Shawnigan Lake School in Costa Rica: August 2010
PART ONE
Pura Vida!- Shawnigan's EDGE Leadership Program is building relationships in Costa Rica this summer, working in partnership with the Costa Rica Humanitarian Foundation (CRHF).
The group includes eight grade 11 and 12 students, and is led by Sarah Kingstone (Kaye's '07), Claire Linn (School '06) and program leader Peter Yates. Sarah and Claire are the driving force behind the project, having spent three months doing volunteer work in Costa Rica in the early part of 2010.
The team is helping to renovate a farmhouse on the outskirts of San Jose, scrubbing and painting and doing basic repairs, and also putting in a garden. "La Finca" will provide accommodation for future volunteers, but perhaps its greater good will be to serve as a retreat for families who live in the huge urban slum called La Carpio. It is part of the vision of Gail Nystrom, head of CRHF, to give families a brief respite from the depressing squalor of La Carpio, and to allow them to be together in a healthy natural environment. Working with Gail brings to mind Margaret Meade's words, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Our team has no illusions that our efforts here will change the world, so the success of our venture in Costa Rica will best be evaluated by the changes wrought in our selves. Our goals are to learn through doing, to be open to other ways of being, and to solidify the values that will guide us through life.
Peter Yates - Shawnigan EDGE Leadership
To read more and to view more photos, click here!