Camino Claro Blog

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

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

Kalapuya Rocks! (or Kalapuya’s Rocks?)

Whichever way you look at it, Kalapuya High School did an amazing job improving the newly installed playground in Pavones’ center. In five full days, the group created a masterpiece for the children to enjoy and everyone in town to admire. With Hadas’s help and guidance, the group designed and painted four themed benches, painted river rocks for the path, did some minor landscaping, and cleaned trash in and around the new playground.

Dear Kalapuya High School (including Cal, Renee, and SEHS students too!),

On behalf of the entire town of Pavones, Costa Rica, Raphel and I thank you for your hard work, laughter, and energy. It was a pleasure, once again, to host the group and witness positive changes being made and cross-cultural boundaries being broken.

THANK YOU FROM ECC!!

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

We got ourselves some hard-workers!

It’s been a jam-packed few weeks for the Kalapuya High School group and it’s not even over yet. We’ve sure been busy keeping them busy with projects, excursions, and lots of fun activities. So busy, in fact, that I run the risk of another long-winded post (big surprise, eh?).

The main community service project has been painting benches and landscaping the new playground (more on that later), but while the paint is drying and the shovels and wheelbarrows are put aside, here’s a taste of what they’ve been up to.

Colegio Visit

This was definitely a first for everyone involved. Kalapuya High School students were each paired with a Pavones local to attend their high school for half a day. It was mind-opening, they reported, to witness such striking differences between their liberal, alternative high school in Eugene, Oregon and Comte’s 7^th-12^th grade colegio; a vastly different system of education. Start with an hour and a half bumpy bus ride at 5:30 am, and then add the lack of polyester uniforms, the language barrier, and the general disorientation, it was quite challenging for the seven high school students, some of whom said, “It was pretty chaotic and the teachers didn’t seem to have any control over their classes. Everyone was talking and playing in the halls,” and “The fence around the whole school made it feel like a jail!” While trying to ignore questioning stares from local students, the visitors sat in on a few classes and played foosball in the courtyard, returning to Pavones relieved and with a newfound appreciation for their school.

Beach Cleanup

…is always successful here because, well, there is SO MUCH of it! Not to mention that the sight of a group of foreigners cleaning up garbage on the beach sets an example for the community, especially our ECC students. This community service activity goes hand in hand with our increasing efforts to create a sustainable recycle system for Pavones and surrounding areas. Fostering awareness for recycling and waste management has been a goal of ECC’s for the past few years and hopefully Kalapuya groups in the future will take part in building Pavones’ first recycle center.

Left- Do some of these people look out of place? Playing foosball at the Comte Colegio

Right- I told you we had some hard-workers: they covered about two miles of beach during the garbage cleanup.

What’s a trip to Costa Rica without some outdoor fun?

Taking advantage of “outdoor playground,” as my friend, Amy, most aptly calls our home, the students also have been surfing, swimming fishing and relaxing on the beach in their free time. The balance of work and play makes the trip a blast and meaningful at the same time.

Left- River walk up the Rio Claro

Right- Dorado for dinner!

Global Services Outreach Program (GSOP): Community service and cultural integration excursion for high school students.

Escuela Camino Claro’s pilot GSOP was a great success last year and we are thrilled to see another equally enthusiastic, open-minded, and motivated group of students again this year. Well into their three-week Central America adventure, the Kalapuya High School group from Eugene, Oregon has already accrued a multitude of new experiences; ones they will no doubt remember for the rest of their lives. These seven students have also already begun to immerse themselves in the community of Pavones and make some positive changes in our town.

The group’s itinerary is packed with lots of volunteer, outdoor, and community integration activities that will better our town while at the same time provide these teenagers with the opportunity to become integrated in other cultures. It’s a joy for us ECC teachers, as active members of Pavones, to help coordinate this program and witness cultural boundaries being broken!

What will they be doing here in Pavones?

The following are the primary activities the high school group will be involved in

Park Improvement Project: Landscaping, planting trees, and cleaning up the children’s playground area that was recently installed in Pavones’ center.

Guaymi Indigenous Reservation Homestay: Three nights with Guaymi families in the indigenous reservation located in the mountains outside of Pavones. Families are able to share their culture, generate income, and teach the high school students what rustic living really means (and we really mean rustic!).

Life Stories Series: Several notable members of the community, locals and foreigners alike, are invited to dine with the group and share their perspective on Pavones’ history and the changes taking place.

A Day in Colegio: Each student is paired with a local high school student and will accompany them for a half-day of school, including the bus ride and attending their classes.

Painting Escuela Camino Claro: Last year was outside, this year is inside (the group already finished and it looks GREAT, thank you!!!)

So let’s get started!

Put your heads together for the Park Improvement Project

The “Play” has already become the number one hangout for local kids- BUT, it is greatly in need of some changes. The group spent day one drawing maps and making plans for the work to come. Installing trash bins, gardening, building benches, and putting up tire swings turned out to be the top priorities, although there were lots of great ideas. It all sure brought back memories of elementary school recess (wall-ball, four-square, tether ball…remember?).

While planning, students consulted with head coordinator, Hadas, and created makeshift blueprints for the new and improved “Play”.

The next step was a bit of weeding and beautification of the walking path by adding stones and coconut shells.

Next was constructing benches: the hard part was trekking through the mud to gather logs for the bases. As you can see, it IS the beginning of the rainy season! Then the sun graced us with its presence during the building part and now they are ready to be painted tomorrow.

This is only the beginning…

So keep checking us out for more posts about the students’ progress as the next few weeks progress.

You can check out last year’s Kalapuya High School group on ECC’s website’s photo gallery.