Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures!

Please enjoy the following pictures which will help give you a better idea of my experience down here in Costa Rica, and the work which I am doing here. Enjoy !

Photo Album : Centro Educativo Paraiso

• This Photo album includes pictures of me with the students in the school, and various pictures of the existing classroom and the future site where we will build the next classroom.

Photo Album : Host Family

• This Photo album includes pictures of my host family members.

Photo Album : My House in Costa Rica

• Pictures of the House which I am living in currently.

I look forward to posting my pictures soon ! I will be posting pictures throughout the whole construction process so you will be able to see the full benefits of your donation. Thanks for your support ! Please contact me if you have any other questions.

Rudy´s Peace Corps Project Needs YOUR Support !

The following is the complete Project Profile which I have sent to Peace Corps to put on the Peace Corps Partnership Program Website. If you would like to have sent to you a formal invitation to donate please email me your address, so I can have Peace Corps send that to you immediately. Or you can directly donate through this link : https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=515-148 or by clicking on the ¨Donate Now !¨ link on the side bar of my blog. Thank you in advance for your generosity, without your support this project will not be possible. If you have any questions you can email me. As well I encourage you to send this blog and link to other friends and family. This donation is not only tax-deductible, but makes you feel GREAT!

From your hardworking Peace Corps Volunteer,

Rudy

P.S. Pictures coming VERY soon !!!!!

Here it goes …….. Enjoy !

PCPP Project Title: Increased Academic Opportunities for the Community of Paraiso de Buenos Aires

Community Organization: Paraiso Education Committee

Executive Summary:

The aim of this project is to build a classroom in a remote rural community located in Southern Costa Rica. The 200 residents of this community practice subsistence farming on small plots of land. In the town center, 11 months out of the year, 44 students attend a weathered one-room primary school which was first built in 1990. After school hours, over 50 adults attend several different classes taught both by the Costa Rican Learning Institute and a Peace Corps Volunteer. Most of the adult members of the community have only completed primary school education as there is no high school nearby.

In the primary school, grades 1 through 6 are taught together by two different teachers in one classroom that is well over capacity. With a new classroom, primary school students will be able to learn in a new and spacious environment, and more adults will be able to participate in adult-education classes. A portion of the materials will be donated by the community, as will the labor necessary for construction. If this project is not completed, the only educational center in town will remain overstrained and learning opportunities will continue to diminish. The education committee, composed of parents and community members, is very determined to see this project through to completion.

Background Information:

Paraiso de Buenos Aires, is a small rural community located 8 kilometers from the center of the city of Buenos Aires in the Southern part of Costa Rica. Its residents practice subsistence farming, along with working with the local electric company (ICE) and Pineapple Plantation (PINDECO). Paraiso has a growing population of over 240 residents. Among the many groups formed within the community, the local education committee (7 members) is motivated to complete construction of a new classroom to cater to the growing number of primary school students and adult students in the community.

Community Need:

In Paraiso Primary School there are 45 students including the kindergartners. There are two full time teachers, including the director and there is one part time teacher. The part time teacher teaches Kindergarten in the morning and literacy classes to adults in the community 3 times a week.

As well there is a growing population (40 +) of teenagers and adults participating in the Peace Corps Volunteers English classes after school hours and 20 more adults participating in daily classes taught by the Costa Rican National Institute of Learning.

Although Paraiso is a small community more than 50 percent of the community participates in some sort of learning activity taught at the school at least once a week. The residents of Paraiso have taken advantage of the learning opportunities brought to them, although in combination of the growing population and learning activities offered in town there is physically not enough space to accommodate a proper learning environment.

If this project is not implemented the children in the primary school will be faced to continue learning in a classroom well over capacity (35 + students in one classroom) which will affect their learning, and the adults will lose educational opportunities which could have otherwise been given to them (i.e. additional classes, night high school, and community meeting area).

Community Initiation and Direction:

The project of construction for the classroom is entirely a community initiative. The labor will be provided and completed by skilled and unskilled community members. The local education committees initiated the project and are completely involved and committed to seeing the project to a successful conclusion.

The president of the education committee has been working in collaboration with the director of the school in finding funding, creating design plans, and organizing the construction crews. The members of the education committee are working to inform the community about the project and delegate project responsibilities.

Community Contribution:

The community is fully involved in implementing this project. Planning, Construction, and post-maintenance of the new classroom will be under the continued responsibility of the local education committee. The local education committee is contributing approximately $2,250 dollars worth of labor costs. As well over $3,000 dollars in material towards the classroom will be donated. Overall, the financial community contribution will be approximately 50%.

Project Implementation:

There will be three phases of the project. 1) Organizing the education committee and community at large in preparation for the project. 2) Applying and acquiring funds to execute the project. 3) Building the Classroom.

In phase 1, the Education Committee will be responsible for project planning and organization of the community. Working alongside the education committee will be members of the community working to help execute the education committee’s goals. Specifically the President of the Education committee will be responsible for delegating responsibility during the pre project planning stage.

In phase 2, the President and Treasurer of the Education Committee as well as the school director will be working to solidify the donation by the committee and as well search for outside funds, i.e. through the Peace Corps Partnership Program.

In phase 3, under direction of the President of the Education Committee and Local building contractor the community members who have volunteered in the construction will work towards completing the new classroom.

Project Sustainability:

Constructing a new classroom requires a large amount of planning and preparation. From organizing construction plans, to acquiring the funds necessary to build, to the actual physical construction of the classroom, strong participation is needed among the education committee and members of the community.

The community and committee members will gain knowledge in project planning, project implementation, financial planning, financial management, working in groups, delegating responsibility, the importance of communication, and basic to advanced carpentry and electrical skills during construction of the classroom.

The community will be able to maintain the classroom in the long term, through monthly payments by the National Education Ministry as well as monthly mandatory donations from the students attending the school. The hired teachers and Education Committee will be responsible for seeing the maintenance through in the future.

Increased Academic Opportunties for the Community of Paraiso de Buenos Aires

Thank you for all of you arriving at this blog for the first time, or to the rest who have followed my Peace Corps service through this blog. After being in my site for over 17 months and working closely with all community member through different capacities, i.e. English classes, work at the school, children’s groups, women’s groups, Development association meetings, etc., I have learned a lot about the community and its strengths, difficulties, and visions for the future. For 5 months I worked hard on writing a Community Analysis Tool or “CAT”. The CAT is an extensive report based on the community. Within the CAT consists of a basic history of the town, resources within the town, strengths, difficulties, potential future projects, and much more.

Through my 30 + interviews within the town and with governmental agencies which support the town, the reoccurring theme of the necessity of another classroom kept on coming up. Every year for the past 18 years since the primary schools construction the population of the students has risen. In academic year 2008 there are approximately 44 students attending the one room school, 12 of which attend the kindergarten in a small wooden structure apart from the main school building. In the primary school classroom grades one through sixth are all taught in the same area by two teachers in a 54 meters squared classroom area. The learning environment is far from ideal, as it is difficult to walk from one end of the classroom to the next, the noise levels are high, it is very cramped, the communication between student and teacher is hindered, and it is very during the Costa Rican summer months. These are of course only a few of the side effects of an overcrowded classroom.

Now this classroom is not only used for the primary school children. As well after school hours there is a thriving adult education community. The Costa Rican Learning Institute has sent a full time teacher to live within the community and teach classes, based on microenterprise management, accounting, nutrition, literacy, and agriculture to name a few. As well I am teaching English Classes at night 8 hours a week. This growing population of over 50 adult and teenage students is new to Paraiso. A majority of community members have not completed primary school let alone high school. Thus the community is taking full advantage of these new academic opportunities offered to them. Approximately 50% of the community population is participating in an academic opportunity within the one room school.

The school and the church are the only public buildings within the community. The one room school acts not only as an academic center but as a meeting place for community groups and community functions. The children’s group, women’s group, and other community groups have used the classroom as a place for various meetings and social activities.

Clearly the combined use of the one classroom by the primary school students, adult education students, and community as a whole has put great strain on the 18 year old classroom. The construction of a new classroom is vital to the academic future of the community of Paraiso. The community is able to donate resources and labor to the project, although there still remains some vital resources needed and for this we turn to the Peace Corps Partnership Program.

I have been working in collaboration with the local education committee, primary school teachers, director of the primary school, and president of the development association to make this project a reality. I look forward to using this blog to show the status and progression of the project. Once you donate you will be able to see how your money is being put to work, and hopefully we will see a picture of a completed classroom thanks to your donation. As always you can email me regarding specific questions to the project. Thank you very much for your consideration, and thank you for supporting my work abroad. The impact of this completed project will benefit the growing community for many years to come.

The Past Eight Months

The past eight months in Costa Rica have been filled with fun, adventure, hard work, and new experiences. I have been continuing working hard in my community on a lot of the same projects and as well making some headway on a couple new projects. My time here in Costa Rica has been an amazing experience, with new challenges and new friends both being made in my community and amongst the community of volunteers near me. I am very thankful for my time here and the opportunity to work together with the community members of Paraiso de Buenos Aires.

My biggest project by far has been my work on my English Classes within the community both for the adults and children of the school. Currently I am teaching around 40 adults in the community as well as over 40 children in the one room primary school. Throughout my time here I have been questioning the validity of my work here teaching English. Is it necessary that rural community members learn English? How will they really utilize English in their futures? But week after week my students return to my English classes with a strong interest in learning not only English but coming together as community members and working together to learn something new. Recently the Costa Rican Learning Institute has introduced new classes within the community, and thus some of my students have switched over and exclusively attend those classes, as those are slightly more relevant to rural life, i.e. starting a micro-enterprise, nutrition and agriculture classes. But nonetheless I am proud of my work as an English teacher. I feel that through attending my classes I have helped them earn confidence to learn new things and as well hopefully in the future the confidence to seek new opportunities within and outside of the community. As well the classes are not only a class strictly relating to learning English but an opportunity for cultural exchange as I tell stories about my life in the states and share my views and opinions and in return I can learn more about them. This has been extended into my classes within the primary school where I have been working together with the students both inside and outside of the school.

I have been able to work outside of the school with the children to organize recreational activities and games to play with them. Teaching 30 or more children to play a new game can be challenging but more or less they understand the idea. For example, teaching 30 first through sixth grade students to play American Football was an endeavor but entertaining. As well I have worked after school hours to form a Children’s Group. As of right now we are working on a fundraiser to organize a movie night at the school, as well we are working on selling Choco-Bananos (Chocolate Bananas) at the next Soccer Tournament in town. Working with the Children in the community has been a very rewarding experience, but I have especially cherished the relationship and support I have received from my 4 host sisters and nieces who have attended the majority of my children’s events and meetings.

Besides my English classes and work with the children in the community, I have had the opportunity to really enjoy the slow pace of rural life and integrate within the community. With a community of slightly over 200 people I have really had the opportunity to work with many of the community members and get to know many of them. I am particularly good friends with two of the guys who work at the wood mill in town owned by a “gringo” aka foreigner. German, Javier and I have gotten to know each other well as both attend my English classes, and as well every other weekend make the trek into Buenos Aires to grab a cold Imperial or two and listen to the latest Latin music hits. I have also formed a great bond with my two host brothers, one who works at PINDECO (Del Monte Pineapple Factory) and the other currently attending an Electrician course in Buenos Aires. Although my community is very rural, I have the advantage of being only 8 kilometers away (or an hour and a half walk) from the center of Buenos Aires, a city which has internet, supermarkets, and cold beer.

Being in-country for 19 months has been quite an experience so far. I am very grateful that I have had this opportunity in my life to live in Costa Rica and have had the experiences I have had. For anyone remotely thinking about doing Peace Corps, I HIGHLY recommend it. I am particularly happy with my decision to participate in Peace Corps directly after college. If one is not 100% sure with what they want to do with their lives Peace Corps offers you the ability to experience something completely unique and once in a lifetime. In a way it is the most difficult job you could possibly have after college, and yet the most rewarding. Being completely immersed in a culture and society entirely different from the United States and thriving and working with the people of the country to complete something together is quite amazing. My commute is a five minute walk down a muddy dirt road to the school (no traffic), my coworkers are the people I live, eat, and work with, and my boss is myself. Peace Corps definitely has not been easy and the struggles of loneliness, living in the “campo”, and simply being your own boss and designing your own work schedule has been hard but overall I am very happy with how everything has been going so far.

As of right now I am proud to present the newest and biggest project which I will be working on during the rest of my Peace Corps service. That project is entitled: Increased Academic Opportunities for the Community of Paraiso de Buenos Aires. The core of this project involves building a brand new classroom to accommodate the academic needs and increased academic interests in educational opportunities in Paraiso. Please review the project profile which I have submitted to the Peace Corps Partnership Program to raise funds for this worthy project.