lifestyle

The BRITISH AID SOCIETY calendars are once again on sale at $2 each --- just as they have been for 30 years now: very plain and practical, with space to write in on non-glossy paper. Easy to view the month and with all the Panamanian fiestas nacionales, most US and some Jewish holidays. Thanks to the advertisers, whose payment covers the cost of the printing, the $2 you pay all goes towards helping senior citizens in need here in the Republic of Panama.

These calendars are addictive, once you have used one, you always want one: for birthdays, medical appointments, records of what has happened when to be able to refer back to, to hang up in the kitchen, to have on your desk. They also make excellent small gifts and your purchase HELPS A GOOD CAUSE.

The British Aid Society has its origins in the early years of the Canal Zone, when that part of the West Indian workers who comprised most of the work force who actually built the Panama Canal that stayed on and got jobs with the canal began to age. At the time the Canal Zone was segregated, with white Americans paid in gold and all others in silver. For the gold roll employees there were retirement pensions, but the silver roll workers got none, and also lost their housing benefits when they stopped working. Most of these silver roll old-timers were British colonial subjects, as places like Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad-Tobago and so on --- from whence they came --- were still colonies of the United Kingdom at that time. Hence the "British Aid Society" was founded to aid these needy elderly workers. Later there were reforms and pensions for all canal retirees, and the mission of the British Aid Society gradually changed to help Panama's needy senior citizens regardless of their background or employment history.

To purchase your calendar call Elisabeth Borer at 264-1751