On our first day volunteering with the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, we were given a brief history on the creation of the foundation and how they have built up the things they have done to help the lives of those in La Carpio. La Carpio is an area of Costa Rica in which Nicaraguan refugees came to live in the 80s and 90s after the Nicaraguan Civil War. La Carpio is also the location of San Jose's massive landfill. While touring some of the homes, in order to determine if the Foundation could help, you really begin to think about your own circumstances in life and how no matter how bad things seem in your life, it didn't compare to the squalor we were surrounded by.
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Our mission while in La Carpio was assisting in building a wall for a family. It was creating a separate home and space for the grandmother of the family. This required us to dig out dirt and create the area where the wall would go. We were working in conditions that many would find difficult to work in. Mud, humidity, heat, rain. These were all things we had to contend with as we began building the wall. Each day we worked for a couple hours to carry buckets of mud out of the room where the wall would go and down to the street, clearing out the space we needed. Once done there for the day, we returned to the Foundation that was up the street where we had lunch and then spent a couple of hours working with the children.
The most interesting thing about working with these children, and even with the people who we were building the wall for, is that they spoke no English, while most of our group spoke no Spanish, so there was a definite challenge with the language barrier. Yet the one thing we offered the children, that no language barrier could stop, was our enthusiasm and love. One little girl I attempted to communicate with on the first day ran to the other room crying. We were told this was a possible indication of abuse. However, the next day I sat with the same little girl, just sitting with her and letting her guide what we did. She didn't cry, she didn't attempt to speak either, but she handed me blocks and let me show her how to use my camera. It was progress.
On our last day before we went off to our more tourist expeditions, we worked with the kids at Finca Hope, a farm given to the Foundation. After arts and crafts with nature, we played in the pool with the kids. Many of the kids couldn't swim, but relied on us to help them. One little girl that I helped was very timid because of her inability to swim, but by the time she left to head back to the Foundation, she was jumping into the water and into my arms.
Our very last volunteer experience upon our return from our tourist time was working with more Nicaraguan children. We experienced a chance to create small worlds with them out of things we found in nature. We also had the chance to explain to them how the animals they were using were made by the Cabecars by showing them how they made their fabrics and threads with things found in nature.
The opportunity to volunteer in Costa Rica was life changing. It really made me think about my life and how much better my life is in comparison to others. How hope is still found in the most dire of circumstances. One of the greatest things that the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation wants to give to the people of La Carpio is hope.
The most interesting thing about working with these children, and even with the people who we were building the wall for, is that they spoke no English, while most of our group spoke no Spanish, so there was a definite challenge with the language barrier. Yet the one thing we offered the children, that no language barrier could stop, was our enthusiasm and love. One little girl I attempted to communicate with on the first day ran to the other room crying. We were told this was a possible indication of abuse. However, the next day I sat with the same little girl, just sitting with her and letting her guide what we did. She didn't cry, she didn't attempt to speak either, but she handed me blocks and let me show her how to use my camera. It was progress.
On our last day before we went off to our more tourist expeditions, we worked with the kids at Finca Hope, a farm given to the Foundation. After arts and crafts with nature, we played in the pool with the kids. Many of the kids couldn't swim, but relied on us to help them. One little girl that I helped was very timid because of her inability to swim, but by the time she left to head back to the Foundation, she was jumping into the water and into my arms.
Our very last volunteer experience upon our return from our tourist time was working with more Nicaraguan children. We experienced a chance to create small worlds with them out of things we found in nature. We also had the chance to explain to them how the animals they were using were made by the Cabecars by showing them how they made their fabrics and threads with things found in nature.
The opportunity to volunteer in Costa Rica was life changing. It really made me think about my life and how much better my life is in comparison to others. How hope is still found in the most dire of circumstances. One of the greatest things that the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation wants to give to the people of La Carpio is hope.