Camino Claro Blog

…and to my pleasant surprise, I found that a manila envelope had arrived from Pavones, Costa Rica. Inside was a handmade We Miss You card, addressed to me and Raphel and signed by dozens of little hands. The signatures and messages in all colors and sizes, some charmingly illegible, brought tears to my eyes and gave me a feeling of Pavones-sickness (one need only to go there once to know what I’m taking about). It has been over a year since Raphel and I left Pavones to resume our US-bound lives. In that time I know we have both thought about ECC and the community constantly, as well as felt an overwhelming amount of pride and gratitude toward Lisa for carrying on the dream. The card was a touching and thoughtful gesture- thank you Lisa and all the ECC students- Raphel and I miss you too! A visit to our tropical home is in the works for next year…

My tissues are out of reach, so enough with the sap and let’s get on with the updates!

Thanks Volunteers

A big Thank You is in order for several volunteers who have been working with Escuela Camino Claro recently. ECC has flourished over the past five years because of community support, donations, and the hard work of its volunteers:

Jillian, Shooting Star’s substitute yoga instructor, is leaving and will sorely be missed. Her acro yoga and stretching classes were a great addition to ECC’s repertoire.

Thank you also to Laura Guitar and her daughters for your volunteered time and donations of play-dough, books, and coloring books!

Anne, our volunteer from France, has been helping out with Center Time and introducing new, fun activities, such as homemade natural play-dough.

The most recent arrival from Oregon, Listen (and her daughter Rose), will be volunteering at Center Time, Farmers Markets, and hopefully by sharing her computer skills. What an exciting prospect, since computers don’t bode well with humidity and dust… perhaps a revival of ECC’s computer literacy classes?

Multicultural Fair Highlights

This year’s Annual Feria Multicultural was the biggest one yet! The Fair started in 2009 (see blog post here) and aims to bring all parts of the community together while highlighting the multiculturalism that exists in Costa Rica. This year it turned out to be beautifully organized, with 18 schools participating and many countries being represented. ECC represented The United States and Mexico (Lisa’s homelands!) with a theme of “humankind as one big family.” There were performances of multicultural dances, from hula to karate, music, food, speeches, and even a marching band. Thanks to Gayle, Bobby, Cabinas Carols, Kayla, and Gail for their help in raising funds for ECC.

Well done, Pavones!

Otras Noticias

• Farmer’s markets continue to prosper. July’s market incorporated a garage sale to split profits with Punta Banco’s Community Library.
• The long-awaited ECC school store is up and running. Lisa has created a space for students, parents, and the rest of the community to buy and sell books, art supplies, toys, quality used clothes and shoes, handmade crafts, and Guaymi artesania.
• The core classes continue to grow and change: children’s English classes, adult Spanish classes, and all-ages Center time.

Keep in touch for the next post,

Signing off for now

-Jeili (Haley spelled in Costa Rican)

Spring greetings from Escuela Camino Claro!

What’s been happening at ECC the past few months?

‘Tis about time for some ECC updates, tidbits, news, and other anecdotes.

Earth Day

ECC celebrated Earth Week by joining in on a community beach cleanup, followed by an Easter celebration at the community center. Lisa facilitated several Earth Day- inspired activities, turning the day into an educational and fun-filled celebration. As you can see, bilingual bingo finds its way into every celebration…

Farmer’s Market

The Farmer’s Market continues is the Pura Vida fashion (relaxed and non-hurried). Now that several of these monthly markets have taken place, it’s catching on! A great way for local ticos, foreign residents, Guaymi indigenous, and tourists to share their goods and produce. Plus we all need a stimulus in the economy, right?

Other Classes and Activities

ECC’s bilingual programs and daycare continue on with great success and increasing attendance. We wouldn’t be nearly as successful without the help from The EDGE Charitable Foundation and their generous donation of school supplies.

Creating a Thank You banner is a great excuse for an art project…

…The final product!

Escuela Camino Claro’s Farmer’s Market:
Becoming a great success!

Despite the rain, the 2nd official Farmer’s Market brought a great turnout and many parts of the community came together to buy/sell/trade an array of local items. Handmade arts and crafts, locally-grown fruits & veggies, and yummy baked goods were some of the highlights.

ECC will host a Farmer’s Market the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month

Come visit us! And stay tuned for more pictures and information as this event becomes a fixture in the community.

Local Guaymi Indigenous selling their traditional clothing and crafts

More local talent

Escuela Camino Claro Fundraiser & Silent Auction

December 2010

Bring on the New Year!

What a grand way to wrap up 2010 and introduce ECC’s next academic year by hosting a community event for a good cause, as well as having a party! This is the second official fundraiser held in Pavones, among the very community that ECC strives to serve, making this event extra special for everyone involved (and abroad!).

Lisa Thrash, the current manager/administrator at Escuela Camino Claro, did a great job organizing the silent auction and putting the whole thing together. Lisa, Raphel and I wish we could have been there!

Words of gratitude

Lisa would like to thank the following individuals and local businesses for their help and support during this event:

“The ECC Fundraiser was a great success! A great big thank you to all our wonderful friends who donated their goods and services; those who spread the word and those who attended.

Just to name a few:

La Pina Restaurant for hosting the fundraiser and donating 40% of the sales to ECC (Rosella, you cook exquisite Italian food)
Sassy, my right-hand (wo)man
Mira Olas (one- night stay)
Katie at Pavones Yoga Center (massage)
Maruja, guided horse tour
Bar La Plaza (dinner for two)
Cafe de La Suerte (lunch for two)
La Sirena (Brazillian dress)
Ebenezer (dinner for two)
Clear River Adventure (bike/kayak rental for two)
Pavones Hotshotz (souvenir photo cd of Pavones)
Casa Tranquilo (one night stay for two with surf lesson)
Brent’s Dents ($50 ding repair)

Pura Vida and Happy New Year

From Escuela Camino Claro

guau! put some plants in dirt and watch ‘em grow: my basic lesson plan around Las Gemelas’ garden — and it’s working! things are shooting roots, sprouting sprigs, and just asking to be eaten. if you don’t believe me, just look at Naomi, she was so tempted to have a taste that mid-photo she began munching on a leaf.

when we first started planning for the garden and setting things up we all had our doubts as to the outcome of our projected peapatch, but who would’ve thought it’d look so healthy so soon. there are yard beans longer than jump-ropes already. i’m pleased with their gusto and encourage the other plants to learn from their fine example of surpassing expectations. the yucca is above ground and photosynthesizing as we speak. looks real good, except those weird little purple growths some have developed…but neither here nor there since you eat the roots…heh heh. we’ve even got things growing that we didn’t plant. on one of the fence posts there’s a really cool orchid (maybe) growing. hadas conveniently points this out in one of the photos. i’d like to take the time to point out right now how awesome hadas is. such a strong and positive force in the pavones community — thanks for your motivation and support.

~Jacob

Thriving yucca plant

Master-gardener Hadas with her yard beans

I am so very behind getting the community garden posts online, so since a lot has happened in the past few months, there will be a bundle of them coming at ya!  Now on to Jacob’s charming post:

hot dang, the garden at Las Gemelas elementary school has been planted and is growing! costa rica is a splendid location for gardening with children (or children-like adults) because the soil is often rich, moist, and loose, making it easy for digging and planting. so long as you avoid the telltale shard of glass or plastic bag that made its way into the composition of the soil, you’ll be fine.

once things are planted, the kids, and kid-like adults, need not wait too long for some action on the garden’s behalf. the school and myself had a 2-week break and upon our return to school we were stoked with the life and progress that has taken root, muahaha no pun intended but seriously, i even caught a couple rocks smiling at our results.

hadas and i are thrilled with the help we’ve had from all of the students and teachers at Las Gemelas. we’ve also had several volunteers come through and lend a hand, including cal and his group from Oregon. WOOOH cal! (cal is one of the “cool teachers” everyone wanted in highschool— cal rocks). OF COURSE, the garden would be nowhere without the help of alberto, the know-all of gardening. on thursday you could find us and another volunteer, marissa, hauling boards of teak from down the street for the construction of our compost bin. yeah we made quick/beautiful work of that compost bin. marissa and a few other study-abroad students from UCSF have been working with environmental issues and art in Punta Banco, right down the dirt road from Pavones. i honestly plan to take photos of the garden this week to show its progress … before the pinche horses somehow make their way in to eat everything.

i don’t trust horses. sorry all you horse lovers. ya got dog lovers, cat lovers, and horse lovers. i can trust a dog, but the latter two, nope. but let’s not leave on a negative remark. a friend of a friend once said “instead of killing two birds with one stone, wouldn’t you rather feed to birds with one seed?” ha! sounds so corny, but yet so comfortably politically correct…haha

~Jacob

We mentioned Pavones’ Anti-Tuna Farm Festival that took place a few weeks ago, you saw some pictures and heard Jacob’s positive feedback on the memorable event; so we thought it was time to give those who were interested some info on the legal side of the issue in the Golfo Dulce…

Remember, you can always check out our previous posts or Pretoma’s website for more background on the ongoing tuna farm proposals in our precious gulf.

Golfito’s municipal council vows not to issue permits for Granjas Atuneras SA

Gerardo Mendoza and Susanne Mesen, president and treasurer of the “No a las Granjas Atuneras” association (ANAGA) went to the Municipal Council’s meeting in Golfito a few weeks ago and petitioned the newly elected representatives to oppose the tuna farm project. They were successful and the council voted not to issue permits for tuna farming within the next six years and they pronounced themselves against tuna farming in all of Costa Rica. The previous Consejo Municipal had also refused to issue permits for Granjas Atuneras SA’s operation. Thank you Gerardo and Susanne!

Permits issued by SETENA may be revoked

SETENA (Secretaria Tecnica Nacional Ambiental - which is part of MINAET, The Ministry of Environment) however, did issue permits for the tuna project but then was forced by the court to look into charges that Granjas Atuneras‘ environmental impact report contained fraudulent statements such as claiming that the people around the gulf who were interviewed for the report pronounced themselves in favor of the project (not true). Granjas Atuneras also claimed that the currents only flow out of the gulf and not into it and therefore there is no risk of polluting the gulf. To the residents around the Golfo Dulce it is obvious that these statements are false. Let’s hope that SETENA will come to the same conclusion. If they do, Granjas Atuneras‘ permits will be revoked. This should be decided soon.

Pavones’ Festival: all about raising awareness

Perhaps the 2010 Anti-Tuna Farm Festival’s greatest success was acquiring 390 signatures for a petition that will be sent to Costa Rica’s new president, Laura Chinchilla, and SETENA, in which Pavones and surrounding communities state their opposition to the tuna farms and ask for revocation of the permits. The more people that sign the petition, the harder it is for SETENA to claim that the community approves of the tuna farm project.

Additionally, the local fisherman succeeded in having the Golfo Dulce declared Area for Responsible Fisheries. This means shrimpers are banned permanently as well as all fishing vessels that are bigger than a panga (small motor boat), and net fishing is outlawed.

GREAT JOB and THANK YOU to everyone in Pavones: members of the ANAGA committee, individuals and businesses who donated prizes for the Festival, and people who got out and signed the petition! You are all making a difference…now on to a few more pictures of the event:

ECC’s teacher, Lisa, with Apalonia, the vice president of ANAGA and also the voice for the Guaymi Indigenous community on the Tuna Farm issue. At the chicha barrel! (Jacob on the traditional fermented corn drink: “tastes like kombucha, feels like moonshine)

A few of the Guaymi Indegenous protesters

Carlos and Maruja, Pavones locals, enjoying the party with the rest of the pueblo

A big thank you to Lili from Mira Olas Cabinas for keeping us updated with current information. Thanks also to Jacob for his excellent photography skills!

More updates to come soon so keep tuning in.

~Haley

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