Students, parents and teachers from El Ejido School in Los Santos formed a human chain on Tuesday, October 7 to demand better protection of the La Villa River.

 School Director María Pinilla said the protest was organized to show the importance of the river to the community. "The river is our life," she said.
La Villa River has been contaminated several times with a herbicide from agricultural runoff. It supplies water to thousands of people in the Azuero region. The government had to deliver scores of thousands of bottles of water to schools and homes in the region.