• The statistics are true: traffic is the most dangerous factor when going anywhere
• Water is more expensive than beer
• There is no scarcity of water in the entire country, except for in La Carpio
• The biggest lie told to Gringos is that everyone speaks English, and your lack of Spanish will not be a problem or embarrassment
• “Límons” taste like North American limes and look like a mix between a North American lime on the outside and an orange on the inside; “Lemons” do not exist
• Our obsession with refrigerating milk is unnecessary
• “On time” is one hour after the time specified; patience is an incredibly important asset
• Mayonnaise is as important a topping as ranch or ketchup for all foods, including salads
• They still comment on the state of the weather even though every single day is sunny with a high of 30 degrees
• The most common thing to find in any corner store or grocery store is packages of cookies
• Honking is an obsessive habit
• There is probably a higher percentage of dogs in the country than there is people
• Eating is a pastime; working out is not
• Rice and beans are evident in every meal—carbo-loading!
• There are bars surrounding 98% of all the houses
• Canada is a very ambiguously understood place—some think it’s a state in the USA, others think it is part of New Zealand…our country is very illusive
• We know very little…

-Sarah Kingstone

In the 2nd semester of her 3rd year at UBC, Sarah Kingstone is traveling to Costa Rica in honour of her humanitarian heart. She has given me permission to post her blog entries as she embarks on what will undoubtedly a life changing experience. Come along for the ride!

While we were scaling the side of the mountains above Escazu in Gail’s ancient Hyundai van, she began to tell us the story of her friend Beth. Gail had met Beth when they were both in the Peace Corps, working in Costa Rica over 20 years ago. Gail developed an immense respect for her new friend as they grew closer, building schools and working alongside impoverished children throughout rural Costa Rica. They spent hours together, trading personal philosophies and accumulating new ones through their work. After they had both moved down their separate paths outside of the Peace Corps, Gail heard the news of a terrible accident. 12 years ago this year, after missing for a week from a hiking trip, Beth was found dead at the bottom of a cliff. The cause of death was unknown, and Gail was deeply affected by the loss of such a kindred companion. The mountains our van was currently stumbling through had been Beth’s home for many years before her death. “I can feel the presence of Beth’s spirit still wandering these rural mountain villages,” Gail said, her voice betraying its usual serene confidence. It is evident that through her work establishing the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, she has remained loyal to Beth’s humanitarian vision.

The van had been following a large Blue-Morpho Butterfly for a kilometre when we came upon the woman we had been looking for. She had recently escaped to the area in search for sanctuary to write her book—a guide for those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to find peace and healing through the discovery of their personal guardian angels—and had contacted Gail to commend her on her inspiring humanitarian vision and to expand her search for books on angels to Gail’s personal library. We slid out of the van and introductions were passed around as we looked out over San Jose valley, sparkling in the dusk. There were personal philosophies of angels and spirits being tossed about as Claire and I succumbed to the Tarot Cards offered to us by Gail. Each of our chosen cards made sense respectively, including disarming allusions to internal doubt, anxiety, personal control, and the directions to continuously struggle with the adversity of our lives. We all chatted, perched on a dirt embankment surrounded by horses in their paddock and gardens of vegetables, discussed our Tarot Cards, and then went in opposite directions—we rumbled treacherously down the mountain in the beastly Hyundai and our new friend, evidently blessed by Beth’s spirit, plodded slowly upward to her mountain-side nook.

It was certainly ‘one of those days.’ Although looking at it all while it happened may have left everything slightly off kilter, processing the day in the tranquility that settled over a dinner of rice and beans, made us think that maybe, not everything needed to be balanced and real and comprehensible all the time.

-Sarah Kingstone

In the 2nd semester of her 3rd year at UBC, Sarah Kingstone is traveling to Costa Rica in honour of her humanitarian heart. She has given me permission to post her blog entries as she embarks on what will undoubtedly a life changing experience. Come along for the ride!

On a very different note, yesterday (Sunday February 9) was the Costa Rican Federal Election. I have never witnessed a more vibrant election process. Literally the entire country is interested and involved in the presidential race. On Election Day everyone is out on the streets decked out in the colors of their favourite party, waving flags, honking their car horns CONSTANTLY—celebrating the entire process. The ruling National Liberation Party elected Laura Chinchilla as their presidential candidate. She held a significant lead in the Opinion Polls since October 2009, and last night just after 9:00, she was elected as the first female President of Costa Rica with 46% of the electorate. She is young, but stunningly articulate (even when you understand only a small percentage of what she says) and gracefully strong and it will be incredibly interesting to experience first-hand the effect she has on the country.

Coming to the end of our first month here, we have a mix of feelings. We’ve scratched the surface of the country, have found the work with the children interesting and increasingly satisfying, have appreciated the opportunities we’ve had to see some of the sights, are feeling the heat is a little more bearable, and sensing that we are slowly carving out a reasonable working and living routine for ourselves. But occasionally there is a creeping sense of displacement, not exactly homesickness, but both Claire and I find ourselves thinking more deeply about what we’ve taken on and making comparisons with our lives at home. This is no doubt natural.  For myself, I recognize that to make the experience work effectively I need to devote more time and energy on my language skills; without a functional measure of fluency I am limited in my versatility.

We hope that all is well at home in the lead-up to the Olympics; we will be watching all Olympic coverage that NBC has to offer!

-Sarah Kingstone

In the 2nd semester of her 3rd year at UBC, Sarah Kingstone is traveling to Costa Rica in honour of her humanitarian heart. She has given me permission to post her blog entries as she embarks on what will undoubtedly a life changing experience. Come along for the ride!

Today, one of the teachers in the Montessori school, Estella (a single mother of five young children), was noticeably upset when she arrived at school. As the first measure of circle time, the head teacher explained to the kids that some days we wake up and feel sad, and that is what had happened to Estella. Then she had all the children blow a small kiss (un besito) into a little box and then give it to Estella while all 17 kids literally dog-piled her with hugs. The emotional effect on everyone in the room, not to mention Estella, was incredibly moving. It was an expression of love, untainted by cynicism or mistrust.

We are slowly learning to live in Costa Rican style—“pura vida”; anything goes, and it’s all good!

-Sarah Kingstone

In the 2nd semester of her 3rd year at UBC, Sarah Kingstone is traveling to Costa Rica in honour of her humanitarian heart. She has given me permission to post her blog entries as she embarks on what will undoubtedly a life changing experience. Come along for the ride!

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

The community of La Carpio originated over 20 years ago when Nicaraguan refugees began squatting on Costa Rican owned land in order to escape civil war, the destruction by natural disasters, and the devastating effects of desperate poverty and hunger. Using the limited resources available—usually plastic and corrugated iron—these Nicaraguan people build makeshift housing. Their toughness and resilience led to the current community of La Carpio, which today numbers 34,000 people. Although the people of La Carpio have signed national treaties with the Costa Rican government, guaranteeing education, healthcare, and decent housing, there is a vast difference between the materials promised and the reality for the large percentage of illegal immigrants living in La Carpio. An increasing level of prejudice against Nicaraguan immigration has made it even more difficult for the people of La Carpio to receive health care or education outside of their community. And finding jobs that offer wages that support a family is becoming more and more unyielding. The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation has been working with these immigrants since 1997 in order to shift the chronically impoverished into an upwardly-mobile and more comfortable community. Owing largely to the work of Gail Nystrom, the founder of CRHF, many people in La Carpio have greatly improved their lives. The CHRF has built three learning centers—The Montessori School (also a community center), a The Model Education Center,  above the medical clinic, and another daycare and educational facility in an area called La Libertad—in La Carpio—all of which provide concrete daily schedules based on the educational level of the children attending and also include meals and snacks for the children. These efforts have combined to dramatically increase the percentage of healthy children in the community. The CHRF has also constructed a permanent medical clinic run by a very qualified Doctor. Gail has designed and implemented many other projects in La Carpio (including building home furnishings such as bunk-beds, helping women start their own businesses, housing street children, and other personal projects for individuals). By focusing on the importance of increased autonomy for women, education for all children, hygiene, and the use of personal skills to take advantage of the resources available, 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 local women being trained to teach) with the children, as well as touring all the other projects and getting settled in the area. It was a very intense week as we attempted to get to know everyone (speaking only Spanish—there is only one woman who speaks a very small amount of English), working with the children on games, songs, English, cooking, and all the other madness of a classroom filled with 20 children between the ages of 3 and 13, and 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 Haitian earthquake 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.

-Sarah Kingstone

In the 2nd semester of her 3rd year at UBC, Sarah Kingstone is traveling to Costa Rica in honour of her humanitarian heart. She has given me permission to post her blog entries as she embarks on what will undoubtedly a life changing experience. Come along for the ride!

Changing simple inspiration into collaborative understanding designed to develop the foundation of sustainable global communities…

Since I can remember, I have felt inspired to seek a career in the humanitarian relief work that I feel is so desperately needed throughout our global community. In grade 11 at Shawnigan Lake School I participated in the EDGE Leadership Program along with 10 other students. We travelled to Ban Ruk Phandin, Thailand to construct a Learning Center for the local people—this solidified my desire to contribute to sustainable communities in areas of our world without the necessary avenues to fully develop their goals. I believe that merging cultural, social, and economic differences can provide solid foundations for sustainable educated communities.

This spring term, I am travelling to Costa Rica to work for their Humanitarian Foundation for 3 months with my best friend, Claire Linn. During this trip, Claire and I will be working in different areas around Costa Rica, on projects such as La Carpio, a daycare and educational facility for children living in the slums around San José, La Promesa, a community for women who have suffered extreme abuse and poverty, and the Cabecar project which aims to establish a more solid relationship between the Foundation and the Indigenous Community and to provide them with the educational, health, and agricultural facilities they need. We will be participating in other smaller projects as well and travelling as much as we can fit in between work!

During this trip, I would like to build networks with people looking to further develop the humanitarian cause. In this way, I hope to create the foundations for a relationship between the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation and my networks here in Canada—most prominently, Shawnigan Lake School—which will enable me to fulfill my vision for future projects.

This trip is also giving me the opportunity to further develop my experience with Humanitarian/Relief work. The blogging work I plan to commit to, at least on a personal level, will provide me with future points of reference, as well as the foundation for what I hope may lead to a future career in journalism. I also hope that this blogging will create awareness and offer a vehicle for conversation about the needs of the humanitarian community in Costa Rica.

My goal is to post a blog each week recording the moments of inspiration I have encountered along the way. Maybe these will also inspire you!

I will post again when I get my feet settled in San José. See you on the other side!

-Sarah Kingstone

In the 2nd semester of her 3rd year at UBC, Sarah Kingstone is traveling to Costa Rica in honour of her humanitarian heart. She has given me permission to post her blog entries as she embarks on what will undoubtedly a life changing experience. Come along for the ride!