Costa Rica Debriefing Report
It is hard to believe that 6 weeks have flown by and that the Costa Rica project is drawing to a close. Even harder to believe is the amount of work the Volunteers have put into our extremely successful three part project this year. It is generally the case that after midterm Volunteers return to their communities well rested, armed with a new set of ideas for projects and with a greater appreciation for their friends and families in community, and this project was no different. Even though the Volunteers only had about 2 weeks in community after our busy youth festival and short midterm they accomplished an extraordinary amount of work and found plenty of time to bond even more with their host families and communities.
At this point all the projects are complete thanks to the hard work of the Volunteers and the collaboration of community members. Thanks to efforts this summer 24 communities were able to complete projects such as road construction, repainting of schools and health clinics, fences for schools and water tanks. Creative secondary projects such as bus stops, murals, schools gardens, playground repairs and trash awareness campaigns provided Volunteers and community members a chance to exercise their creativity and make a big impact on the community with a small amount of materials provided by communities and AMIGOS.
Though these projects are perhaps the most visible traces of the Volunteers’ efforts in their communities, they also left behind a strong legacy of work with the youth and children. Many partnerships continued to give daily summer camps and lessons in the schools along with their already heavy workload. Pictures abound of Volunteers swarmed by smiling children, and Project Staff know that the energy, creativity and enthusiasm they put into these summer camps will leave the children and youth looking forward to this aspect of next year’s project.
In order to thank all the host families and collaborating partners who made our projects possible this summer Project Staff members are starting off debriefing by hosting a despedida, or farewell party. Everybody who contributed to the project from the host siblings of Volunteers to the doctors and materials suppliers will be joining us for what is sure to be an exciting but also sad night filled with delicious food brought by communities and AMIGOS, a slide show of the summer’s accomplishments and speeches.
After that we have only a few short days with some light activities designed to evaluate our project and provide feedback for next year, talk with Volunteers about how to readjust to life in the U.S. and take care of themselves upon return. We are also excited to be able to spend a day with the Volunteers in Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, a beautiful national park with kilometers of trails packed with wildlife alongside beautiful beaches.
The next day Volunteers and Project Staff will take an early bus to San Jose and the airport with plenty of time to get all the Volunteers and their luggage through customs and security before sending them back home. It will surely be an emotional few days as we all reflect upon and wrap up this amazing experience we have all shared this summer.
