Humanitarian Alumnae in Costa Rica - Entry #2

January 18, 2010

In the last week we have settled in to our home-stay in Santa Anna, a small neighbourhood in the Capital City of San José. Our host family is incredibly kind, welcoming and helpful. Norma and Fabio are very patient as we attempt to become more proficient at speaking Spanish (because they speak very little English our transition to Spanish has been quite speedy, mostly out of necessity). During the week we are working in La Carpio with the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation (CRHF), headed by Gail Nystrom. Our first week has been a very intense introduction to the area, but in order to provide context to our daily work, it is first important to describe the history of the La Carpio community, as well as the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation.

The community of La Carpio originated over 20 years ago when Nicaraguan refugees began squatting on Costa Rican-owned land in an effort to escape civil war, displacement through natural disasters and the devastating effects of desperate poverty and hunger. Using the limited resources available - usually only plastic and corrugated iron - the Nicaraguan people built makeshift housing. Out of their toughness and resilience grew the current community of La Carpio, which today numbers 34,000 people. Although there are treaties that have been signed with the Costa Rican government guaranteeing education, health care and decent housing, there is a vast difference between the materials promised and the services provided to this group of largely illegal immigrants. An increased level of prejudice toward Nicaraguan immigration has made it even more difficult for residents of La Carpio to receive health care or education outside of their community. To make matters worse, the task of finding a job that offers wages necessary to support a family is becoming more and more daunting. The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation has been working with the people of La Carpio since 1997 in an effort to shift these chronically impoverished people into a comfortable, upwardly-mobile community.

Due in large part to the work of Gail Nystrom, many people in La Carpio have greatly improved their lives. The CHRF has built three learning centres—the Montessori School (which also serves as a community centre), the Model Education Centre and another daycare and educational facility in an area called La Libertad. Each of these facilities provides concrete daily schedules based on the educational level of the children attending, and also includes meals and snacks for the students.

There has also been a dramatic increase in the number of healthy children in the community. The CHRF has constructed a permanent medical clinic run by a qualified doctor. Gail has designed and implemented many other projects in La Carpio. Residents now take part in the building of home furnishings such as bunk-beds as well as programs that assist women in starting their own businesses and finding housing for street children. By focusing on the importance of increased autonomy for women, education for children, improved hygiene and skills to take advantage of available resources, her work has contributed an incalculable improvement to the quality of life for a great number of people.

Last week Claire and I worked mainly in the Montessori School helping the women (all are locals being trained to teach) with their students, as well as touring the other projects and getting settled in the area. It was a very intense week as we got to know the staff (speaking only Spanish—there is only one woman who speaks a very small amount of English) and interacted with the children, while at the same time trying to process the entire experience!

We are looking forward to another week - hopefully feeling a bit more stable with a little more experience under our belts!

On another note, we have all been discussing the earthquake in Haiti that has devastated Port-au-Prince in the past week. Partners In Health is an organization that we may possibly be working with soon, so please send any support that you can to this incredibly well developed organization.