09/03/10 - *This is the fifth blog in a series documenting a recent trip to visit Kids to Kids projects in Costa Rica by Patrick, Kids to Kids Program Coordinator.

About San Marcos de Cutris

San Marcos de Cutris is a small, rural town in the Northern Zone of Costa Rica with a population of about 400 people. Located 30 kilometers down a long, winding dirt road, San Marcos is unmistakably an agricultural community.

Just about everyone who lives in San Marcos or any of the other small towns along the long, dirt road works on a farm. There are several GIANT pineapple plantations in the area, and many of the pineapples grown on these plantations end up in American grocery stores. There are also a good number of small farms that produce crops for local markets and for export.

Statistically, the Northern Zone is one of the most marginalized and impoverished regions of Costa Rica. There are very few opportunities for children to participate in programs or activities outside of the very short school days. Days are long and hot. Kids are usually either at home doing chores after school or hanging out in the streets.

The Project

In the December 2009 grant cycle, Kids to Kids supported an innovative project designed by a Peace Corps Volunteer based in San Marcos de Cutris and a Community Leader from another small town in the Northern Zone. The idea for the project was to bring 100 kids from various communities in the impoverished Northern Zone together for an Arte por la Paz regional conference. With support from Kids to Kids, they hosted the conference in the historic town of La Fortuna, site of the world famous and still active Arenal Volcano (pictured).

Arte por la Paz (Art for Peace) began in March 2003 by a group of artists in Costa Rica. It uses poetry, painting, drawing, singing, theatre and other types of art to promote peace and nonviolence to youth. The goal of Arte por la Paz is to foster creativity and better communication skills in youth in order for them to better address the violence that they experience at home, school and in the community. This is done through various art projects on themes such as domestic violence, anger management, and self-esteem. The regional conference was an opportunity to bring a diverse group of kids together to share what they have learned through participation in Arte por la Paz groups in their own communities!

Quote from the organizing Peace Corps Volunteer, “The project was the first time for most of the children to get out of their community and see a new place.  We chose the location of La Fortuna because it would be a special treat for the kids to be up close to one of Costa Rica’s most famous volcanoes. It was a once in a lifetime experience for these 100 kids.”

From the Kids to Kids Program Coordinator

This project is one word: inspiring. There are a couple of things that I love about this Kids to Kids project. First, how cool is it to be able to bring together a group of kids from various underserved and impoverished communities for a kid conference in the shadow of the most famous and still active volcano in the country? None of the kids at the regional conference had ever been to the volcano; the vast majority of them had never even left their small communities!

Second, I LOVE this type of Kids to Kids project that brings together kids from different communities. It’s an amazing opportunity for kids to share, learn, and identify with other kids who may be facing similar challenges or working to solve similar problems.

Finally, being in San Marcos de Cutris, which was one of the communities able to send kids to the conference because of the support of Kids to Kids, I was able to see the impact that the project on kids’ lives firsthand. In particular, there were two OUTSTANDING young girls who participated in the Arte por la Paz Regional Conference and came back inspired to be leaders in San Marcos. They founded a one of a kind recycling program in the community and became passionate and well-spoken advocates for their program. I learned from the girls that they now go house to house in the community collecting recyclables and educating people on why it’s important to recycle and protect the environment. In a community where there has been little environmental consciousness in the past, the youth now collect 15 different types of recyclable materials!!

To see more pictures of Kids to Kids impact in Caribe, become a fan of Kids to Kids on Facebook and visit our photo albums. To support more Kids to Kids projects like these, please make a donation to the Kids to Kids All-Kids Fund here.

Joseph “JJ” Jenkins is an outstanding volunteer who went to Haiti to serve as lead architect for the World Connect Lafond School Reconstruction Project in earthquake-affected Haiti.   JJ began advising World Connect with his vast design and building expertise from the onset of this collaborative project developed with the Lafond School management team and helped the partners and stakeholders conceive the best way to rebuild the local school destroyed by the January 12, 2010 earthquake.

Fortunately for all involved, JJ leapt at the opportunity to put his skills to good use by traveling to and living in one of the most under-served and under-resourced parts of Haiti. The community of Lafond is found in the small village of Les Palmes in the mountains high above the city of Petit Goave in Haiti’s Western Department about 42 miles southwest of Port au Prince.  While in Lafond, JJ served also served as the foreman for the successful World Leadership School faculty service trip designed to support the Lafond community with a particular focus on school reconstruction efforts.

This is an area that did not receive much of the attention given to larger and more accessible urban areas, yet here in this small village 100% of the homes were either damaged or completely destroyed by the earthquake.  The school, which has been operating in tents, is lifeline for the community of Lafond serving as a communal meeting space, a health outpost where children are immunized and a reliable location where children can receive a nutritious meal - - all of this in additional to being the only place children of this community can go receive a free education.

The ground has been leveled and foundation poured.  The durable walls are going up and the community is rallying around this school to have its first four classrooms sponsored by a World Connect Haiti Relief Grant ready for school in fall.  Thanks, JJ, for your ongoing support!

Following are some inspirational thoughts from JJ based on his experience:

We went to Lafond to build a school.

We found all the buildings damaged, and we found people whose lives are hard but smiles are easy.  In Lafond, arguments always seem to end with laughter.

Many of the children would rather eat crackers on a hot afternoon than have a cold drink.

Water is in short supply in Lafond, as is food.

The women who carry buckets of water on their heads are more sure footed in their flip-flops on the slippery red soil, than I am in my Italian hiking boots.

We all dug foundations.  They watched me, fascinated by every detail, as I fumbled with the transit and plumb bob, and were horrified when I got sunburned.  They gave me a brand new hat.  They wear a lot of hand me downs from charity boxes.

I watched as they moved truckloads of earth on their heads.  Sometimes Madame Joseph paused to nurse her baby.

In Lafond, people sometimes spontaneously start dancing and singing while they work.

After construction work ended at 2pm, they maybe had their big meal of the day and then worked on planting the summer’s beans, their most important cash crop.  Unfortunately, everyone else is planting the summer’s bean crop too, and it’s hurricane season.  Hurricanes sometimes destroy the crop.  There is very little cash in Lafond.

Wood is scarce, or it should be.

Wood for burning, wood for building.  Wood ravaged by insects holds up what’s left of the houses.  The old way of building won’t do, for so many reasons, but we still council those who ask to add some diagonal bracing to their rotting framing.  Even the concrete is compromised by the local greasy brittle rocks that go into it.

In Lafond, the earthquake shook apart almost all of the buildings.  People rebuilt with what was left.  A hurricane will flatten almost all of that too.

So we built in a way that is quite standard in the United States, but a bit alien in Haiti.  Eight inch block, difficult to find, practically unheard of, reinforced with grout and half inch rebar, strong, well anchored into the earth.  Seismic resistant construction, easy to understand, complete with anchor bolts to hold the roof down in a strong wind.  A method perhaps too expensive for their houses, but they paid close attention anyway.

People in Lafond adapt and make the most of what they’ve got.

Together we are constructing a pair of two classroom buildings.  They will be the only buildings in the area that can withstand most earthquakes and hurricanes.  They should last for generations.

We went to Lafond and got an education.

Photo: Bertin Meance, the Lafond Project Coordinator and Architect Joseph “JJ” Jenkins

8/26/10 - This past Spring through our World Connect Grants program, we supported a local women’s group to construct a greenhouse and nursery for fruit, vegetables, medicinal & ornamental plants in Volcan, Costa Rica. The World Connect Grants program supports innovative locally driven projects that improve the health and wellbeing of women and children. The project in Volcan is a great example as it was designed to improve nutrition in a vitamin-deficient community while generating income for the women’s group.

We are excited to announce that things are moving along incredibly well. When we recently heard from the Peace Corps Volunteer on site she reported that the women’s group “is an incredibly motivated group of women who have taken full ownership of the project, they work whether or not I am there, which is really exciting.” Not only is it exciting to hear that they are working independently of the Peace Corps Volunteer, but more importantly the women feel ownership of the project. This is the ultimate goal and what World Connect Grants is trying to accomplish; empower local leader to solve local challenges!!!

Up until this point, the women have been hard at work preparing a building lot, buying and recruiting materials, and making a compost pile. Before getting started, the women decided to move the building site from the original one that they had in mind as it proved to be hard to access, at high risk of flooding and far from the women’s homes.  They worked hard to find a better option and identified an empty lot owned by a woman who has agreed to let the group use it for free for six months and then at a rate of $20 a month thereafter.  The women will pay an additional fee to the town so that they can utilize the water on site.  The group is thrilled with the new location. They are confident that it is the perfect spot, especially since two of the group’s members live next to the lot and will be able to keep a close eye on the daily progress of the greenhouse and nursery.

In the spirit of partnership, Del Monte Pineapple Company has made an unprecedented contribution to this project.  The company leveled out the lot and donated bamboo posts for the construction of the greenhouse. The women then went immediately to work; chopping down the old fence and putting up a new one, and cleaning other parts of the lot unreachable by the machinery. They also made trips to a local wood processing plant which gave them unwanted slats that the women then used to construct compost boxes. We are impressed with their creativity and drive and are delighted with all the community support!

The next major talk was making the compost pile.  First, the women collected the ingredients:  leaves (both dried and green), cow and chicken manure, suero (the liquid leftover from making cheese), rice shells and molasses.  Next, they layered the ingredients, covered the compost for a month, turned it, covered it again, and waited until it turned into beautiful, rich brown dirt. The women also constructed the rancho that covers the compost to keep it dry. This task involved clearing the land, cutting bamboo posts, covering it with plastic, and finally digging a drainage ditch around the outside.

We are impressed with the resourcefulness of the women and their ability to make their project a community effort. Fore example, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has been very helpful in answering questions and guiding the women along the way. Additionally, a community member who previously built a greenhouse on his personal property, with the guidance from the Ministry, has been a tremedous help in advising the women through the technical building process.

All of their work thus far has led up to this pivotal week when the women will begin construction on the actual greenhouse. The project has improved the morale of the participating women and their children, who love to come and help on the days their mothers are working.  Best of all, the women are having a great time - they laugh and joke and enjoy each others company. They are gaining skills, confidence, and pride in themselves, not to mention becoming business owners!!!

We at World Connect are thrilled to hear how the project is moving along thus far. We are incredibly impressed how the project has catalyzed support from so many different community stakeholders. But most importantly we are delighted that the women (and their children) are having a fun time along the way, while paving the road to a better future for their families.  We could not be more proud of the women’s group, the Peace Corps Volunteer on site, and the entire Volcan community. Keep up the good work and we’ll continue to update you as we learn more.

Map courtesy of wordtravels.com

Photos courtesy of Peace Corps Volunteer