Volunteer in Costa rica

Part 1

Volunteer in Costa Rica and it can be a life changing experience, an undertaking in which you will learn a great deal about yourself, the Ticos (as Costa Ricans refer to themselves)’, their country, habits and mannerisms. But an additional bonus of volunteering in Costa Rica is that the country is on every traveler’s itinerary when exploring Latin America. Thus, you end-up learning many things about different parts of the world as a result of continuously mixing with an ever growing group of international volunteers.

In today’s ‘fast paced consumer-lead society’, people seem more concerned about self-promotion and self-satisfaction than the society’s well being as a whole. However, there have always been those who have had a genuine drive to ensure effective and sustainable human development and to seek opportunities to better the world’s conditions by volunteering in health, education, social and environmental issues. I think I was placing myself in the shoes of such globally aware people when I booked (and PAID for!) a volunteer vacation in Costa Rica.

Now many people ask me “Why Volunteer in Costa Rica, don’t you think that there are more worthy countries in the region where you can really make a difference?”

Well, my research into volunteering in Costa Rica always brought up two sides of the coin. One side was singing the praise of such a great country, a beacon of democracy, surrounded by generations of war-torn nations, but yet still raising the standard and shining bright as the lone star in Central America. However, there were always small hints, yet signs significant enough to suggest gone were the days when Costa Rica was seen as a country so organized that 25 percent of its land is donated as National Parks and Reserves. Costa Rica is a country which used to (and still does) brag that “WE HAVE MORE TEACHERS THAN SOLDIERS” but, nevertheless, seems to be living on its past achievements.

When I delved deeper, using my trusted friend “Google”, it appeared that the general consensus was that Costa Rica has great marketing! Marketing that covers the eyes of those travelers who do not plan to dig (pun intended) or explore parts of the country that do not offer tourist attractions. The more I researched the more I began to understand the real face of Costa Rica which includes a significant state of poverty and a poorly funded education system.

A recent UN Study revealed, amongst many other disturbing facts, that:

1. The average Costa Rican Adult, with only 5.7 years of school, had not finished the six years of primary school education. (In panama, the average is 6.6; in Trinidad-Tobago, 8.4; in Columbia, 7.5; in Cuba 8.)

2. Costa Rica currently invests less money per capita in education than do most other Latin American countries.

So I eventually chose to volunteer in Costa Rica because I wanted to see both parts of this unique land that somehow has managed a balancing act, between promoting tourism and concealing poverty so well that many believe and still describe the country as paradise on earth.

After choosing the country I wanted to visit, I shifted my research onto volunteer abroad service agencies. I then realized that there were so many organizations offering certain types of packages, but all in all they seemed the same, just worded and described differently. I also noticed two price levels:

a). The low cost programs generally cost around 12-15USD per day, but they were all locally based and I did not really trust the marketing material on their websites. Out of all the lower cost websites I researched I found Volunteer Latin America to be the most usefull and it supplied me with a booklet (for a fee!) that contained all the cheap volunteer programs available in Latin America.

b). The high end programs were long established companies in the US, Europe and Australia, these companies, such as i-to-i and Cross Cultural Solutions, charged around $100USD per day. These were well presented and trustworthy programs, but at those prices it was extremely expensive to be a volunteer.

I finally decided to volunteer with uVolunteer Costa Rica, priced at around $23USD per day, because they offered all the services the high-priced programs offered but at such a lower rate. Initially I thought “what?” How come they are much cheaper than the others and offer the same services; there must be a scam somewhere. If it’s too good to be true then it’s not true. But eventually the organization turned out to be genuine.

How did I figure out that they were genuine? Well basically, I exchanged a few emails with Nat (who handles applications). He gave me 3 email addresses of past participants, I emailed them and they all had nothing but good things to say about the organization. So I was sold and signed up within two weeks and there where no hidden extras.

From my understanding, uVolunteer is set-up to directly re-address the issue of under-resourced rural schools by supplying a constant flow of international volunteers to teach in these schools. I had to pay for my volunteer Costa Rica program but I now had concrete proof of where my money was going to. I now knew exactly where my money was being spent. Simply, it was being used to take care of me and to fund the development of the schools and projects the organization is involved with.

Paying to volunteer is often a controversial undertaking but volunteers who are truly dedicated to the cause of helping others understand that volunteer agencies, especially the ones that charge reasonable rates, are barely surviving financially after incurring costs such as recruiting, training, transportation, supervising, producing literature and marketing.

So after I had found myself a suitable organization, chosen my preferred country, fundraised (that is for another article), paid my program fees, bought my ticket and said my goodbyes, I found myself slightly nervous on an Air Continental flight from Newark to San Jose, thinking about what was in store for me. I was excited but I also had a niggling fear of what volunteering in Costa Rica would really be like?

…. I had a great time volunteering in Costa Rica and would definitely recommend uVolunteer as an international volunteer agency. But to hear about what happened on arrival to San Jose you will have to wait for the next part of this story…