Dear Amigas y Amigos,

In this, the sixth issue of the Global Volunteers Costa Rica Newsletter, we would like to share with you some exciting news on the accomplishments made this summer by our most recent volunteers and host partners, and what is coming next. After running our 13th year of service programs in the village of Santa Elena, and the surrounding villages in the stunning Monteverde Region, we are about to begin our 14th year of volunteer service programs. This next year will also see the achievement of our 200th Global Volunteers service program team for Costa Rica in September 2009.

Canitas:
In keeping with the celebration of our achievements, we are very excited to announce that the village of Canitas is ready to receive volunteers once again! We will start off with a service program in December hosted by the Parents Association and School Board of the Canitas Primary School. As government funds to support local schools keep being cut, the primary schools are left to fend for themselves. The primary school is in dire need of maintenance and so is the kindergarten. The team on December 27th is programmed to start these much needed repairs and maintenance.

Cebadilla:
Cebadilla continues to be an enthusiastic and rewarding work site for Global Volunteers. The Development Association of Cebadilla will continue to be the host for our next service programs there. Teams during this past year continued assist with the maintainance of the infrastructure of the Community Center/Church and the Primary school. Many a’ painters have come through. Ah! The fresh smell of paint (and varnish) mixed with an impromptu stick found around the yard! The bus stop was also completed and painted. The drainage systems around the health center and community center have been widened, culverts concreted and drainage pipes installed. Down by the road at “Cebadilla Bajos” the dranaige pipe saw its supporting walls built by a very brave team that stuck it out on the dusty road, manually mixing concrete and pouring the wall bucket by bucket! The new Flags fly high since the winds died down enough to install the much awaited flag poles at the school. And of course, we could not forget our very powerful “earth moving” teams!! Our human backhoes with huge hearts!!! have moved endless quantities around the community center to keep it clear and sitting pretty! Cebadilla continues to have ambitious goals in the future. Plans are being made for a new community center in the village and of course Global Volunteers will be a key partner as these plans progress!!

Los Tornos:
At Los Tornos Village, a Global Volunteers team helped complete the first computer room for the kids at the primary school. This past year we did not have enough matched labor for our teams and we have suspended assistance to Los Tornos for the time being. We are hopeful that Los Tornos return to being a Global Volunteers partner by contributing enough matched labor to continue our service programs there in the future.

San Luis:
The Parents Association and the Board of the Primary School of Los Altos de San Luis hosted our last team of the year in late August! The primary school and kindergarten got fresh new coats of paint, so did the fence, and so did the huge Gym roof and side panels! The much awaited pathway roof was also built between the kindergarten and the school so the tiny ones don’t get soaked during the rainy season! Many meters of culverts were dug and concreted. As the endless cubic meters of water of the flourishing rainy season showed us, they all worked beautifully!

The San Luis Coffee Co-op awaits the team coming on December 20th to continue infrastructure work and to see the fine coffee crop that will initiate harvesting soon after.  

APAPNEM:
Work with this new host partner APAPNEM (Asociacion Pro Ayuda a las Personas con Necesidades Especiales de Monteverde), the Association of People with special needs and senior citizens, has just begun. Furniture and crafts for fundraising were made by our volunteers during 2008. But much fundraising is needed to finish buying the land and construction materials for building the new Activities and Therapeutic Center. Even more basic is to continue surveying the area to fully understand the demands of special needs in this region. Many ideas including surveying the housing conditions of people with special needs and how our volunteers can contribute to those needs are still very much are in their minds.  

El Colegio:
The Colegio Tecnico Profesional de Santa Elena teaches grades 7 to 12. In their last two years of schooling, students are taught management of food and beverages and how to be a nature guide. This year the Colegio got a wonderful facelift with many walls and fences painted, windows fixed, and bathrooms cleaned and painted. Garbage bins were built, and guide trails were maintained. The kids from the school join our teams to match our labor and to help their school stay bright and clean for their learning. Future work projects are sure to be lively at Colegio!

CASEM:
CASEM saw a ramp and sidewalk finished, a dressing room painted, the kitchen remodeled and many volunteers came to support and empower the Women’s craft Co-op to flourish during 2008. This co-op has come a long way and plans are in the making for a new retail store. The leaders at CASEM are inviting us to participate in the construction when the land is finally bought. For now, as the only English speaking employee Ileana left to work at one of the canopy tours, the women are in need of English classes to be able to communicate with customers, and they need continued support in the store to maintain and increase sales.

For me the past year has a been a blessed sharing my new life in Santa Elena Monteverde with an array of outstanding volunteers that never cease to amaze me with their generosity, work ethic, and commitment. Those who have come contributed their skills and hearts, and found that they have new talents.

Our volunteers leave a profound “soul–print” in our villages and our hearts. We are most excited to receive volunteers that have been with us in the past, and for getting to know new faces that generously find the time to contribute in so many ways to the Costa Rican quality of life! We are waiting to say Bienvenidos!

Nia Salas,
Global Volunteers Costa Rica Country Manager