Cedula Juridica 3-006-204046
Apartado 458
Santa Ana Centro
Costa Rica
Tel. (506) 8837-5205
Email: fundacionhumanitariacr@gmail.com
Year Report 2024
Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation
We begin this yearly report with the image of our Model for poverty eradication. University of Michigan students, who were studying virtually during the height of the COVID epidemic and were restricted in their ability to earn academic credits, created this image. Since that time, this model has been presented to hundreds of volunteers, our team in all our centers, and other interested people. It is, as we say here, our Norte—our North. We measure everything we do based on this model.
During this year, we have continued to upgrade and reimagine how to meet these goals without the great numbers of youth volunteers we had before the pandemic. As usual, we were provided for financially by a variety of creative initiatives and continued to make constant changes in the lives of thousands of people. Our donor partners continued to consult with us, provide for us, and interact with the populations we serve. The presence of volunteers motivates us and gives us something to look forward to every day.
Food First
]We know that a hungry person will be less likely to “learn to fish.” This year, we aggressively moved to upgrade the quality and quantity of food people were getting through our partnership with Auto Mercado Supermarket. And “Super” they are indeed. The employees and administration of this chain of stores have unfailingly continued to provide us with products that create a new culture of eating for the people of La Carpio. They learned to prepare and eat salads, fruit drinks, mushrooms, and olives, as well as cheeses and pastries. This program, along with a monthly donation of 10 kilos of rice and beans provided by another donor, allowed thousands of people to improve their health through better nutrition. Our collaborators benefitted because, in keeping with our financial sustainability model, the beneficiaries gave a small donation to our project so that the collaborators received a stipend for their help every week. It is a win-win-win situation.
Our volunteers contributed to this initiative by giving educational sessions weekly to those coming to receive the food. Additionally, we made a documented assessment of the program’s impact through a research project conducted by one of the volunteers. We proudly shared the results of this research with Auto Mercado personnel and our “clients.” We created simple visual aids to post in the area so that people could study and learn about their own food habits.
Another group of student volunteers focused their research on water safety and availability. They supported a movement to ensure that the quantity of water in the community was adequate and created a prototype for a water filtration and cleanliness program. They educated our community about clean water and how to ensure that their home water supplies were not compromised.
In total, we distributed one million food relief packets this year.
Housing
In the area of housing, we provided rent relief for over 1,000 people, obtained houses for ten different families, and upgraded hundreds of homes. We aim to ensure that houses are as hygienic, safe, and secure as possible in the area. By providing housing options, people were able to move away from areas that could threaten their safety or security.
Health Care
Health care was covered by alliances with universities and students in dentistry, medicine, psychology, and education. We saw over 3,000 patients during the year, as each medical mission aimed to see at least 75 people per day. We distributed eyeglasses, hygiene products, and educational materials to all the patients we saw. We also established a chiropractor and yoga initiative for all our beneficiaries.
Health Education
We continued to educate all our populations about how the human body works. We used models and simple science experiments to show what the liver, heart, lungs, and kidneys do to keep us healthy. We conducted these experiments with all ages of people. Many of our beneficiaries are now in their adult major stage, so we worked with them to counsel them as they met the challenges of this time in their lives.
Education
Our four education centers blossomed with the core group of seven local teachers who created amazing activities for children from 2 to 17 years of age. Along with supporting the children with public school requirements, we provided enrichment activities in art, music, theater, science, writing, reading books, and general emotional support. In addition, in the Libertad Center, we provided food for 50 children weekly through our Lunch N Arts program. We thank the Allen Stevenson group and their amazing teachers for helping to initiate this program. We continue to deepen our understanding of the Montessori method as we adapt it to our reality.
Sports
As always, the CRHF soccer program, Rescate, provided all manner of support for the 150 youth affiliated with us. There are constant training sessions, social service activities, games, and championships. Through this program, we provide these youth, who mostly come from single-mother families, with alternatives to drugs, violence, or young fatherhood. We finished the year with some great wins, becoming league champions in two age groups.
Small Business
Many people became ready “to fish” as they created their own mini businesses, sought jobs in the formal sector, or found creative ways to make the rent. Our goal with this aspect of our program is to ensure that people become financially strong and independent. Some examples of businesses include painting nails, cutting hair, making tortillas and tamales, buying and selling products, repairing electronics or shoes, and helping out with our programs.
Other Initiatives
While focusing on the community of La Carpio, we have not forgotten our indigenous friends and have continued to support their efforts to recover and strengthen their original values and cosmovision.
We finally “inaugurated” our water and health initiatives sponsored by a grant from the Japanese government. This project began in 2018 and faced numerous challenges. However, we can now proudly say that we have built one clinic, enlarged another, upgraded four more, and created three clean water systems for two different communities in the Cabecar indigenous reserve.
In the middle of the year, with the financing of the Little Theater Group of Costa Rica, we supported the second indigenous games program with food, bedding, transportation, and materials. Over 300 indigenous people came to compete in different traditional games and share their culture.
With funding from the Swiss government, we built a state-of-the-art health clinic in a remote region of the country for a group of indigenous people who previously had no health services. This project was so well executed that it was completed ahead of time and under budget in only three months.
Our library in the BriBri section of the country has been used, and we were able to return several times to conduct workshops and promote the library’s use to local school children. We are collecting materials that will be appropriate for the next project in Amubri in the coming year.
We are reactivating our Uvita center near the southern zone beach area. We go monthly to this beautiful site to create a pop-up learning center complete with materials and activities. This is designated as a safe space for children and their mothers to spend time learning together.
With financial support from the Co-Creators Convergence group of volunteers, we have made efforts to support the Centro de Amigos para la Paz in San José as it gets a facelift and beautification. Volunteers are being housed there, and in January 2025, a group of indigenous high school students was treated to a two-day excursion to San José with financing by donor Mary.
Our project “My Book is My Friend” completed the program for three different groups of children and adults. We are still looking for a publisher for two of the book kits, but children have learned about the riches of the rainforest, compassion for bullies, the transformation of the butterfly, and love as manifested in nature. We thank the Women’s Professional Network for their support of this unique program.
This year, we had several Christmas events. The big one was being hosted at the amusement park for 400 children and youth, followed by gift giveaways to the same kids at two other events. A smaller group of 200 children, including special needs children, got to go to a local nature center for a wonderful day of sun, swimming, and great food. Gifts were generously provided by a local yoga study group.
We hosted an event for parents to attend our pop-up toy sale so that they could find gifts for their own children at affordable prices. We then sponsored a party so that they could give their own children a gift. These donated toys were provided by local women who are students of a yoga group.
Social Media
This year, we were joined by Francisco Nystrom as an assistant to the Foundation’s work. Thanks to him, our social media presence has grown with initiatives like Throwback Thursday and Education Wednesday. We now have a presence on TikTok and more specific posts on Facebook. We collaborated on several grant requests and were finally approved for a grant with the Swiss Embassy that resulted in the construction of a beautiful new clinic for the indigenous community near Turrialba. All our programs are now featured in real-time on our website and Facebook pages.
Conclusion
There have been many pioneers and philosophers who have tried to define the human condition and how to improve upon it. From Socrates to Plato to Rousseau to Franklin, great thinkers and doers have defined their thoughts on poverty, inequality, violence, war, education, and religion, among other topics. We have come to learn that La Carpio is a great experiment in human evolution. Most of the citizens of this 25 km² community are descendants of refugees who have suffered war, natural disasters, individual abuse, dysfunctional families and societies, and grief. However, those who have made this place their home are a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit and the strength of hope. We have witnessed so many who came to us crying, angry, or despondent, and with just a small gesture of caring, we could witness transformation and self-sufficiency.
We write nearly every day about the situations we face together and struggle to overcome. But we are constantly in awe of how far so little can go.
And how is this accomplished? Because we have worked to strengthen our sense of empathy, a mind-heart connection. We see a person suffering and reach out to ease their pain in any creative way possible.
As a community, we share very difficult situations. In that sharing, we strengthen our ability to have compassion. With passion, we walk a mile in each other’s shoes. This higher-level heart-soul connection allows us to create Right Actions—RA—the Egyptian sun god—to shed light in all the dark places. La Carpio becomes a drama, a beacon, a hope for everyone in the community and for each of its members, as well as the visitors we welcome with open arms.
You have met or heard of Francisco by now. Gail’s son has begun to take a more leading role on the board and with the projects, operations and activities of the Foundation. He has been a part of the Foundation since its early years. He has the skills and knowledge to bring the CRHF into a new phase as Gail begins to focus on other activities and goals to assure the sustainability of the Foundation. Thanks to your support we are looking toward a positive future that will continue to find creative solutions to human difficulties.
We finish this report with the news of a wonderful and special notification. In May of 2024, we were blessed to obtain a beautiful property and adjoining large home next door in the peaceful village of Ciudad Colón. We envision this site as a place of retreat, contemplation, learning, and sharing for those who feel bewildered or powerless about the world today. This space is quiet, full of nature and light. We have made the down payment on the two spaces with the donation of the inheritance of our founder’s father and other smaller donations. We still have to raise more funds, so if you are interested in helping with this, please contact us.
For more details about our programs specifically and the full financial reports, please see our website. The 2024 financials will be ready by January 30th.
Thank you for sharing our dream. We are glad to know that we are not the only ones who have these dreams. As John Lennon said, Imagine all the people… We are doing the best we can!