Jan 29
The Klong Kheaw Waterfall was nothing like I had expected. Although I’m not too sure what I really had expected, it was so much more. Walking along the trail at first everything appeared the same as any park or hiking trail in America, but when you took a closer look you could see it was much different. The vegetation was so lush as well as beautiful and interesting to see. I think my favorite thing in the woods were the intertwining tree roots all over the ground. Some of them stretched as far as the eye could see. It was so beautiful walking through the paths and looking at all the bamboo trees and exotic plants.
I really loved the part in the vegetation when the path was full of tree limbs and plants over your head like a covered bridge. It looked like something you would see in a romantic movie. The actual waterfalls were amazing. The water felt so refreshing and cooling. At first we walked down into the water and tried to navigate our way through the rocks and water.It was not such a good idea!!
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Oct 28
Last Wednesday, on October 26th, volunteer Raili Marks, Karina Hammond and I visited Madre Verde Foundation in Palmares. The purpose of the visit was to be part of a bird watching activity held by two biology students from the Universidad de Costa Rica.
We got up really early to be at the reserve at 6am. Upon arrival we realized that the activity actually started at 6:30am, so we waited a little longer to start the bird watching a bit later. This delay in the scheduled start time is known as “Tico time”, a very common Costa Rican saying, which refers to the fact that Costa Ricans usually start any activity much later than originally planned.
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Oct 17
On Wednesday October 5th we were contacted by Gail Keller, a counselor from Eugene, Oregon. She was visiting Costa Rica for a few days with her brother, husband and niece, and wanted to share the work she does with an orphanage in the US.
On this day, I met Gail early in the afternoon and took a taxi to the orphanage in San Ramón. The home is managed by Doña Roxiris and four tías (aunts) that also live in the orphanage.The home hosts twelve children who are no older than 13 years old. Our volunteers work in the orphanage helping with babysitting, cleaning, tutoring or just giving a hand with whatever is needed. The orphanage is funded by government resources for the protection of childhood and there is also a community group that also fundraises for the home. Volunteers work with the aim of making these kids life as good as it can be while being institutionalized.
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Sep 21
In Costa Rica, English has become one of the main requirements for most job applications because the tourist industry increases every year. uVolunteer started a project in 2007 in which our volunteers teach English to people in San Ramón according to this economic and social context. The population to which the project is addressed are to those who don´t have the time or money to pay for private education.
The English community class is a great opportunity to interact with the locals and explore Costa Rican culture. The project began with 20 students and two classes. The project opened as a conjunction between the uVolunteer volunteers and local volunteers like Danilo and Daython, and has been growing since then. The first volunteer to teach at the Evening class was Joachim Mowinckel whose experience can be read about at http://www.uvolunteer.org/costa-rica/volunteer-stories/joachim-mowinckel.php. More than 50 volunteers have contributed with the program during the last 4 years. uVolunteer would like to say thank you so much for all your help.
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Jun 20
As I was getting ready for one of my weekly duties ‘The Project Visit‘ , I could sense that today was going to be a beautiful day, though it was a bit foggy early in the morning you could actually sense the warmth rising. Meaw and I were taking Tiffany one of our volunteers to her project on the first day, Environmental Conservation Project in Madre Verde in Palmares. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr 08
Volunteering at the community education project at Bajo Tejares district in San Ramón is very rewarding. The district is the poorest of the region and people struggle everyday to make enough money for a meal for the next day.
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