Nov

28

Upland Damage Extensive; Help Sought

November 28, 2008 | Tags: Accidents and Natural Disasters, Helping Out | 1 Comment


The Caracol River washed away the bridge which was the access to the community of Los Ángeles de Río Jiménez de Guácimo.
Photo by Mario Rojas, courtesy of La Nacion.

While the communities of Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, Cocles and Punta Uva are mostly getting back to normal after the flooding, the upland communities where tourists rarely go remain severely affected. This includes the town of Sixaola on the Panama border so the land crossing to Panama (a frequent route for travelers is Puerto Viejo to Bocas, Panama) remains closed for now.

The emergency commission (CNE) is estimating some 42 billion colones (77 million US$) in damages to highways, streets, agricultural crops, damaged wells and aqueducts, clinics and schools.   The impact beyond this to individual homeowners and in lost business will increase this amount greatly.

CNE also estimates some 46,000 persons affected by the flooding including 5.497 who remain in shelters, unable to return to their homes.  They are also reporting that although the water has receded in most places there remain 35 communities whose access to the outside world is cut off by the flooding.

Help is still sought as well. The Cruz Roja is mounting a national campaign and locally the relief effort is being coordinated by ATEC which has setup pickup points locally where donations of food, water, clothing, money, medicine, tools, toys, holiday gifts, and cash.  Puerto Viejo Satellite and the Talamanca News are helping out by processing credit card donations for people so that people can help from whereever they are. We will cover all credit card fees so 100% of your donation will go to the relief effort.

More:

Nov

26

Donation Drive Launched to Help Flood Victims

November 26, 2008 | Tags: Accidents and Natural Disasters, Helping Out | 2 Comments

Greencoast.com and ATEC, with the Tourism Chamber, the Biofuel Cooperative, Associacion ANAI, local pulperias and PuertoViejoSatellite.com are working together to gather donations of food, water, clothing, money, medicine, tools, toys, holiday gifts, and cash.

Homeless family in Celia, Talamanca
This family cannot return to their house in Celia, Talamanca so they wait for help.
Photo by Martin Caraval, courtesy of La Nacion.

The community of Yorkin in Alta-Talamanca lost its bridge, its lodge, its water and septic systems and needs help rebuilding. Many other communities are also suffering.

ReciCaribe’s truck will bring up donated items this week and again as long as we keep getting donations—they lost their crops they will need help for a long time.

Look for a donations box at the following supermarkets (soon to be more) or bring donations to the following places listed below.

  • Pulperia La Violeta, Playa Negra
  • Super Buen Precio, Puerto Viejo
  • Super Pirrilpli, Cocles
  • Duende Gourment, Playa Chiquita

or to:

  • ATEC in Puerto Viejo 2750 0191
  • Aguas Claras in Playa Chiquita 2750 0131
  • The Mariposario in Cahuita, contact Leda 2755 0108 or 8844 8032
  • ANAI in Hone Creek 2756 8021
  • ANAI in San Jose, contact Diego 2224 3570 or diego@anaicr.org

100% of cash donations will be given to flood victims will be completely transparent and will be posted on here on the Talamanca News and on Greencoast.com.

Credit card donations can be made at www.puertoviejosatellite.com/donate.php. Puerto Viejo Satellite will cover the credit card fees so that 100% of your donation will be forwarded to help out.

You can also make a donation through Banco Nacional so no fees are paid. Please see account details on Greencoast.com.

Please consider at this time of giving thanks, that we have our health and safety, and that we are thankful that we are able to be generous to our neighbors.

Please contact ATEC with ideas, questions, help, or concerns:+506 2750 0398 or atecmail@gmail.com

Nov

4

Arte Viva On Again!

November 4, 2008 | Tags: Helping Out | Leave a Comment

Arte Vive has managed to reschedule their event and they are pleased to announce that this much anticipated event will be happening on the final weekend in November.

In the coming week they will finalize the permits with the municipality which is helping them with the even. They want to thank everyone for their patience and the support shown to the association.

They also are pleased to announce that The EDACS Association, which sponsors and benefits from the event, has completed the following projects in the last month alone:

  • Ceramics workshop for 15 primary school children of Puerto Viejo. Anais Morera taught 4 sessions of 2 hours each and the pieces created by the students will be exhibited during the Arte Viva event.
  • Workshop of Recycled Arts for 40 children of the primary school in Cocles with teacher Marta Gamboa. You can see the results at Arte Viva.
  • Basketball workshop for 15 students of the Telesecundaria with teach Tom Franklin and donated shirts and balls. They made up the team “Basket ArteViva” which that teacher has promised to continue!
  • Fabric and Ceramics Workshop for 10 primary school kids with teacher Natalia Silva. You can see the results at Arte Viva.
  • First encounter with Alternative Medicine. 15 professionals of different techniques of massage and meditation gathered to give talks and free classes during a weekend at Cabinas Jacaranda
  • Donation of 70.000 colones to the band of the Telesecundaria to buy musical instruments.
  • Repair of the damaged mosaic at the entrance of the Telesecundaria
  • Donation of two scholarships for persons of limited resources to participate in a theater course with the famous actress Maria Silva

    • They have many other workshops in the planning for the coming weeks.

    They also have renewed strength and commitment of continuing with their mission, despite the difficulty the association encountered with the cancelling of the original festival dates.

    In the coming week, they will produce a new official poster promoting the event and they’d like local business owners to know that this poster will include the logos and mention those who have generously supported them.

    However, they are asking hotels and other business that up to now have not made donations to consider becoming supporters of this unique and special event. Donations of $100 will receive a logo on the poster and $40 will receive a mention. Details of how to donate can be found on their website’s donation page.

    More details on Arte Viva and EDACS can be found at www.arteviva-puertoviejo.com and the detailed event schedule will be posted there when it is available.

    Oct

    24

    Updated Wishlist for Community Groups and School Kids

    October 24, 2008 | Tags: Helping Out | Leave a Comment

    Are you coming down to Puerto Viejo soon?  Why not fill up some spare space in your luggage with donations for local kids and community organizations?

    ATEC is collecting items on behalf of various groups and also December is their 3rd annual school supply drive (the Costa Rican school year begins in January).

    Please see their new wishlist here and help out if you can.

    Apr

    15

    ATEC Plans 70km Trans-Talamanca Fundraising Trek

    April 15, 2008 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | Leave a Comment

    For more than ten years ATEC’s guide, Zenon from Alta Talamanca, has offered the “Trans-Talamanca Trek,” a 70 km mountainous challenge.

    Casa Esperanza FrameAlong with being an experienced guide on the ancient trail though the Talamancas, Zenon is a community organizer in his small town of Coroma where construction on the “Casa de Esperanza” was started in 2004. The Casa is a dream to give the kids from his small community a head start. The frame of the Casa was built in 2004 with a grant from Glenn Scarborough but then the floods in January 2005 wiped out all the work he had done, along with wiping out any extra time or hope to keep it going.

    “Many of our kids don’t speak Spanish,” Zenon explained, “many don’t have the basic concepts of mathematics or even counting. If we can give them a head-start before they leave home to attend school, they will have more confidence and more success.”

    Now Glenn and Zenon are revitalized to re-initiate the project. “If we can raise $1,100,” Glenn said, “we can re-build the Casa, get school supplies and books to them, and the kids of Coroma will have a chance to be prepared when they are ready to head off to go to school in Amubri”.

    As a way to help raise funds to complete the building and buy the supplies for our neighbors and the children of Coroma, ATEC is offering an opportunity to experience an amazing trek across the continental divide in the Talamanca Mountain range, through pristine original growth rainforest and cloudforest, with a Cabecar native and experienced guide from Coroma, Talamanca. Led by Zenon, this 70km journey would take you up the Caribbean slope through wonderful and dense forest landscapes, past rarely seen rainforest waterfalls, over windswept peaks as high as 2700 meters and to the indigenous community of Ujarrás on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera de Talamanca.

    Proceeds from this trip will be dedicated to helping finish the building and purchase supplies for the Children’s Center, La Casa de Esparanza, in the community of Coroma.

    Non-hikers are also welcome to donate. All donations will be completely transparent and posted through ATEC’s email list during the fund drive and on Greencoast.com after the deadline.

    The trip is planned for early May, it takes between 5 and 15 days and it ain’t easy. Write to atecmail@gmail.com to sign up, with questions, or to donate.

    If you’d like to donate with a credit card, Puerto Viejo Satellite is offering to process credit card donations and cover all bank fees so that 100% of your donation will go towards the project. You can do so on the Donate Page. 

    For more on this: Greencoast News: Fundraising Trek for “Head Start” Program in Alta-Talamanca.

    Apr

    10

    A Jungle Bridge

    April 10, 2008 | Tags: Helping Out | Leave a Comment

    Mama Chicken with 2 of her brood on the job at The Bridge, Puerto Viejo
    Mama Chicken with 2 of her brood on the job at The Bridge

    Barry Stevens, who along with his wife Nancy, runs the local not-for-profit The Bridge centre, publishes a newsletter “A Jungle Bridge” once or twice a month.

    It’s filled with stories from the work they do and from their daily lives and makes an interesting read.

    The story of the mama chicken in today’s issue was particularly poignant for me.

    You can read the latest issue here and also get sign-up info for the newsletter at that link. 

    You can get more information about The Bridge on the Puerto Viejo Satellite Helping Out page or on The Bridge website.

    Dec

    11

    Christmas Gifting Program

    December 11, 2007 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | Leave a Comment

    Gifts being loaded in canoe from truck
    Gifts from last year’s program being transfered to a canoe for the journey

    It’s December and ATEC thought they’d give you the opportunity to be generous to your neighbors again.

    Last year they had a very successful impromptu gift drive. The community came through and they had THREE carloads of gifts that went up to some friends in remote areas in Alta-Talamanca by Coroma.

    This year they will send gifts up to that community again but also hope to expand to other communities. ATEC’s Vice President was Talamanca’s Diputado (senator) and therefore had the opportunity to get to know the communities in our canton that often get little attention; they hope to get materials into some of those communities.

    They have had a good start, some friends of Talamanca have gotten together a whole container-load of good condition kids clothing that’s on the way!

    So, while good-condition, clean, used products are appreciated, they are also suggesting practical items such as:

    If you have a vehicle and want to help transport the materials in late December, please let ATEC know.

    ATEC promises a complete and transparent report after the drive. If you want to donate cash, you can be assured you’ll get a receipt and a full report of what the money was spend on. To donate by credit card, you can donate on the Puerto Viejo Satellite donation page.  Puerto Viejo Satellite and The Talamanca News will cover all credit card processing fees and pass 100% of your donation on to ATEC for the drive.

    Materials can be dropped off at ATEC (view on map) or at El Puente-The Bridge (view on map).

    Sep

    21

    Volunteers turn out to paint Bambu Retirement Center

    September 21, 2007 | Tags: Community Calendar, Helping Out | Leave a Comment

    September 15, 2007
    October 13, 2007

    This story shows what a difference a small group of dedicated volunteers can make. Thirteen volunteers organized by Helping Hands Costa Rica and Tropical Adventures made their way out to the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation for a day of painting at the Bambu Retirement Home.

    Painting Party at the Bambu Retirement Home
    Volunteers take a break to pose for a group picture

    In 7 hours they managed to paint three out of four wings, as well as 8 out of 16 bathrooms. In addition, two of the volunteers worked out in the back of the property scraping and painting the chain link fencing and metal bars that enclose the entire laundry section.

    A generous donation from the Iain Programa of $1,000 was exactly enough to buy the paint and supplies needed. And Hotel Banana Azul donated a staff member and reduced room rates for the volunteers.

    If you want to help out, they’re scheduling another weekend at the retirement home to finish up the work they didn’t get a chance to complete. They’ll be going back again on Saturday, October 13, 2007.

    You can get all the details, see more pictures and find out how you can help at Crazy Jungle Blog: Painting Party.

    Jul

    13

    Tico Times Weekend writes about Volunteering in the South Caribbean

    July 13, 2007 | Tags: Helping Out | Leave a Comment

    South Caribbean mapThe Tico Times Weekend today published an article about the experience of volunteering in our area. The article is based on interviews with Scott Pralinsky and his staff at Tropical Adventures (view on map | see website) which runs volunteer vacation programs in the area working with indigenous communities.

    The volunteers in the article helped out at the Hone Creek Iguana Farm and visited Bambú (also known as Bratsi) as well as other programs.

    The article also includes a sidebar on the hotel Banana Azul (view on map | see website) which opened a few months ago just outside Puerto Viejo at Playa Negra.

    You can read the entire article here: Volunteer Programs Offer Enriching Way to Experience Southern Caribbean.

    Or you can pick up a printed copy of The Tico Times this week. It is available at The Old Harbour Supermarket.