The Panamanian economy is depressed and prospects for a quick recovery are doubtful. The government isn't doing much to help and, contrary to expectations that still linger in certain circles, the Americans aren't going to come in and solve our problems.

However, people are banding together, and community groups are lending what assistance they can. Religious congregations are at the center of a lot of the little survival strategies designed to get us past these hard times.

Panama City's Centro Hosanna, which includes a large Evangelical church and an academy, is doing its bit, by way of a market that it has set up on its property fronting on Via España. These photographs were taken at 10 a.m. on a weekday, just after a tropical cloudburst, when business was slow.

Business isn't that fast at the best hours, but if nobody's getting rich at the new market, a bunch of people are getting by, and people in the neighborhood are finding some good deals.

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