Nature solutions for Community development

Destino Bahía Drake

Iker left his home in the Basque Country in Spain a couple of months ago.  He sold all his belongings, including his house, to come to Costa Rica to work with our organization on our environmental education program.   Making the decision of leaving a secure job, his family and everything he knew was not difficult, if as he said, you have the appropriate motivation. Nevertheless, it is unavoidable to question if you made the right decision. “And there I was” said Iker, “feeling something between excitement and anxiety, looking forward to starting a new project in a remote place in the rainforest of Costa Rica.

“I had received extensive information about the place I was about to move to, the job I was going to do and the life conditions.  And although I wasn’t surprised by it, nothing you can read compares to the living it in our skin.  The way people lives, and the way people think in Drake Bay are very different to what I knew.  It took me a while to earn the trust of the children and their parents and to learn how things worked here.  Between, constant activities cancelations because the school teacher had not make it or because of weather related problem, I wasn’t sure I could make it here.   However, little by little the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together, and you start to adapt”.   Iker experienced the same cultural shock that all our volunteers faced in the past: the schools in disrepair, the teachers never around, the children fending for themselves, the humidity getting to their computers, the printer got a nest of ants again and the internet failing yet again.   Working on one of the most remotes places in the rainforest of Costa Rica takes a lot of adjusting, even for us Costa Ricans.

“Once things start working and we start seeing the results of our efforts, it is easy to see the importance of our work in the area.  Being completely honest, the formal education provided in the schools in this region is very deficient and there are few parents concerned about this matter, maybe because many of them are illiterate themselves.  Besides, the area lacks recreational activities, so children end up illegally hunting with their parents or doing other not so healthy activities.   These communities lack of extracurricular possibilities for children and youth. This translate to children more prone to doing drugs or alcohol”.

Iker as a volunteer of the foundation has the responsibility of working on the after-school program with 6 environmental groups.  These children meet once a week to talk about the environment, their health, their community or any other issues. Together they also play, make art and do community projects.  

“It is amazing to be able to help this town and help to improve things!” says Iker “to provide kids with extracurricular activities its great!  You see the kids ready to start half an hour earlier, or constantly asking what time is the activity starting or when is the next activity…it’s great to feel that energy!  The energy of seeing them meet you with smiles and excitement… you couldn’t feel any better about what you do.

“I will never forget the excitement of the children that we took on a field trip, when we took the Aguilas Group from Los Angeles for a walk through the Jungle and we saw all kinds of animals and learn a lot about nature.   We ended up swimming on a waterfall and swinging on the trees.  I don’t know how much will they remember this day, but I will never forget it.”

Iker has done an amazing contribution to our program, environmental educators and teachers are invited to join our program to help for a couple of months with children and to pitch in their expertise and talent.  Our environmental education program depends always from contributions from people like you. Thank you so much for all your support!