What's not included: Flight, Visa Costs, In-country Transportation
Project Overview: Some areas in Costa Rica are affected by extreme poverty, which means that families often suffer poor living conditions that cause abuse, illness, and even the untimely death of parents. Children who are victims of such situations are placed in children's homes and orphanages around the country. Unfortunately, these homes have a shortage of staff, depriving the children of much needed individual attention.
Your work as a volunteer will give relief to the children and overworked "Tias" ("aunties") of the homes. In addition to providing emotional support and encouragement, you'll help the children with learning activities, including English lessons. No child care or teaching credentials are required, but volunteers should be passionate about working with children. You should also be compassionate and creative when it comes to arranging educational and recreational activities for children of various ages.
What will I be doing? Being a role model for the children and giving them emotional support is very important. Duties include teaching English and organizing activities for learning and play. You'll also take the lead during certain activities so that the orphanage staff are free to attend to other matters, and provide any help in maintaining and running the home.
Where will I be volunteering? You will be based in San Ramon, Alajuela. San Ramon is one of the larger Central Valley coffee towns and is set in a scenic basin enclosed by rolling mountains. It is a very traditional, unique and close knit town. National Geographic Magazine referred to San Ramon as having the best climate in the world.
San Ramon is about an hour drive north of the capital San Jose. It has the central Pacific Coast beaches located a couple of hours to the west and is located just south of Costa Rica's cloud forest belt and west of Lake Arenal.
San Ramon central location makes it an ideal base for travel around Costa Rica. Apart from its weather and central location, the people of San Ramon are some of the friendliest people you will meet in Costa Rica. They are genuinely welcoming to travelers, and are eager to make everyone feel welcome. The town has campuses of the 3 main Costa Rican universities; this ensures that San Ramon has a vibrant social life.
What will be my schedule? The project schedule requires that you work 4 days a week, Monday to Thursday, for a maximum of 6 hours per day. Your shift will be in the morning or in the afternoon.
Below are testimonials of previous volunteers on this project. Click though to their full reports where you can view their video reports, photos and you can also contact them directly by email to ask about their experiences with us in Costa Rica.
I guess I will start out by saying that this has been an amazing experience and I have no regrets in doing it. I knew I wanted to travel to Costa Rica but I've never traveled alone and couldn't convince any of my friends to do it. I found uVolunteer when researching programs online and liked this one because of the dorm option, the location, the price, and the fact that I could volunteer at an orphanage, something I have always wanted to do
My chosen program was to volunteer at an orphanage in Costa Rica. I chose to stay here for weeks. I would advise anybody to do at least 4 weeks as time goes by so quickly. I would love to stay another 4 weeks!
I have now spent seven amazing weeks in Costa Rica with uVolunteer. It has been an adventure and an experience that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
When I arrived in San Ramon I was one of three new volunteers, which made the whole process a lot easier since I wasn't the only new person.
My choice to visit Costa Rica of all destinations was unexpectedly easy. Arriving at the uVolunteer dorms in San Ramon was very exciting - it was better than I could have imagined.
Coming from a -28 degree Celcius blizzard in Edmonton to hot and humid Costa Rica was my first sign that this was going to be an incredible experience.
Prior to the volunteer trip to Costa rica, i was anxious, nervous, and having many doubts. Thinking back, and now having completed the trip, I'm not sure why I worried so much.
Every day from 2 till 5 we would play with between 3 and 10 kids, doing lots of coloring, skipping, and football...
My four weeks volunteering in San Ramon has been memorable...
But really the orphanage was an experience in itself!
I cherished my time with the children at the orphanage and have a huge respect for the tias who work so hard to make the lives of the kids as happy as possible.
My uVolunteer Costa Rican experience was hands down one of the most memorable times of my life. There was no part of this trip that disappointed. From volunteering, to friends ,to traveling, to the amazing food, it by far exceeded all my expectations.
I had taken several years of Spanish in college but hadn't retained much. However, the children didn't seem to notice my incorrect grammar or phrasing. In fact, they did most of the talking and just wanted to see that I was interested and involved.
My expectations for my uVolunteer experience in San Ramon were high, but they truly were surpassed!
The past six weeks volunteering in San Ramon in a nearby orphanage have been truly unforgettable.
I came to Costa Rica to practice my Spanish and work with children, a passion of mine.
My experience in Costa Rica through uVolunteer goes down as one of the best times of my life.
It's hard to believe we will be going back to the US soon, but I treasure my time here and look forward to coming back!
Day by day I would try my best to put their minds off their devastating family experiences and situations to be able to reach the hearts of these children in great need of unconditional love, care and affection.
Because of the contact with my host family and the kids at the center (who didn't speak English), I practiced my Spanish!
I did the Canopy Tour in Monteverde, This means I flew above the forest and jungle. Very tuanis!
I asked my seventy-five year old mom on the second day of being here what the secret was to a happy long-life!
Now that I'm done here (for now, of course), the only thing I can think about is when I can next travel!
I have been a teacher for a number of years and love children, but didn't want to do the conventional teaching thing on my vacation.
Costa Rica is our chosen destination for Latin America. Costa Rica is a tropical paradise; this tiny gem of a country in Central America possesses incredible beaches, cloud forests, mountains, and unbeatable biodiversity. Costa Rica is a safe and ideal location for first time travelers. Its laid back 'Pura Vida' lifestyle will ensure that all volunteers are treated to a warm, welcoming experience.
