Por Mike Peers
Rotary Club Playa Coronado
In the heart of rural Panama, a silent revolution in education is underway. Led by the Rotary Club of Playa Coronado and supported by Rotary Clubs in the U.S., the RACHEL project―Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning―is transforming classrooms without internet into hubs of digital opportunity. Launched in 2021, RACHEL provides schools with an offline server loaded with educational content, accessible wirelessly by laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Initially piloted in six remote schools across Coclé and Panama Oeste provinces, the success of the project led to rapid expansion. Today, GG2453218 equipped 18 more schools with RACHEL, impacting over 120,000 students who previously had no internet access. Each school received vital hardware, a RACHEL Plus, a UPS and 10 laptop computers―paired with comprehensive teacher training in digital competencies.
Partnering with Panama’s Ministry of Education (Meduca), the initiative ensures sustainability through local facilitator training. Now, with GG2575173, the expansion to 50 additional schools, RACHEL continues to grow, bringing the world’s knowledge to Panama’s most isolated communities, one school at a time.
