Category Archives: La Carpio

Collaborators, La Carpio, Migration, Success Stories, Volunteers

Team Tuesday Spotlight: Keyla – Courage

Vol. 5

This post is part of our Team Tuesday series, highlighting the incredible people who make the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation what it is. This is the last of this series written by Jacob Killburg.

By Jacob Killburg

Keyla

Keyla was born in León, Nicaragua, and her childhood held little stability. Her stepfather forbade her from going to school, and she spent her earliest years enduring abandonment and sexual abuse. Yet, she carried within her a quiet determination—a vision of one day creating the safe, loving home she never had. At six years old, her mother brought her to Costa Rica, a move that shaped the rest of her life.

In La Carpio, she became a mother—raising five children on her own and finding strength in caring for them. Daily life stretched every colón. At times her kids paused their education when she couldn’t cover bus fares, a sacrifice that pains her deeply because she knows education is their path forward. Violence and gang recruitment in the neighborhood weigh on her mind, but she begins her days with a simple prayer for strength, hope, and her family’s safety.

About a year ago, her connection with the CRHF became a turning point. At the time, she was selling her body to survive but longed to leave that behind. Arriving at the foundation for food support, she met Gail, who offered her a different path: steady work assisting with the food program and caring for the shared spaces. Since then, Keyla has pridefully leaned into this work, and she now calls the foundation team the family she never had.

In the past year Keyla has expanded her abilities in remarkable ways.

She is attending school for the first time in her life, recently graduating from a level one literacy class and working toward the next. In addition, Keyla completed a stylist training program that combined classroom lessons with free haircuts for people living on the streets. To make it work, she woke at 3 a.m. every Wednesday to prepare her household, clean at the foundation, and attend classes until mid-afternoon. She graduated proudly and dreams of opening her own salon. Above all, Keyla wants to empower women who have endured abuse to speak their truths and to know that being believed can change everything.

Keyla’s story is one of pure courage. She has transformed her past into a fierce motherhood that drives her to rise every morning, and her determined energy radiates to those around her.

Collaborators, Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, Food Program, La Carpio, Volunteers

Team Tuesday Spotlight: Harold – The Steady Hand

Vol. 4

This post is part of our #TeamTuesday series, highlighting the incredible people who make the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation what it is.

By Jacob Killburg

Harold


Harold Junior Morales Espinales first walked into the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation at age twelve seeking bread and vegetables for his family after his mother lost her job. He had just finished elementary school with good grades but due to financial barriers could not continue into high school. What began as a visit for food assistance became the start of something much greater.

Gail, the Foundation director, asked him to help paint a wall one day. Impressed by his care and skill, she offered him more work. From that small act of trust, Harold began a journey that has now spanned nearly ten years. He has grown into one of the Foundation’s most capable and steady team members—managing accounting, assisting with construction and repairs, and serving as a welcoming presence for visiting volunteers. His English has improved, his confidence has deepened, and his quiet leadership shines.

Now 22 years old, Harold balances his job with night classes in high school, determined to finish his studies and continue on to university. Despite long days that sometimes start before sunrise and end after 10 p.m., Harold radiates calm and optimism. Music, especially from hip-hop artists like Tupac, lifts him up when life feels especially tough. He dreams of becoming a police officer or investigator, a role that reflects both his sense of justice and his love for problem-solving.

But Harold’s story is much bigger than himself.


As the oldest of five siblings, Harold feels a responsibility to lead by example. He speaks of his mother with reverence—how she taught him that honest work and humility are worth more than easy money. His father, though no longer present, left him the gift of practical skill: how to paint, fix, and build with his hands. And the losses he has witnessed—the friends taken too soon by violence or addiction—have strengthened his resolve to live differently, to “earn money with the sweat of his brow,” and to make his family proud.

Harold is kind, resourceful, reliable, and determined, and it is no wonder he is emerging as a leader in the Foundation and in the greater community of La Carpio.

Collaborators, Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, Food Program, La Carpio, Migration, Volunteers

Team Tuesday Spotlight: Alcides – The Guardian

Vol. 3

This post is part of our #TeamTuesday series, highlighting the incredible people who make the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation what it is.

By Jacob Killburg

Alcides

Alcides Antonio López was born in northern Nicaragua and grew up during the Contra War. With his father away, Alcides began working at age six, helping on farms by planting crops and caring for animals. He remembers the sound of gunfire, moving often for safety, and attending school for only three months. One of his sisters died at age seven when a bomb fell nearby. Alcides describes those years as a time of constant work and responsibility, with little room for childhood.

Since leaving Nicaragua in 2000 in search of a better life, Alcides has moved between Nicaragua and Costa Rica in response to economic hardship and political unrest, ultimately resettling in Costa Rica in 2018 as a refugee with a work permit.

Alcides remembers the exact day, July 28th, 2020, when he approached Gail for the first time.  She invited him to carry boxes of vegetables and organize different spaces. From that day, his roles have expanded and he has become a full time collaborator. He feels a deep sense of pride and ownership in helping with food distribution, managing the Foundation’s nearby recycled clothing shop, and coordinating volunteer outreach. “For me, the Foundation comes first. I’m giving my all here — until God decides my time is done.”

Alcides is the guardian of eight children who he has taken in as his own. To those children and many others in the community, Alcides hopes to instill a value he says should guide every interaction: respecting and treating everyone well, regardless of age or status.

After many years without schooling, Alcides is now studying literacy at a university in San José. “It means everything to me,” he said. “I want to better myself, to prepare for my future, my life, my family.” Returning to education has helped him communicate more confidently and connect with people in new ways.

He defines leadership as caring for others, whether it be within his family or for his community. He hopes the Foundation will keep growing with new support to improve La Carpio, and believes the current team is strong and ready to carry on that mission for years to come.

“For me,” Alcides says, “the Foundation is my family, my home, and my purpose.”

Collaborators, La Carpio, Migration, Volunteers

Team Tuesday Spotlight: Doña Antonia — The Heart of CRHF

Vol. 1

This post is part of our #TeamTuesday series, highlighting the incredible people who make the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation what it is.

⸻

By Jacob Killburg

Doña Antonia

María Antonia Zequeira García, affectionately known as Doña Antonia or simply “Abuela”, was born in Joyalpa, Nicaragua, the seventh of eleven siblings in a close-knit Catholic family. Life in Nicaragua was marked by hardship and limited opportunities. In 1992, at age 38, she left Nicaragua alone in search of work and safety, eventually making her home in La Carpio, Costa Rica. She later brought her two eldest children to join her and gave birth to her youngest daughter in Costa Rica.

Doña Antonia’s connection to the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation began by chance. One day she came to buy vegetables and was told they were looking for someone to step in as a cook. That was seven years ago, and since then, the Foundation has become her second home. She prepares breakfast and lunch for the CRHF team 7 days a week and for volunteer groups that sometimes amount to as many as 100 mouths to feed in one day. Despite this, she insists on being left to handle the task alone, and delivers a delicious meal to every plate. These meals carry her warmth and generosity, nourishing the body and the spirit of those around her. She describes herself as “a fish in water” when cooking, and at the Foundation she has found companionship and purpose.

Her path has been full of trials: losing her partner to COVID-19, navigating her daughter’s lifelong health challenges, caring for a son through leukemia, and mourning the deaths of siblings and other loved ones. Financial strain, medical hardships, and immigration struggles within her family have tested her strength repeatedly. Yet, she has carried herself with dignity and perseverance through it all.

Doña Antonia embodies the heart of La Carpio—resilient, resourceful, and community-minded. She has turned hardship into wisdom, grief into compassion, and work into a labor of love. She believes deeply in God’s strength, which she feels sustains her in the hardest moments, and she keeps hope alive for her children’s futures. In every corner of the Foundation, her presence, like a steady flame, is impossible not to admire.

Housing, La Carpio, Success Stories

Success Stories From the Field #9 – A Home for “La Carpio 8”

At the beginning of the year when we were doing one of our community educational visits when were we presented with a new housing challenge. In one the most impoverished zones of La Carpio, we found a small one-room shack housing 20 people. 8 of these persons were a family of women and girls living in the squalid conditions.

Donor

This was a high risk situation for the family and we took this on as an urgent case. We asked they present us with a possible solutions including building a house on new land or purchasing something already existent. In the meantime we began to muster up interest among possible donors to cover any costs linked to this.

Donor

Initially, they found a house in Cartago in an area where we have relocated other families. Funny enough the house belonged to the cousin of someone we had helped relocate and find housing in that area many years ago. However, this plan didn’t work out.

Undeterred, we continued to search a feasible solution and donations. After several months we finally found the place for these women and girls to forge a healthy, happy and free life. We will continue to monitor and support them until they can reach a place of complete independence.

Donor

“This family who I call the Carpio 8 was living in squalor and grave danger in La Carpio. Thanks to generous donors they are now in a renovated shack in a safe neighborhood. If only we could do more like this…” – Gail

Success Stories from the Field Vol. #9

Charitable Contribution, Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, La Carpio

A Day in the Life: Gail’s Shared Joy and Grief

Saturday, June 9

Today, like every day, I see what are called my cases. I have an office, and people lined up to see me.

Jony:

A Nicaraguan refugee from 2018. Both his brothers were murdered. He lives in a house with his wife, 17-year-old son, and autistic son, whom he loves with all his heart. He has a chronic ailment. We provide him with monthly rent relief and a weekly food basket. His autistic son has been having constant, uncontrollable seizures. I provide Jony a safe place to cry.

Maria:

A Nicaraguan refugee with cancer. She has one child and has been diagnosed with cancer. Her chemotherapy and radiotherapy were suspended because she can’t pay for insurance since she can’t work. She lives with her mother in a house where the owner is an angel on earth. This kind landlady helps Maria get to our place and carries her food basket for her. I provide both her and her neighbor with food and talk with her gently. On Monday, she shows up beautifully dressed, smiling, her wispy hair combed, and thankful to us for our help.

Hugo:

An ex-Contra fighter with an extensive family. He always shows up with something to give so we can provide him with free food. I always banter good-naturedly with him because I am Gringa, he is Nica, and I was Sandinista.

Carla:

A young mother of three, including a very fragile newborn. We give her clothes, diapers, food, and love for her kids. She can’t work. I provide her with some rent relief. I see she is scared, and I see her.

Maria and her 13-year-old son:

He is trying desperately to stay in school and graduate sixth grade. He comes every day to help carry up the food. They just got evicted. I gave her rent relief, and our team decided to make him a formal member and provide him with weekly financial help and a food basket.

And So The Days o By

If I did not have the support of the donors, none of these fragile and gentle people could get their needs met. A listening heart is good, but a listening heart with some financial power is better.

La Carpio

Aging, Care and Visibility

As usual my personal experience crosses over to my work with CRHF and vice versa. This past week I went to the US to help move my 93 year old Father into a smaller place with more care. He has lived for the past 8 years in this practically idyllic setting called Medford Leas. It is designed to accompany and support people as they age. Physically other worldly surrounded by streams forests, flower gardens and criss crossed with wide gently sleeping sidewalks for people walking independently, with canes, with scooters and wheelchairs. The level of care is carefully calibrated to ensure maximum independence. There is a cafeteria where residents can sit together and eat or take food home

There are two libraries. They have movie nights, game playing, music of all kinds, and a REALLY good lecture series. While there this time, we learned about Seabrook Farms where frozen vegetables were invented…and where Japanese people were living during the war. Everyone is super well dressed and friendly. And don’t even try to imagine the level of physical and mental health care. If you get a hangnail there is someone there to take care of it. Dad has issues with his feet because his heart doesn’t pump the blood enough. The doctors have been incredibly respectful and very human. There was talk of amputation which Dad soundly rejected. At one point he said I’m just going to stop taking all my meds..and the doctor said you will die within a month. Straight honest talk. But my sister researched and found an aparatos that massages and helps with blood flow. So Oopa, as he is known by hundreds of people here in Costa Rica and most of the family has now moved out of the apartment he lived in into a tiny, cozy space where he will be accompanied and cared for. What is the point of this very long post?

Because…I spent a week there. And everytime he needed something he got it…and more. He is living the time he has left living very protected. Which of course got me thinking about Don Luis who comes to our volunteer food program in la Carpio. He has chronic pain. No Access to medical care, lives alone, can’t work thus can’t pay rent etc etc. And of course I think

Does oopa’s life have more value than Don Luis? We can do more to de invisabilize people like Don Luis..and the many others like him. Shindler at the end of the movie said ” I could have done more””. My father has once again brought me to another level of awareness and motivated me to stretch. We can, and will, do more. Starting next week. When the elderly come for food, we will be giving them fresh fruit and vegetable drinks, light exercise classes, a listening heart, music and shared laughs. At least we can do that.

PS…I met the professor of a group of nursing students. They asked me for advice.,the words that came out were, when you are old your body doesn’t really matter to you…but it is the only thing that should matter.

Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, Health, La Carpio

A Mother’s Continued Struggle

A mother, with her little baby she is breast feeding, and her oldest daughter who just earned her second degree in patient care. On her way to becoming a doctor. 16 years old…her 13 year old boy is in extreme screaming pain in the hospital after surgical intervention on which they “drained the liquid out of his médula”, she has to choose between staying in the hospital, caring for her other kids and going into witness protection. Which is required. We have provided food for her every day, paid for a woman to watch the kids, and given her the money for the moving truck. Also..our team has given her lunches and tracked down sacks for her to pack in. The ” plan ” of the OIJ is to take the kids in a van with her and her daughter out of the hospital in an ambulance and drive them all five hours away to a house at the edge of the highway in xxxxxx. An hour away from the nearest hospital, the nearest high school and five hours from the school where the daughter studies medicine. They will pay the rent for one f..ING month and then she is on her own. I’m trying to negotiate a house for her nearer to San Jose. I cannot imagine how her daughter will survive being bounced around in an ambulance four hours.

Names and locations omitted for protection.

Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, La Carpio

Cafe Howie

This is our first day of “Cafe Howie” named after our donor. We have started small..the four table and chair sets that Alan refurbished. A lovely white linen tablecloth from donations. The sweet rose flower arrangements left over from the gala dinner. Fresh hot coffee. Vegetable health drink. Fresh fruit smoothie. Arroz con leche and atol made with fresh cow’s milk. Wonderful warm homemade sweet bread. And lively music.

This first week is free samples. Next week we will ask c1000 colones for any two products. Humble beginnings but…big dreams

La Carpio

A Mother’s Struggle

Yesterday we visited Oneida, mother of Osmani who is the 13 year old who is still in the hospital after being caught in a gun incident. Child welfare and police inspectors visited her house on Tuesday. They declared the house inadequate.

She is not allowed to talk to anyone for legal reasons. It is an active investigation . She has to move out of La Carpio. She spends her days and nights between staying in the hospital with Osmani, searching for food and taking care of her other kids. If child welfare makes a surprise visit and finds the kids without a caretaker they can take them all away and she will not be allowed to see them or know where they are.

Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation goes into action. We loaded her down with food. We will provide her with a child care person. And we will search for a home for her. Somehow we have to get her out of this nightmare. This is such a clear case of severe trauma coming at her from all directions.

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