Tag Archives: Non-profit

Collaborators, Food Program, Volunteers

Team Tuesday Spotlight: Milagro – Kindness For All

Vol. 2

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

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By Jacob Killburg

Milagro

Milagro López de Lira grew up in Granada, Nicaragua—a place she remembers as beautiful and full of life, even amid hardship. Her childhood was marked by poverty and early responsibility. With her father absent, she stopped going to school after third grade to help her mother make and sell tortillas so their family could put food on the table. As a teenager, she suffered abuse, becoming pregnant at twelve and losing the baby after physical violence.

Still, she pressed on, later meeting the father of her eight children. Together they moved to Costa Rica seeking stability. But over time, violence returned to her life, and while pregnant with her youngest she made the brave choice to report her partner to Costa Rican authorities, and raise her children alone. She was one of the first women in La Carpio to do so, and she now continues forward safely, her children being the center of her world.

Milagro was once a customer of the foundation’s food program, but one morning, when the team was short-staffed, she volunteered to help clean crates. That gesture opened a door. Over time, she has become part of the Foundation’s daily rhythm. Organizing and distributing food, she brings warmth to every visitor. She says she uses the same bright, affectionate attitude she learned to express while selling tortillas as a child. Whether the person in front of her is wealthy, struggling, angry, or kind, Milagro treats them the same.

At home, her pride in her children is immense. The older ones have moved out, building their own lives; the younger ones are still in school. She teaches them to share what they have and treat others with compassion.

Music is the heartbeat of her life. Her home is always filled with sound as she cooks and spends time with her kids. Most days she plays music through the foundation speaker, encouraging even the most timid to bust out a dance move. “It gives me energy,” she says. “It makes me feel like myself.”

Faith, gratitude, and kindness are the pillars of Milagro’s life. Measuring her worth in how well she’s cared for her children and how she treats others, she (literally) dances through life, bringing everyone around her along for the ride.

Quarterly Newsletter

CRHF 2025 4th Quarter Newsletter

Fourth Quarter

The fourth quarter was highlighted by graduations and holiday celebrations. Throughout this period, we continued our work across food security, housing, health, education, sports, and community development programs in Costa Rica.

Food

Our food program continues to provide nutritious meals to thousands of people across Costa Rica. Thanks to AutoMercado and our private donors who are making this essential program possible. We encourage anyone living in Costa Rica to consider supporting AutoMercado for your grocery needs.

As we continue to see an uptick in people living on the streets of San José, we continued to provide pop-up kitchens. These take place in areas known to be frequented by these populations. This increase is due in part to migratory restrictions being imposed by a number of countries. Costa Rica continues to stand shoulder to shoulder with those seeking refuge in an ever more uncertain world.

A large number of the people we support on the streets are Venezuelan returnees who are in limbo while they try to figure out whether to head home or stay in Costa Rica until they can find more adequate and secure futures. We are also supporting Venezuelans who come to La Carpio looking for our support. Many single women with children are arriving looking for ways to eat, make money, and become independent.

Our hot meal program for the families of Río Torres continued to run strong through the end of the year. One of the areas in La Carpio with the highest indices of poverty, we are trying to find a permanent solution for their housing, which is under constant threat from landslides and river flooding.

Casa Ilori, located in La Carpio and one of the organizations we have had many collaborations with, also benefits from our food program. We provide the youth they work with daily meals, offering the nutrition needed to grow healthy and develop academic skills in more ideal environments.

Housing

During the end of the year and the beginning of the new school year, single mothers must incur significant expenses for school materials and gifts for their children. To ensure families have a prosperous Christmas, we provide rent relief, mainly to single-mother heads of household who might otherwise not have the funds or would have to make difficult choices.

Río Torres continues to be our focus for the medium- and long-term housing project. We have an estimate of the cost to develop this program and are looking for funding. With the rain receding, the urgency lessens; however, the risk posed by landslides and flooding for the community of Río Torres is still very real.

Health and Health Education

During our visit to Amubri, we were able to provide comfort and assistance during the spay and neuter clinic put on by visiting veterinarians. We encourage and support these efforts in many communities, including La Carpio.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, we had the visit of a group of medics and dentists in La Carpio who provided much-needed care. The beneficiaries were especially grateful for the dental work, as this is not a service that’s readily available for our populations.

Our dear friends of Quiropráctico La Carpio continue to support us and provide wonderful relief to aching bodies. They also visited with their son Zander this time, who worked construction to save up to come to Costa Rica and give back to La Carpio.

During the holiday season, we had a visit from our friends from the Democrats Abroad club. Carla, her husband, and their friends provided the amazing service of sacrocranial and massage therapy. Collaborators enjoyed these sessions as a treat for their hard work during the year.

Education

Indigenous

As we return to our roots of working with indigenous, coastal, and rural populations, we are sharing the importance of literature, reading comprehension, and analysis. During this period, we visited Amubri and worked with local teachers to implement Gail’s My Book Is My Friend program.

My Book Is My Friend is a program Gail has been working on as a lifelong project. Based on a set of children’s books she wrote throughout her time in Costa Rica, this program focuses on literature, art, reading comprehension, and the human–nature connection. The Cabécar community also benefited from this program. Both communities were ecstatic about the program, and some leaders even asked to take the program back to their communities. We welcome any support for this program.

We are slowly but surely moving forward with the renovation of the Family Well-Being Center and Library in Amubri. As you may know, it served as the home of two German priests beginning in the early 1950s. The structure remains in good condition, and we plan to use it as a cultural center for the community. The library will foster literature about, for and by indigenous populations. A local community member is interested in managing the library, and the community supports the effort, recognizing the importance of cultural preservation.

La Carpio

In La Carpio, our youth development programs continue to provide healthy and educational environments for children in the community. A highlight of our programs this year is our focus on sharing information about the world. In part, we do this so our youth become familiar with the beauty found in the diversity our planet has to offer. We particularly enjoy learning about Africa, where our sister organization, Wells Mountain Initiative, has its main operations.

Our computer classes are a complete success. We have graduated our first cohort, who learned typing skills and the Microsoft Suite, including how to make Excel charts and graphs. Marisol continues to lead this program, sponsored in part by EBI, the company that runs the local landfill.

Our Sunday English and Pizza program is also proving successful. Getting youth interested in spending their free time learning English has been a challenge over the years. Our Quiropráctico friends sponsored the pizza for this program, which seems to be key to getting youth to attend classes on a regular basis.

Both the youth in the English and computer classes enjoyed an outing at the end of the year to celebrate their dedication to completing and excelling in the classes. Through these programs, we are providing youth with tools required for an increasingly demanding skilled labor market.

A bright student from Blue Valley School who is hoping to transition to the United World College curriculum presented us with a project to provide youth with resources for achieving higher education. Mariana also carried out research on learning conditions for youth in La Carpio as an initial effort to improve conditions. She produced a website that youth can benefit from into the future: https://portaleducativo.info/.

Sports

Our sports program continues to thrive. We held our year-end celebrations for Liga Rescate La Carpio. We also celebrated the boys’ birthdays each month and provided families with a basic food basket to take home. Many participants are beginning to show interest in the computer and English programs as they transition from adolescence to adulthood. And of course as with every year, we were champions and sub-shampions in all categories.

SMEs, CSR, and Capacity Building

Angeli and Marisol continue to grow their skill sets in teaching and computing. As they take courses and learn through self-teaching, our youth benefit exponentially.

We continue to work with the Abuelas arts and crafts initiative, including improving and diversifying the products. Several individuals are providing valuable feedback to help make the products more marketable. Not only the Abuelas benefit, but many local artisans also benefit from these sales.

More local businesses have been contacting us about the possibility of supporting our work. This quarter, JIRON, a large mattress manufacturer, contacted us to donate face masks. We were also contacted by a shoemaker, and we look forward to sharing more about that collaboration soon. We always welcome support from local and international companies.

Empathy, Compassion, Right Action

As the apex of our Model of Development, we focus on highlighting the importance of empathy, compassion, and giving back through Right Action. In this phase of the model, we highlight the volunteers and supporters who make our work possible.

Volunteers

Stena returned to help us during our busy end-of-year celebrations.

Jake has been accepted into medical school and continues to support our programs. Recently, he created short biographies of collaborators to share on social media.

Shaye completed her four months with us, working closely with youth in La Carpio and stepping up when we most needed her. Fresh out of high school, she is paving the way as a leader in social causes.

Kay from New Jersey, who is studying in Costa Rica, also joined us during the end of the year and provided important support.

Louise (Luisa) from Canada joined us for a couple of weeks, working in youth development and supporting our many celebrations.

Troy University continues to support our health and health education program. Their visit provided important support to our populations in La Carpio.

Zander, the son of Quiropráctico La Carpio, also demonstrated strong leadership and empathy by saving up to make the trip to Costa Rica and support our work for several months.

Right Action

Through our Quiropráctico partners, youth in La Carpio had a virtual call with their counterparts in Minnesota. They are now pen pals and are looking forward to building lasting connections.

Colchones JIRON donated face masks, which we can use during health campaigns and periods of increased respiratory illness.

In the town of Grecia, the expatriate community lost one of its dear artist members. In his honor and at his request, they hosted a silent auction of some of his works, with the proceeds donated to the Foundation.

Every year since our beginning, we have provided marginalized youth with caring Christmas activities, including games, food, dessert, and presents. This year, we hosted nearly 2,000 youth. From La Carpio where our main projects, all the way out to sea to the indigenous community living on Isla Chira, BriBri and to Parrita, we shared gifts, food, fun, love and hope to the youth of Costa Rica.

Supporters

To our supporters—donors, volunteers, those cheering us on, praying for us, and following our social media—thank you from the entire team and beneficiaries of the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation. No matter how small or large your support is, know that you are making a difference.

Looking Forward to 2026

Volunteers

As we begin the volunteer high season and the year 2026, we have a number of hopes and dreams. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our support of indigenous populations. Through Casa Quetzal and My Book Is My Friend, we are shifting our focus toward cultural sharing, recuperation, and preservation. We want to ensure that the vital knowledge held by indigenous communities—including knowledge related to health, sustainability, and cosmovision—continues to benefit the world.

La Carpio

We hope to strengthen our La Carpio programs with a focus on care for seniors and preparing youth for higher education and the labor market. Despite a general uptick in crime in Costa Rica, especially in marginalized communities, La Carpio and its population have largely maintained their culture over time. We aim to continue providing youth with healthy environments and opportunities that support a peaceful community.

Coastal and Rural Communities

In our work with coastal communities, we look forward to defining the future of our program in Uvita. We decided that we must hire a local teacher who can begin youth development courses, including tutoring and before- and after-school care. We are beginning the process of recruiting someone to start the program in conjunction with the beginning of the public school year in mid-February 2026. We hope to expand this program with the support of visitors and local community members and that the community will both receive and join us in our efforts to improve local livelihoods.

Casa Quetzal

Casa Quetzal continues to develop organically. In 2026, we will be hosting our first large group at Casa Quetzal for a week, who will also be building an indigenous community center. This space will serve as a place for indigenous leaders from different groups to come together, share knowledge, and connect with visitors from across Costa Rica and around the world.

Call to Action

As the high season begins, we would like to invite visitors to Costa Rica to support our work by volunteering and providing goods and services. Our spring break and summer programs are a great way to get to know the country, its people, and to give back. These experiences are deeply rewarding and often remain lifelong memories.

Whether you are an individual, a group of friends, a family, or part of a university program, we welcome you to learn about our work, experience Costa Rica, and give back to the community.

As part of our four core values—cost efficiency and transparency—we work to ensure that the greatest possible portion of funds reaches those who need it most and creates the greatest impact. With this in mind, we would like to thank our recurring monthly and yearly donors. These donations provide stable income that allows us to strengthen programs and plan for medium- and long-term goals. We invite anyone interested in supporting our work to explore recurring donation options.

We now also offer the option to donate via cryptocurrency. Tax-deductible donations continue to be available through our sister organization, Wells Mountain Initiative, and PayPal remains a preferred option for recurring donations.

We’ll be publishing our 2025 Year End Report soon.

Conclusion

As we close the fourth quarter and reflect on the year, we are grateful for the continued commitment of our communities, partners, volunteers, and supporters. The work reflected in this report represents collective effort and shared values.

We look forward to continuing this work in the coming year and thank all those who walk alongside us in service, compassion, and Right Action.

Quarterly Newsletter, Volunteers

CRHF 2025 2nd Quarter Newsletter

It has been a very busy 2025. Halfway through the year already, and we have a lot to tell! We would like to start by dedicating this newsletter to our supporters who continue to provide us with the resources to carry out our programs. During these very challenging times for everyone, your unfettered moral, financial, and volunteer support shows that you are the brave souls who rise above and provide a safety net during difficult moments. Thank you.

We’ve had a busy summer volunteer program!

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🌱 Annual Fundraiser Update

At the end of our 2025 1st quarter newsletter, we announced our annual fundraiser. Unfortunately, due to a number of factors, we canceled the event. We refunded ticket fees to those who purchased them, and we are grateful to the Marriott Hotel for waiving charges.

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📚 Youth Development & Education

We continued our work in youth development, providing tutoring and supplemental support that aligns with the public school curriculum, including English, math, science, history, art, and theater.

We were very excited to finally receive the computers for our computer lab! Donated by our dear friend Julio, we can now offer introductory classes in Word, Excel, and typing to our beneficiaries. This program, led by Marisol, is helping us expand our capacity-building operations. The computer lab is housed in the Centro Modelo building next to the police station.

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🎨 Volunteer Support & Improvements

Spring break brought a group of kind and caring volunteers to our centers in La Carpio. They helped with various tasks, including painting the Centro Modelo and the police station.

The Centro Modelo and all our centers received much care during this time. Spring cleaning brought a fresh look for our beneficiaries and volunteers to enjoy. We cleared out two storage closets, creating better spaces for Drs. Joe and Patrick and friends to carry out their chiropractic work.

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👵 Abuelas & Community Theatre

The abuelas continue to put on new and creative plays sharing their stories. These performances inspire and provide emotional support to the senior population of La Carpio.

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📲 Social Media Initiatives

Last year we featured Success Stories from the Field, highlighting how our work creates sustainable solutions. This year, we’ve launched a new series on Early Childhood Development, aiming to create a more educational and inspiring social media space. Don’t forget to like, share, and tag us!

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🛏 Bunk Bed Program

We continue to provide bunk beds through one of our critical needs programs. While demand is not what it was when we started 20+ years ago, we still find urgent situations in La Carpio and with new arrivals that require improved sleeping conditions. Thanks to all the volunteers who participate—a simple act can change a life.

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🫱 Volunteer Education & Partnerships

As part of our secondary mission, we work with volunteers to show them the realities we live every day and foster greater sensitivity to our beneficiary populations. We demonstrate our model of development and discuss the challenges faced by La Carpio, Costa Rica, and beyond.

We were excited to welcome for our summer volunteer program:
• Franz and Elizabeth, who brought us several volunteer groups this year that have greatly contributed to youth development. Their ongoing support has been vital in enriching the educational experiences of our children.
• A wonderful group of middle school volunteers from the European School. We thank them for their fundraising efforts, donations, and the work they did painting the computer lab and police station, as well as supporting youth development.
• Jacob, a pre-med individual volunteer, is sorting through years of medical records from our former clinic. His work helps preserve our legacy while gaining valuable insight for his medical career.
• Friends from Central Connecticut State University, who contributed to painting efforts and learned about our community.
• Texas Tech honors students, who shadowed our collaborators across food, shelter, health, education, and sports programs. They also gave a professional presentation to their fellow scholars about our main pillars of food, shelter, and health.

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💛 Health, Wellness, & Relief

Our health education program has been a key focus this quarter. Led by Gail and Steven, these sessions provide preventative healthcare education, teaching about:
• body systems and organ function
• healthy nutrition, including using smoothies for better health
• the benefits of honey and other nutritious foods
• hormones related to menopause and other health concerns

Steven creates helpful visuals, and together they answer participants’ questions to promote better health awareness.

Our visiting doctors program returned, and alongside it we distributed hygiene kits to reinforce the importance of self-care and prevention.

Our partnership with Visit.org resulted in the donation of 50 teddy bears, which have already been distributed to our regular students, and the hygiene kits that complemented our health outreach efforts.

Our elderly population especially benefited from the interaction with the yoga teachers from Lakshmi Rising, who helped them gently stretch dormant muscles, bringing comfort and vitality.

Our chiropractor friends Joe, Patrick and their spouses Nicolle and Ericka, have been a delight to host as part of our family volunteer program. They have supported youth development and the bunk bed program.

🪶 Casa Quetzal

We have some very exciting news coming for Casa Quetzal. We have been a bit quiet on this, but we continue to open our doors to the world from our Casa Quetzal Conference and Retreat Center.

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💬 A Final Word

Overall, we had a productive and inspiring spring 2025. We are deeply grateful for everyone who visited and supported us during these challenging times. We always aim to make visits mutually beneficial—enriching both visitors and our community.

Our programs support over 500 youth in La Carpio through education and sports, and we provide fresh fruits, vegetables and meats, home improvements, emergency medical care, seed money for small business enterprises, and emergency relief to over 500 people a week.

👉 Please consider supporting our work this year—whether through a donation or volunteering. Your help ensures we can continue addressing food security, safe housing, stronger health, quality education, sports, and emergency relief.

📧 Contact us at fundacionhumanitariacr@gmail.com to learn how you can help.
We offer tax-exempt donation options in both Costa Rica and the United States.

Thank you for your continued generosity and for shining your light when it’s needed most!

Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, Quarterly Newsletter, Volunteers

CRHF 2025 1st Quarter Newsletter

Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation
2025 First Quarter Newsletter
Working together for a better world

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Volunteers

After a busy end to 2024, we bid farewell to our Amigos Eye Care friends. Thanks to their efforts, over 300 people received eye care. Before they left, we visited our indigenous friends in Quitirrisi to share knowledge and culture with our visitors from the Pacific Northwest.

In January, we welcomed a powerful group of young women from Rutgers University. They built and delivered bunk beds and participated in youth development and food bank programs. They also had the chance to learn about our Model of Development.

Gregerly, an individual research volunteer from Belgium, joined us to gather data for his thesis on disparities in development in Costa Rica. We were happy to connect him with local communities and share our insights. We look forward to sharing the results of his research.

Our January clean-up and reorganization efforts in the La Carpio centers were a success. Volunteers from the University of Connecticut, Global College and the Lakshmi Rising yoga group helped us clean, sort, and hold garage sales. Thanks to them, the centers are now bright, functional spaces for sharing, learning, and caring.

Long-time individual volunteer Stana returned once again and made a huge impact. Her background in education supported our local teachers, and her organizational efforts helped all the centers look their best!

Also with the creativity of full time volunteer Steven we gave regular classes on self help health care to children, adults and elderly.

With the local police station in La Carpio, we worked to raise morale. Alongside volunteers from Pepperdine and the yoga group, we painted the holding cell, practiced yoga, and held space for conversation and healing.

Fleur, a Belgian architecture student, visited to learn more about indigenous architecture. She supported many of our programs and also helped welcome a group to Casa Quetzal.

USC brought joy during a pre-Easter egg hunt, where children painted eggs and experienced the unique magic of a CRHF Easter Bunny celebration!

Lakshmi Rising continues to support us with yoga retreat groups that understand the importance of collective well-being. Ubuntu: I am because we are.

Our chiropractor family friends returned to provide much-appreciated services to our La Carpio populations. They treated 60 patients a day over 5 days, offering care, relief, and connection. We’ve begun building a relationship for ongoing follow-up support with patients they saw last year, and we’re excited to welcome them—and more of their family and friends—again in the coming months.

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Programs

Montessori & Environment

Our Montessori program continues to thrive—providing a nurturing space for children to learn and grow. This quarter, we focused on environmental education, nature care, and science activities like experiments and theatre.

La Libertad

We were thrilled to welcome back the Alan Stevenson School from NYC for the 14th year! They repaired a road, engaged with our youth, and donated a laptop and projector.

The Saturday Program welcomed two amazing local Tica volunteers, Adriana and Allona, who helped with activities and got to know La Carpio. Adriana previously volunteered as an interpreter for the Amigos Eye Care team.

Thanks to a donation of clay from Kattia, the children made beautiful creations—everything from butterflies to cups!

Uvita Family Wellbeing Center

We continue to be challenged by the Uvita Family Wellbeing Center, and we continue to find creative and innovative solutions. We have now partnered with a local woman who is working on securing all the official permits to open the center as an after-school program. We’ve agreed that at least 20% of the students will receive scholarships based on community need. With this approach, the woman will develop a small business, and we can continue to support the youth who need it most. We hope to resume collaboration with volunteer groups in the area in the coming years.

Sports League

Our sports league now serves 150 youth and remains one of the strongest in the country. In a community where kindness can be misunderstood as weakness, our youth now have strong, positive role models and a healthy outlet.

Bunk Beds, a New Car & Evolving Needs

Our bunk bed program continues on an as-needed basis. As La Carpio progresses, the needs are shifting from basics like food and housing to more complex initiatives—job training, capacity building, empathy, and right action.

Thanks to our generous supporters, we purchased several mattresses and now have a modern, fuel-efficient CRHF vehicle to help with deliveries.

Food Program

The Auto Mercado Food Program continues to run 365 days a year. In 2024, we provided over one million food rations, ranging from simple sandwiches to full baskets.

To thank Auto Mercado, we created a collage of gratitude from our beneficiaries.

Global Connections through Montessori

Our Montessori kids received a heartfelt surprise: 100 cards of love were created for children in the U.S. who lost their homes in hurricanes and fires. These cards will accompany stuffed animal comfort toys heading to Tennessee, North Carolina, and California.

And our kids received their own stuffed animals as a beautiful gesture of kindness returned.

Centro Modelo

With help from Lakshmi Rising, Stana, Global College, and others, we reorganized and beautified Centro Modelo. We also welcomed a new teacher, Gloria, who is stepping in as Marisol pursues her next adventure.

Computer Lab

Responding to evolving community needs, we’re launching a new tech education initiative. With ten donated refurbished computers on the way, we’ll offer weekly lessons in typing, Microsoft Office, and even basic website building.

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Indigenous Connections

In partnership with Bob, Noel, and others, we visited Amubri with book donations for Noemi—continuing a relationship that began with Gail’s Peace Corps work in 1979.

Fleur’s architecture journey continued with a visit to Leonel and Jenny of the Cabécar community. They are building an arts and crafts store with local redwood in front of the Lucas Drummond Cultural Center, which CRHF helped build in memory of Lucas.

We’re excited to support this initiative and look forward to sending visitors.

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Casa Quetzal

Casa Quetzal continues to evolve naturally. We’re preparing the land to welcome future groups, while focusing on sharing indigenous knowledge and collaborating with our Huetar neighbors.

During spring break, we hosted groups from Georgia State University and North Florida State University. They studied topics such as indigenous education, sustainability, and rights.

We’ve also welcomed individual volunteers like Fleur and Stana, all of whom agree: Casa Quetzal is a sacred space for reflection, healing, and community.

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Highlights & Happenings
• We finalized our 2024 Year-End Report and “2024 in Numbers”—check them out on our website clicking here.
• We joined the Women’s March on March 8th representing La Carpio.
• Gail participated in the Wells Mountain Initiative board meeting. WMI continues to support CRHF through 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsorship—without charging fees.

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Collaborators

Our incredible team continues to shine:
• Fatima and Angelica provide outstanding care and tutoring in Montessori.
• Doña Antonia keeps everyone well-fed with nutritious meals.
• The food bank crew—Ana, Harold, Milagro, Alcides, and a growing young team—are thriving in their micro-enterprise model.
• Our new Centro Modelo teacher is building her capacity while honoring the work Marisol left behind.
• The La Libertad program remains strong, offering after-school support and weekend activities.

Gail and Francisco continue to handle administration and fundraising.

Due to continued support of our major donors we continue to provide hunger preventión, rent relief, schooling, counseling and small business support for single mothers, special needs children, refugees, elderly and unemployed men.

Together, we honor our diverse backgrounds and beliefs in our shared mission to build a better world.

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Looking Ahead

Casa Quetzal is becoming the retreat and conference center Gail envisioned—offering a place to heal, grow, and collaborate.

We’re excited to keep growing in La Carpio and beyond. We’ll continue to support indigenous communities through education, health, culture, and economic opportunity.

Next month in May, we will be hosting our Annual Fundraiser Gala. We would like to invite everyone to join us on Sunday May 11th at the Hotel Marriott in San Antonio de Belen. The hotel has been a supporter of the CRHF from the days of the Street Kids program, where they offered many their first jobs in the kitchens and others.

Thank You for Sharing Our Dream! We can’t wait to see what the rest of 2025 brings.

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.

Migration

Alcides Goes Home

And yet another of our collaborators is heading off. This time it is Alcides going home to Nicaragua to see his ill mother and his graduating son. I see him so strong and healthy and well dressed and confident. So much thanks to our gracious benefactor Howard, who believed in him. Well done to all of us.

It’s just like sending your children out into the world…it is sad, exciting, scary and very pride filled . Elvis, Bismark, Henry, Yader, each has his story and each has grown so healthy under our caring watch.

Go well my friend.

Migration

Yader Goes to Dallas

This is a very bittersweet day because it’s Yaders farewell, he’s on his way to Estados Unidos, to Dallas, TX. He’s gotten really good orientation from the International Organization for Migrants, from the UNHCR, and from the local government officials. He’s got all his documents in order.

It’s really hard because he’s really happy here, but he also knows that this is a unique opportunity, and he knows that he’s up for it and ready for it.

We gave him our best advice, you’re strong , you’re kind, you’re honest, you’re a good worker, you’re gonna find something really nice to do so that you can live in a fine place. And you’re gonna come back in your car and wave to all of us.

And then I proceeded to show him how to use the bathroom in an airport in an in an airplane since he doesn’t yet read, he can’t read the instructions.

So, we had quite the time just talking about how to take care of that issue. And then we also pantomime about take off your shoes, your belt, your things in your pocket, put it in the bin.

That’s as much as we can do. And all of us mothers were a little bit teary eyed because we remembered when we dropped our kids off the bus, the airport, the college, the wherever, the camp, it’s hard to leave your kids, it’s hard to see your kids go. And the love will never change.

Success Stories

Success Stories From The Field #2 – Yader Goes North

He did it! Our collaborator Yader is a participant in the Biden administrations program. This program was created to pave the way for the political and economic refugees to enter legally into the United States.

This program included extensive phone and in person interviews, orientation sessions, Q & A activities, review by both UNHCR and US embassy personnel and…the all important diploma…his first ever.

I pray that America will treat this fine man with the respect he deserves. I kind of compare this to my entry into Costa Rica with the Peace Corps in 1977. It is a life changer.

He will be called to board the plane any day now.

ps the picture in the background was done by Danny, one of the street kids more than 20 years ago. It shows a hand pointing toward the full moon.

Peace

Building Peace: Costa Rica’s Approach To National Security Without An Army

How does a country with no army protect itself from invasion? From a neighboring country, from drugs traffickers. From gangs. From gun violence. From any other disturbing situation?

Our president AND his advisors have cooked up a plan. First and foremost. Strengthen the education system. Second reinforce pride in the country through unified celebration of national holidays. A small gesture..renovate the school uniform rules. And then, introduce the word sovereignty to the national vocabulary.

A firm unified and led concept. Like when mom and dad sit the wayward child down for a talk. Clear rules and expectations. Coupled with ,”we know you can do it”. Attention and praise for small improvement and consistent steady encouragement.

Then…hire 300 more well trained police and publish videos of them together at an induction ceremony. Not to threaten or be aggressive but to REMIND. We are here. Standing firm. Tighten up consequences for small infractions like speeding or running a traffic sign. Align the judicial system, with the police system, with an attitude of restorative justice. Use the press to keep communication open.

And I’ll tell you what we don’t do. We don’t all walk around carrying guns. We don’t lose our daily courtesy. We don’t forget to greet each other no matter what soccer team you are rooting for. And when we discover a bully or a grooming or a cyber danger our government and ngo system step in to educate and support the situation.

Costa Rica is still far from the country it dreams of becoming but it certainly is way beyond the hatred and it’s consequences found in other sadly suffering parts of the world. We are blessed because we have strong and wise leadership. And we know our children will not have to go to war. We believe in ourselves.

Peace

Reuniting in Plaza de la Democracia: Liberation, Family and Unexpected Celebrations

The day of the commemoration liberation from the army we were standing in the Democracy Plaza. Waiting. Someone said…look, there is the president and they are filming him. Of course we had to go and cureosiar. Sure enough. There was a film crew filming a president…But it was an actor look alike of President Figueres…doing a reenactment of the speech had dismantling the army.

BUT we were there for another mission. We were waiting for volunteer Julie, who had arrived just a week ago, to meet for the first time since she was nine months old, her very alive mother. It “only” took a few days to find Julie’s long lost family and there we were.  Waiting. Suddenly, we saw them mother, brother, sister and two delightful nephews walking toward us. Then there were hugs as they found each other again. Tears flowed and there was a kind of peace in the air. A relief and a calm.

Then we gathered ourselves to walk across the street to a local restaurant that had been tipped off about this life changing event. The Calypso band asked ” what song shall we play?’ and all we could think of was “happy birthday to you”. So there it was…and the whole restaurants broke into applause. A great meal, profound conversation and wonderful little drawings by the two little kids as a gift for “tia”. And all this transpired right there in the Democracy Plaza. Where years ago an army leader took a sledge hammer to a fortress wall forever changing the destiny of all Costa Rican children. Even the adopted ones.It was a good day.