Camino Claro Blog

Another successful Anti-Tuna Farm Festival

May was a month of action for the Pavones community as a whole. Pavones hosted quite possibly its largest festival of the year in opposition to the proposed tuna farming in the Golfo Dulce. We had much support in gathering the town’s signatures on the petition; I won’t lie, getting everyone together for an awesome party puts people in a helpful mood. There was great food, delicious chicha (tastes like kombucha, feels like moonshine), rappers and clowns entertaining children for hours on end, a baile that went too late for my tastes these days, and other amazing things I can’t put into words. Gerardo took great control of the events organization and everyone worked together to volunteer their time. It was really cool to see everyone coming together to throw this big awareness festival. A fantastic mural is near completion on the once-white wall of the fishermen house – thanks everyone who worked on that (I know I saw Aurora, Alex, and Hadas there!). Although things seem to come together at the last minute here, I must say the Tuna Festival was a fantastic success.

ECC’s classes continue to go well

I know Lisa’s sure are: to paraphrase her students’ sentiments, they really like: “all of the games, singing, and food.” I can attest to their delightment in these things as I often hear the enchanting little voices singing such titillating tunes as “Clean Up! Clean Up!” and “London Bridge.” I won’t lie; I’ve even had fun playing some of the games – and eating the snacks! I never knew I liked raisins so much… Lisa has combined her two bilingual classes into one and they sure are swell. Speaking of swells, they even dedicated themselves to a pledge of environmental stewardship and conducted quite the beach clean-up – some tourists and locals even volunteered their abilities at picking up rubbish.

My classes are still going strong. Leon, my private home school student, and I become a more proficient studying machine as the days progress. He’s doing a good job at keeping concentrated on our work, even when I know at times images of waves are rolling through his head. Adult computer classes have finally collated into one Thursday evening class. Everyone has been making leaps and bounds in computer comprehension and that includes the kids’ computer/photography class. Of course, this month was exciting for us as the students have been creating a documentary focused on “No a Las Granjas Atuneras” (Anti-Tuna Farm). Gerardo’s Adult English class is still great fun. Lately, students have been working on putting together a travel guide in English, combining both English practice and computer literacy.

Other community happenings

Las Gemelas public school is chugging along like the little engine that can, and has. We’ve really come along way in our community garden there! Just today the students of Las Gemelas got their hands dirty planting a variety of different flora. En lieu of Dia de los Arboles several trees were planted, along with herbs, vegetables and even ornamental flowers.

Escuela Camino Claro’s benefit dinner up at El Castillo Restaurant was quite the fiesta. There was an appetizing spread of pizza, pasta, burgers, and make-your-own-salad with a dozen ingredients! We had a great turn out and a great time. It was so fun to be in such a swanky little place nestled up in the hills of the jungle. Everyone’s support and energy made all of us at ECC feel that proverbial warm and fuzzy feeling.

This month we have had several different volunteers from the tourist community volunteer at the public school’s library and during ECC’s English classes, which was a great surprise and help. I feel like this might be a great untapped resource as a lot of people feel like giving back to the community they are visiting. There may be more tourist volunteers to come. Of course we would like to thank everyone for coming and helping us to be a positive community.

~Jacob

“April showers bring May flowers…”

… is a famous phrase back home, however it doesn’t apply here in Pavones. It’s been just over a month since my arrival and I can see the weather beginning to change from rays to rain. As the drizzle turns to downpour I feel my connection with classes and the community becoming stronger. Already in one month I’ve begun to take so much in and have learned new things everyday. There are always many things to discover in a new place, such as how to motivate Tico kids to read several books a week with cheap prizes like pens and pencils; how attendance is affected by weather; which fruits are okay to eat when found and which ones will burn your lips; and how if you leave the cockroaches, spiders, and geckos to live with you in your house, the result is a pleasant decrease in the mosquito and ant populations. Of course, the list of newly learned life skills will continue to grow with my increased involvement in ECC and Pavones – growth that I hope will be symbiotic.

Settling in: steady progress and new projects

With time came responsibilities, and after getting situated in what I’ve likened to paradise, I now possess a full weekly schedule. Teaching English classes with Gerardo is great; we have a lot of very interested and inspired students in attendance. These adult classes have been great practice for my Spanish abilities and, while it was indeed a trial on day one, I now find myself both comfortable and more able. Helping out Lisa with her English-Spanish Immersion classes with the younger kids is good fun — a lot of the kids now recognize me as the guy from the library and recently they’ve even started using my name instead of “muchacho,” all good things.

My three computer classes are up and running smoothly. I’m very excited to begin adding lessons in documentary/photography to the children’s computer class. I’m eager to get the class proficient with cameras, photoshop, blogging, and ultimately, the creation of their own documentary covering an issue they believe is pertinent to Pavones and the world. Hopefully next month’s newsletter will have some more interesting developments on this!

At the library at Pavones’ local public grade school, Escuela Las Gemelas, things with Tatiana (the facilitator there) are fantastic and I’ve never been read to so much in my life… children’s books are such an enjoyable way to begin the day.

We are officially beginning the garden at Escuela Las Gemelas, which is big news! We’re about a week into things and have begun the construction elements of the project as well as getting kids stoked for a garden of their own. The fence is up and it’s official. The fence may cause some upset horses around town, but other than them everyone else is welcome at the garden. Hadas, who is in charge of the project, and I are taking things poco a poco like everything else, but we’re eager to see how the community embraces a common patch of educational, nutritional, and tactile property.

One of my main motivations behind my time here is a genuine peek into the realm that is the non-profitworld. With a good amount of experience working with non-profits and aspirations of building my own, I come with a lot of questions seeking answers and a set of eyes relentless in their search for discovery and enlightenment. Many of my thoughts about the difficulty in raising and running a non-profit have been anything but denied. Any small business encounters loads of hurdles, but poor little non-profits face such a fine line of making enough money while giving as much as possible away to the communities’ greater good. Even figuring out what that “greater good” is can be quite troubling. Everyone has and is entitled to there own viewpoint of what people and the places we live in need. At the moment, ECC is offering classes that seem to be somewhat irrefutably beneficial and I hope the future will continue to help.

Local fundraising

We’re currently working on a fundraiser for ECC, to be held at a local restaurant in Pavones, and hope to get things in order within the next couple weeks. If so, I’m looking forward to finally making it up to Castillo, Pavones’ own fancy restaurant in the mountainous jungle. There will definitely be more updates on the progress of this exciting development and hopefully we can find ourselves together enjoying a meal in benefit of Pavones’ community education center.

Thank you for your love and support both back home and here in Pavones, in particular. I’m gracious for the hospitality of the people here. I look forward to the future and a growing bond between both people and place.

~Jacob

Saying goodbye to another great month (and to Haley)- Hello to an even better one!

March has been an incredible month with many successes, as well as a few disappointments. I look forward to April, however, as another busy month with the arrival of our Program Assistant, Jacob Smithers. We will all have a full plate due to the absence of Haley here in Pavones, who is now supporting ECC stateside while I continue to run the school in Pavones.

ECC’s Classes- an emotional roller coaster
The Ups…

After the seemingly endless schedule-rearranging and evaluation of our students’ skill levels, ECC’s Adult ESL classes are going strong.  Gerardo, the amazing, creative, spontaneous, and energy-filled teacher has 15-20 adult students. This is at least double the enrollment Haley and I ever had!! Though neither Haley nor I have taught or own classes this year, one of us served as his in-class assistant. The students really love Gerardo because he is a very well-respected local and talented teacher. The students also value having a native English speaker in the classroom to help, so together we make a great team! I find that I am constantly helping individuals with questions, thus, the students are more fulfilled because they are getting individualized  attention.

Our Bilingual I and II classes for children are also flourishing. Lisa’s upbeat attitude and diverse class activities keeps the students excited. She has a busy Pre-K/Kindergarten class with more than ten 3-5 year olds, so she has hired a Pavones local as an assistant. Wendy Eliana Mendoza is a delight to have working with ECC. She is extremely hard-working and great with the children. She is also in Gerardo’s Adult English classes, so she has been practicing her English with Lisa’s students.

…and the Downs

Even though this year has started off with a bang, there are a few setbacks that I try not to let get me down. Though the Adult ESL class is a success, we are struggling to gather enough students for two of ECC’s newest classes: Spanish for Foreigners and Colegio English, a weekend English class for local high school students. I guess with the busy schedule of the high school students here- 5:30am-4pm Monday through Friday!- they look forward to their weekends to sleep in and forget about education (as to whether or not the local high school educational system encourages them to remember most things is debatable…). I plan to do some more recruiting this week and see if we can boost class numbers so that we don’t have to cancel either of these new, promising classes.

In other unfortunate news, our high school tutoring program failed.  We could not find a dedicated tutor to facilitate the classes, plus we had to accept that this year ECC does not have enough funding to pay a tutor. Hopefully this program can develop over the next couple of years.

Just one more piece of bad news- the recycling program will have to be shut down until further developments. We have about 50 bags of recycling piling up behind the school but unfortunately the pick-up is not often enough to make it worth it for the town. Now that Pavones has a free public trash service once a week, people just throw their recycling away. The incentive to save it (and save money) is gone as Pavones’ citizens do not have to pay for their extra trash anymore. We are still investigating whether or not Pavones can build a community recycling center someday soon.  My fingers are crossed and we’re not giving up just yet!

ECC’s new program assistant has arrived!

To end on a positive note, ECC’s first volunteer Program Assistant arrived in Pavones on April 1st! We mentioned his arrival in our previous newsletters and blogs (which you can check out HERE) but now he is here in the flesh! Jacob has immediately taken to the pura vida lifestyle and I have no doubt that his time here will be very special for the community. He has already started working at the public school library this week, where he loves working with the children and practicing his Spanish while they practice their English. He will start Computer Literacy classes next week and I have already filled all the spaces in the class.

I am very much looking forward to what the following months bring. Our next ECC newsletter and blog posts will be by Jacob, so stay tuned to hear about his first month with ECC in Pavones! Jacob’s blog, a personal account of discovering what life is like in Pavones, is also worth checking out in the meantime.

Thank you to all of our supporters; I am SO grateful to everyone that has made it possible for ECC to continue to thrive.

Pura Vida!

- Raphel

Escuela Camino Claro is proud to announce the commencement of its third official year as a non-profit community education center in Pavones, Costa Rica!

After returning to Pavones several weeks ago, Raphel and I began the arduous process of starting the new school year by focusing on recruiting students, organizing class schedules, and integrating new teachers. Not an easy feat, especially when everything runs on “tico time” and the temperature is humid and in the 90s. As we’ve well learned by now, the transition both mentally and physically into life in Pavones cannot be rushed. After the boxes were unpacked and the bats and frogs were ushered out of the school (and the “you’re so white” comments gradually ebbed), we are confident that this year will be more than a grand success. The 2010 vision has begun to take shape and we are excited to share it with you.

New teachers, new classes, new energy

Now that Escuela Camino Claro has proved its integrity and become a fixture in the local community, we feel that we are ready to open the door to more teachers, more types of classes, and more opportunities for the Pavones area’s residents. In doing so, Raphel and I can pass on the role of head teachers and, thus, share responsibilities with other members of the community.

ECC is excited to incorporate three new individuals into our staff: Lisa Thrash (teaching bilingual communication classes with ages 3-8), Jacob Smithers (program assistant intern, teaching ESL and home school classes), and Gerardo Mendoza (teaching adult ESL and Spanish for local foreigners).

Other programs and projects

One new program in ECC’s repertoire is a free tutoring session for high school seniors who need help studying to pass their graduation exams. We’re piloting this program in order to offer motivated high school students academic support when they might otherwise fail and dropout, a widespread problem in this rural area. ECC has hired a local teen graduate from Pavones, Erica Romano, to offer this service and we are looking forward to seeing the students pass their exams this April. Continued projects from previous years include computer literacy classes, community recycling program (an ongoing and very challenging project), and beach cleanups.

Moving towards sustainability…

The definition of a truly sustainable development project is one which will be able to carry on indefinitely with no further international involvement or support, whether it be financial or otherwise. Now that we’ve implemented ECC as an educational development resource, we are focusing on ensuring that the community has the capacity to continue Escuela Camino Claro without our physical presence. Raphel and I will leave Pavones in April to return to the US for the rest of the school year, so our biggest challenge in the next few months is to guarantee a smooth transition to future independence in the hands of locals. Moving towards this goal, ECC is finding more financial stability by sharing the building with other independent teachers and community members, all of whom share our mission. This collaboration, combined with the consistent income from tuition we’ve built over the years, gives us hope that this year will be more self-sustaining. After more than two years and an unbelievable amount of support from outside (YOU!), ECC has the ability to truly bring this community together under one roof and offer a great educational environment with an abundance of resources.

…one step at a time

There is never a shortage of work to be done even when we’re not working hands-on in Pavones. After we leave in April, Raphel and I will have a full plate while managing ECC from abroad and helping to fundraise. Donations are always welcome.  Click here to find ECC’s donation page, with information about mailing checks or using Paypal. All donations are tax deductible and will go towards new programs and materials. We are always in need of used laptops as well.

So, you see, we have our hands full and have begun 2010 at full throttle! A friend told me the other day, “You’re not living unless you push your threshold at least once a day.” I should note that at the time he said this we were climbing up an eroding cliff with falling rocks 300 feet above a waterfall, holding on to vines that we were hoping weren’t snakes (our indigenous “guide” underestimated our abilities and a “hike down to a waterfall” was actually mountain climbing in swimsuits). No joke. Although running ECC isn’t as challenging, we seem to be heeding this advice and experiencing new things everyday.

Here’s to a thriving (and safe) year ahead!

Thank you to all our supporters for your love and inspiration.

Pura Vida from Pavones,
Haley & Raphel

Seasons greetings from Escuela Camino Claro!

Dear Friends and Family,
I hope this letter finds you happy, healthy, and excited for the madness of the holiday season and the approaching New Year! ECC’s little elves (i.e. Raphel and Haley) have been hard at work in our winter workshops (i.e. our Northwest homes) as we prepare for next school year in Pavones, Costa Rica. Before jumping into 2010, let me take a moment to recap some of what happened last year in ECC’s second official year as a non-profit community education center.

2009 was characterized by two main successes. First, Pavones’ growing acceptance of ECC into the small community and, second, ECC’s expansion in all areas of service: more classes, more students, and more variety. Because of last year’s growth, I can say with great pride that ECC has accomplished one of the main goals set out by the board and has advocated further educational options for the Pavones area by offering an education center that does not pursue its own agenda but responds to the requests, needs, and opinions of the community.

A few highlights from 2009

•    Increased monthly enrollment. The average number of student enrollment was 24, almost doubling our 2008 enrollment. In our peak month this year, we had 45 total students attending classes at ECC! Our Pre-K/Kindergarten class (ages 2-5) was the largest and had the most consistent enrollment.
•    Increased number of native Costa Rican students. On average, Costa Ricans comprised 70% of enrollment this year, thus demonstrating ECC’s growing acceptance into the native community.
•    Going green. March 2009 earned us our first “sponsorship” from the umbrella corporation The EDGE Charitable Foundation. It was the turning point for our decision to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner as well as to incorporate environmental education into our classes.
•    Community involvement. ECC played a role in several worthwhile community events and projects, such as helping to organize Pavones’ first recycle system and participating in the Anti-Tuna Farm Campaign celebration. Also, last June ECC celebrated its 2nd annual Global Services Outreach Program, a community service and cultural integration excursion for high school students. Thank you to the six Kalapuya High School students and adult chaperones from Eugene, Oregon who did some amazing work in the community!

What’s in the stars for 2010?

Next year we are looking forward to integrating other passionate, creative teachers and volunteers to help teach ECC’s classes, including ESL, home school, and computer/Internet literacy classes. We are also eager to expand our involvement in the community, particularly by increasing environmental awareness, starting with our students and reaching into the greater Pavones area. We hope to see a more organized and sustainable recycle system next year.

Thanks to fundraising efforts and support from generous individuals throughout the past few years, ECC was able pursue our mission by providing scholarships to all students in need and to families with multiple children enrolled. We are dedicated to providing the same services to the Pavones area by working with members of the community who share our vision and goals of broadening our community education center.

In order to meet the high demand for classes, offer classes at an affordable (or free!) rate, AND provide scholarships to students in need…

WE NEED YOUR HELP…SPONSOR A STUDENT!

Despite how hugely successful our Pura Vida Fundraiser has been in the past, the decision to not have one this winter means that ECC will rely 100% on the support and contributions from individuals. Fortunately, ECC has a much broader support base that has now grown beyond our local Eugene, Oregon fundraiser: we feel confident we can depend on people like YOU to help ECC continue to flourish. This year ECC is offering a program that allows our supporters to sponsor a student for a month or a year (see previous post). The more donations we receive, the more students ECC can enroll with an adjusted tuition. With your help, we are confident ECC will continue to survive and flourish in 2010! All donations are tax exempt.

On behalf of the students and teachers of Escuela Camino Claro, as well as the Pavones community at large, we thank you from the bottom of our heart for your kindness and support thus far.

May your holiday be filled with much happiness, joy, and PURA VIDA!
Sincerely,

Haley Whitley, Co-Founder
Raphel Weber, Co-Founder

ECC has officially wrapped up its second year and wow, what a great year!

I was forced to accept that the year had come to and end a couple weeks ago as Haley and I were cleaning the school and sorting through our abundance of papers, books, hidden frogs, crabs, and all of the usual things one finds in a schoolhouse at the end of the year. After three years in Pavones we have learned so much and started many projects in the community. But most importantly, our community education center has become a valued resource for Pavones’ residents.

The 2009 school year was more successful than last year for many reasons; mainly due to the fact that we nearly doubled our average number of local Costa Rican students, something which Haley and I have made a major goal since the school’s launch. Here are a few statistics to sum up our success this year.

• Monthly average student enrollment in 2008 was 23.
• Monthly average student enrollment in 2009 was 34.
• Monthly average of local Costa Rican students in 2008 was 13.
• Monthly average of local Costa Rican students in 2009 was 24.

Recycling in Pavones

When I look back on the many projects that ECC collaborated on this year, I am most proud of our work to implement a regular recycling pick-up service in Pavones. Though it may be something that only Haley and I can appreciate, I have to admit that I have come to love the sight of black plastic bags overflowing with recyclables and piled high along ECC’s outside wall. You might ask why is the recycling left at our school? Well, it’s the most convenient place for the community to leave their bottles and cans, but the downside is that the recycle truck isn’t exactly punctual! Although it’s not necessarily a pretty sight, it does represent that the community is becoming more aware: well worth it. While we are back in the US for the winter months, Lili from Mira Olas Cabinas will continue to arrange pick-up dates and people will still leave all their recycling at the ECC building.

Other projects that ECC students and teachers were involved in:

• Mural project at the public school, Escuela Las Gemelas
• Mural project at the public school library
• Global Service Outreach Program (GSOP) with Kalapuya High School (follow link for more info!)
• Helping with fundraising to support the Golfo Dulce’s Anti-Tuna Farm campaign
• Beach clean-ups

A special THANK YOU to…

We would like to thank all of our supporters for giving Escuela Camino Claro the opportunity to continue existing and flourishing. We are so grateful to all who have allowed us to grow and continue to “bring communities together through education.”

• The EDGE (Early Development of Global Education) Charitable Foundation
• Gabe Hamel, Humans for Humanity LLC
• Janine Jonson, Green Wave LLC
• Sumo Sushi
• Calan Taylor, Kalapuya High School
• Tully Spring
• Dustin Haines
• Lisa LaMagna, Encanto Costa Rica
• Hadas Barkan
• Sam Claiborn
• Rebecca Quinn
• Lisa Thrash
• Siempre Domingo Bed & Breakfast
• Cafe de la Suerte
• Clear River Sports & Adventures
• Amy & Alex Outerbridge
• Katie Kalmbach
• Billy Scorer
• Downtown Languages
• Seattle University Alumni Magazine
• CostaRica.com Blog

And all friends, family and donors/supporters of the 2009 Pura Vida Fundraiser & Silent Auction

…we apologize if anyone was forgotten… THANK YOU!!

The 2010 school year will resume in February

But in the meantime please continue to check out our blog for updates and news. We look forward to a positive future for Escuela Camino Claro and wish for you all to be a part of it!

Pura Vida,

Raphel & Haley

Dearest Escuela Camino Claro friends, family, and fellow supporters,

The countdown is on: we have two weeks remaining before our second official year as a non-profit community education center comes to a close. More than seven months ago, Raphel and I arrived in Pavones with open minds and the eagerness to make this year better than the last. In many ways we succeeded, due to heightened ECC involvement in the community and increased enrollment: during our busiest time this year we had around 50 students of all ages! We were also unsurprisingly faced with new and difficult challenges as ECC becomes more of a fixture in the community. Overcoming the many obstacles and turning them into successes, or at least valuable life lessons, has made this experience the most joyful for both of us. We have learned life is not always a clear path, though our name may say otherwise (“camino claro” means “clear path”).

Change is a good: the 2010 school year awaits

What is in store for next year? We hope lots of new and exciting changes and improvements! To start off with, Raphel and I have been eagerly on the hunt for new teachers for next year, and so far there have been several promising individuals who are interested in taking over most of the teaching (including pre-kinder, ESL, and home school classes). It’s clear now that Raphel and I are needed more as administrators maintaining the integrity of the business, e.g. recruiting, accounting, and networking. Besides, fundraising is a full time job, something we absolutely cannot do from Pavones because high-speed Internet is still undiscovered. We look forward to a few new, inspired, motivated individuals to help us continue teaching the community of Pavones. Like I said, change is good!

The EDGE environmental education curriculum

Last March, ECC was proudly accepted under the charity umbrella of The EDGE (Early Development of Global Education) Charitable Foundation. By becoming part of the EDGE Children for Children program, we have joined several other charities around the world receiving support from this organization. With this acceptance, ECC has made a commitment to become an environmentally friendly school to the best of our ability, turning our school green! ECC also received The EDGE curriculum guide, which provides ECC teachers with the knowledge and creative tools to help us introduce environmental awareness to the students and, in turn, the rest of the community. We are very much looking forward to implementing it into our classes next year, particularly targeting the youngest students.

First step in going green: ECC’s recycle program

Though still a fledging, ECC’s mini recycle center is one of the first steps ECC has taken to become an environmentally friendly school. What’s a better way to create awareness of the basic purposes of reducing, reusing, and recycling, than working with our youngest students? They are beginning to understand the difference between aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and glass bottles by putting them in the correct bin. Small accomplishment, it may seem, but these simple actions will eventually lead to a cultural shift in thinking about their country’s waste management. Eventually…down the road… but in the meantime, aren’t they cute?!

On a similar note, we are still stumbling along and making slow progress with the grand Pavones recycle plan. The good news is that the mayor of Golfito has apparently approved of funding a community recycle facility. Though the paperwork is underway, we’re not sure how long it will take until a building is actually erected and the residents get the hang of recycling. With the help of other dedicated Pavones residents (thanks Lili!), we have arranged for a monthly recycle truck to pass through Pavones while we wait for tangible results of the mayor’s approval.

Until next year…

By remaining on our mailing list, checking out and subscribing to ECC’s blog, and continuing your support, our community education center can continue to thrive and progress!

I will leave you with the following words from The EDGE Dedication:

Be as great as you can possibly be. Be an advocate and a teacher for the children in your life. Show them that life knows no bounds. Allow them to feel the soil, awe at the miraculous species that inhabit the earth, to feel the wind and smell the fresh scent of every season. The Earth calls to them with reason. Educate them.

The appropriateness of ending the 2009 school year with these words is, in my opinion, twofold. Initially these words inspire me to reflect on my own purpose in life, regardless of my title (English teacher, community developer, fellow human being) and strive to better the world I am so much a part of. Secondly, this dedication reminds us that ECC has the potential to bring many more positive changes to the community of Pavones, Costa Rica, and beyond: we will especially be able to succeed in the coming years by embodying this dedication as our own.

Thank you so much for sticking with us and supporting us!
Pura Vida,
Haley

Source: Hernandez, Gomez, Nembhard, Paez-Garcia, The EDGE Curriculum. 1st Edition. Miami, The EDGE, 2008. www.theedgeeducation.com

2^nd Annual GSOP High School Program

Two action-packed months have passed and it is definitely time for another ECC Newsletter. June has been our busiest month so far this year and we have lots of exciting things to share with our supporters.

First, this month welcomed ECC’s 2009 highlight as we hosted our 2^nd annual Global Services Outreach Program (GSOP). GSOP is ECC’s cultural integration and community service program for American high school students. Students are invited to come to Pavones with an open mind and experience the unique and diverse culture of our little town. Their visit was comprised of the following activities:

Art and Community Service Projects

The group from Kalapuya High School in Eugene, OR kicked off their community service work by painting the inside of Escuela Camino Claro. It looks beautiful and I can’t resist including a little excerpt from a Thank You letter written by one of our 7-year old ESL students:

Thank you for painting the school.

It looks beautiful and nice.

I like the color yellow. Hakuna Matata.

Please paint my house.

After painting our building, the students worked on a park improvement project for the next two weeks. A playground was recently built in the center of Pavones and though it is all the craze among the kids it was in need of a few aesthetic improvements. Under the guidance of Hadas Barkan, our dear friend and one of Pavones’ most talented artists/teachers/volunteers, Kalapuya students worked VERY hard making changes. They spent many hours beautifying the park area as well as building, designing, and painting benches to provide seating in the park for the community! The benches look beautiful and we are so grateful to the students for making what was just a playground placed in an empty lot into a truly community space.

Guaymi Indigenous Reservations Home-stay

During the second weekend of their stay, the students hiked 2 hours along the beach for a 3-night home-stay at the Guaymi Indigenous Reservation. The students braved torrential rains, encounters with poisonous snakes, ravenous mosquitoes, and humble portions of rice and beans while learning first-hand about the Guaymi culture and lifestyle.

Life Stories Series

Members of the community were invited to share a meal and their life stories with the group. Students were able to see the Pavones from the perspective of a variety of community members, all who offered a unique perspective on daily life, development, and changes in Pavones.

Between the park improvement project, Guaymi visit, beach clean-ups, a visit to the local high school, evening local speakers, the Kalapuya students had a packed schedule during their three weeks in Pavones. Of course they still found time to enjoy the beach, try a hand at surfing, and mingle with local peers. I was really impressed with how well these students immersed themselves in the culture and formed friendships with many locals. It was a great experience for all!

Recycling in Pavones

One of our other accomplishments these past two months was our first successful community recycle pick-up. Over the years several Pavones community members have made whole-hearted attempts to organize a sustainable recycling system. These efforts eventually failed due to location and lack of participation and organization.

Determined to try again, Haley and I have been working with Lili, the owner of one of the most beautiful rustic hotels in Pavones, Mira Olas, to implement a recycling system. Due to Pavones’ remote location and pot-hole ridden gravel roads strewn with precarious wooden bridges, it is a challenge in itself just to convince the recycling truck to make the trek out to our small town. The truck will make the laborious trip if we can promise a worthwhile amount of recycling, which it is difficult to estimate considering we are just starting this project and are only accepting a few items such as aluminum cans, plastic beverage bottles, and glass.

A week before the scheduled pick-up, black plastic bags and overflowing cardboard boxes had piled up along the side of Escuela Camino Claro. It may be a small beginning but we are determined to make it a success. Though it is not ideal to have our building serve as a recycling center, we will continue to host the community’s “trash” until a sustainable recycling center can be built in Pavones.

All work and no play… well, you know the rest

In the midst of all of these activities, Haley and I continued teaching our classes and managing ECC. We found time to work on a mural at the local public school with Hadas, participate in the Anti-Tuna Farm Celebration (all in the blog!), and, of course, log some hours enjoying the sun and surf. A little exhausted, we are presently welcoming our two-week vacation and have both taken a short hiatus from Pavones. Such success and excitement calls for a little breather! Thank you to all who helped make each of the past two months possible. We are so grateful.

As I decompress for these next two weeks, I like to remember the words of my 7-year old students in order to help me relax and enjoy each present moment…

Hakuna Matata. Please paint my house!

Raphel