Surf works closely with the Bahía Honda and Bahía Roja communities, where La Loma is located, focusing on education and community development efforts shaped in collaboration with local families, students, and teachers. Their work is grounded in supporting communities in ways that reflect local priorities, culture, and traditions.
Over time, Give and Surf has built a network of staff, volunteers, and community members who contribute to these ongoing efforts. Their approach emphasizes consistent, long-term support within the communities they serve.
If you are interested in supporting their work, please visit Give and Surf to learn more about how to get involved.
Bahía Honda
Bahia Honda, the bay in which La Loma resides, is home to roughly thirty indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé families, with a total estimated population of close to 200. The Ngäbe family homesteads of Bahia Honda are scattered around the deep mangrove bay on the leeward side of the island of Bastimentos. At the heart of the community is a small primary school with 50 or so students.
Help us to continue making a difference
Many former La Loma guests donate generously to the Bahia Honda community, as do others who have heard about our projects. If you’d like to support Bahia Honda, you can make a tax-deductable donation online. And if you have a little space to spare in your bag, please consider participating in Pack for a Purpose, a wonderful initiative to bring low-cost and extremely beneficial items to local communities.
List of things you can bring with you to donate to the school through Pack for a Purpose (for kids aged from 3 to 13 years old):
- General School Supplies: Pencils, pens, rulers, erasers, notebooks, etc.
- Books in Spanish
- Craft & Arts Supplies: Crayons, colored markers, glue, etc.
- Educational Games
- Clothing: Clothes & shoes in good condition
- Sports and Outdoor Activity Equipment: Baseball gloves, soccer balls, frisbee, etc.
