Amigos Logo

About Us


Since the founding of Fundacion Amigos de Boquete (Amigos) on June 7, 2006, our history has been a story of growth enabled through trusted partnerships among divergent organizations serving together with the shared Guiding Principles of mutual respect, collegial cooperation, and commitment to hard work.


At first, Amigos’ work was limited to providing nutritious meals to children in schools in the Boquete District, and periodically engaging in renovation projects at some of those schools.  Amigos now feeds over 1,300 children each school day in 13 schools in the Boquete District. We also provide funding to the Parents Associations in each of the 13 schools for them to pay the cooks.

In 2013 our world expanded when Amigos became a Partner of MATTER (www.matter.ngo).  To date, Amigos has imported over $1,500,000 of humanitarian aid from MATTER.

In 2015 Amigos received a 20 kW Generac generator donated by City View Electric, a major supporter of MATTER, that provided the first ever backup electricity for the Boquete Police and Boquete Fire Department.

News of the installation by Amigos of the 20 kW Generac generator for the Boquete Police and Fire Departments prompted the Islas Secas Resort to contact Amigos regarding the donation of a large Solar Electric Generation System. The Islas Secas Resort Solar Electric Generation System now provides electricity to 40 houses, four small businesses and the community Rancho at Valle Escondido, Bocas del Toro. It is the first Community Electric System in 10,000 mi.² of the Bocas del Toro archipelago. Amigos partnered with Floating Doctors (floatingdoctors.com) on this project and Floating Doctors became our trusted partner.

Thanks to MATTER, in July, 2014 Amigos began to receive donations of MannaPack Rice and MannaPack D from Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). MannaPack Rice is the best food in the world to combat malnutrition and MannaPack D is the best food in the world to combat diarrhea.

FMSC is a Christian non-profit organization committed to feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: volunteers hand pack meals specially formulated for malnourished children, and they send them to partners around the world where they are used in orphanages, schools, clinics, and in feeding programs to break the cycle of poverty. FMSC has reached over 70 countries.

Amigos worked with their trusted partner, Nutre Hogar Chiriqui (NHC), which cares for 40 severely malnourished children all of whom come from the Malnutrition Ward of the local Children’s Hospital, to create the FMSC/NHC Malnutrition Remediation Research Center (FMSC/NHC Research Center).




Kids Table





The FMSC/NHC Research Center provides detailed Monthly Reports to FMSC and MATTER that show photographs of each of the 40 severely malnourished children being cared for by NHC, together with each child’s Name, Date of Birth, Date of Enrollment, Height, Weight, Bio Mass Index, Blood Test Results, and Parasite Test Results on the Date of Enrollment; and the increase in Height, Weight, and Bio Mass Index since the Date of Enrollment. Each Monthly Report has confirmed the powerful impact of MannaPack Rice in remediating malnutrition.

By way of example, in the FMSC/NHC Research Center’s March, 2017 Report: Enerina, who was born on May 5, 2014 and enrolled on December 23, 2015, had an increase in Weight of 6.81 kg, an increase in Height of 19.4 cm, and an increase in Bio Mass Index of 3; Fabian, who was born on January 25, 2015 and enrolled on April 30, 2016, had an increase in Weight of 4.42 kg, an increase in Height of 10.5 cm, and an increase in Bio Mass Index of 4; and Kevin who was born on May 11, 2015 and enrolled on August 31, 2016, had an increase in Weight of 3.8 kg, an increase in Height of 8 cm, and an increase in Bio Mass Index of 4.






Amigos also worked with their trusted partner, Floating Doctors, to create the FMSC/Floating Doctors MannaPack D Diarrhea and Malnutrition Remediation Research Center to evaluate the efficacy of MannaPack D in treating diarrhea and malnutrition.

Doctor and Child

The ability of MannaPack D to control diarrhea has been fully endorsed and, as anticipated, children who have failed to thrive and suffer from chronic, debilitating disease have particularly benefited from the nutritional support provided by MannaPack D. FMSC has donated 97,200 servings of MannaPack D for the FMSC/Floating Doctors Diarrhea and Malnutrition Remediation Research Center.


On July 30, 2014, Amigos received a Fire Truck that MATTER found for Philip McGuigan, one of Amigos Directors, to purchase to support the Boquete Fire Department and to honor his beloved Tia Kathleen (Aunt Kathleen) who worked for the Panama Canal Company for 43 years and retired as the Administrative Officer of the Office of the Controller of the Canal Company.


Boquete Fire
                                              Truck

Inspired by the Tia Kathleen, below is the Fire Truck that MATTER found for Cambria to purchase to support the City of David, Panama Airport Fire Department and to honor their business. Philip McGuigan and the Rotary Club of David paid to import the Cambria Fire Truck from Miami, Florida to David, Panama.



Cambria





When the Fire Truck arrived in David, the Rotary Club of David and Philip McGuigan organized a great parade to honor their partners from Cambria and to celebrate Cambria’s wonderful generosity. Here is a photo of the finale.





Firefighter Spray





Working with Floating Doctors, Amigos learned that Floating Doctors needed satellite communication and it was clear that Globalstar was the best. Amigos contacted Globalstar which agreed to help Floating Doctors. With the two SPOT Gen 3 devices and satellite connectivity donated by Globalstar, Floating Doctors can now keep track of the exact location of each of their Medical Teams and their Medical Teams can send messages to them. The generosity of Globalstar in providing the SPOT Gen 3 devices and connectivity has had a transformational impact on the operations of Floating Doctors. To assist Floating Doctors with their transportation needs, Amigos purchased a 75 hp Suzuki two-stroke outboard motor for Floating Doctors’ 47 foot cayuco and provided additional funding to make the cayuco shipshape.

Cayuco

On April 29, 2017 Amigos also arranged for the donation of the Calypso to Floating Doctors.

CAlupso

The Calypso and the cayuco provide a new level of transportation for the Floating Doctors community.

Amigos continues to work with its trusted partners and serves as the Boquete office of Both Floating Doctors and Nutre Hogar Chiriqui


McGuigan

Philip Palmer McGuigan

Director and Secretary of Fundacion Amigos de Boquete

U.S Phone: 312-324-0189

Panama Cell Phone: 507-6430-7653

Panama Office Phone: 507-730-8457