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Jan
13
Going Green: Great Green Macaws Back in Talamanca
January 13, 2012 | Tags: Environment, Helping Out, Nature | 4 Comments
For the first time in many years, Great Green macaws (Ara ambiguus) are back in the Talamanca area! Great Greens are listed as endangered, with the last remaining population in Torteguero numbering only 300 individuals, with only 25-35 breeding pairs left. They are endangered due to deforestation and extensive poaching, primarily for the illegal pet trade. They are perfectly adapted for living in the rainforest and may live over 60 years in the wild. They depend mainly on the mountain almond tree, or almendro de montaña 
(Dipteryx panamensis) for food and nesting. These birds take ten years to reach breeding age and will mate for life!
The Ara Project, based in Alajuela, breeds Scarlet (Ara macao) and Great Green macaws with the sole intention of release into the wild. Find out more and donate at: www.thearaproject.org
We are now re-introducing Greens here with the hopes that once a sustainable population is established, they will eventually meet up with the wild population and re-create the Caribbean corridor. A reintroduction has never been attempted officially with the Great Green species, so the Talamanca area is witnessing the first release of these birds in the world! The first release consists of ten birds, nine of which have been released since August and are doing extremely well.
The success of this release is not solely dependent on the macaws; the community must be supportive of this effort if it is to be successful. We are encouraging people let us know if any macaws are in your area. This lets us know not only how they are using the release range, but also helps us identify birds that can fly farther and faster than we can keep up! With the help of reports, we have estimated they have established a range of 41 square kilometres! People can also help the macaws by planting fruit trees such as the almendros, and enjoying the birds from afar. They do best when left alone, and we hope people watch out for anyone trying to harm the birds.
Thank you so much for your support and interest in the Ara Project and the macaws! Please feel free to contact us at any time:
colline@thearaproject.org (506) 8524-4675
allan@thearaproject.org (506) 8971-1436
 Colline W. Emmanuelle is the Education & Community Outreach Manager for The Ara Project. She is originally from Baltimore, Maryland and has been involved with the Project since February 2011. In addition to macaws, Colline’s favourite animals include anteaters and yeti crabs. |
Dec
14
Annual Donation Drive for School Kids
December 14, 2011 | Tags: Helping Out | Comments Off
ATEC is once again coordinating the annual Holiday school supply drive. This year, we will help the Suri School in Upper Talamanca.
There are 100′s of kids in Talamanca that need help to purchase their school supplies. School starts in February, but we do the drive now so you can have the opportunity to purchase the gift of education for a local student and then present to the conscientious person you want to honor with that gift.
Levels of donating:
• You can donate the actual materials that kids need by dropping them off at ATEC. Contact tmatecadmi@gmail.com if for the official list of supplies needed.
• US$1+ buys some pens or a notebook.
• $35 buys all of the school supplies for one kid for one year!
• $66 buys all of the school supplies for one kid for one year AND their school uniform AND SHOES!
• Or you can adopt a 1.5 kids or whole bunch of kids!
If you’re in Puerto Viejo drop off your donations of supplies or cash at the ATEC office. Or if you can’t make it there, you can make a credit card donation at the Puerto Viejo Satellite donation page and Puerto Viejo Satellite will cover all the fees so that 100% of your donation will make it to the kids.
Oct
23
KOKi Beach Among Honorees at National Awards Ceremony
October 23, 2011 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | Comments Off
Puerto Viejo restaurant Koki Beach won national recognition for its contributions for the environment and social work in an awards ceremony recognizing businesses and institutions that improve the quality of life in Costa Rica.
The restaurant is was one of the recipients of the “Aportes al Mejoramiento de la Calidad de Vida” prize for 2011.
Other awards were given to a community leader in Alajuela, a team of veterinarians from the Universidad Nacional, a group of clowns and a recycling program.
The awards were decided on by a committee from Costa Rica’s ombudsman and from the public universities.
More: La Nación: Autoridades premian aportes para mejorar la calidad de vida
Oct
3
Beach Clean Up Gets Results
October 3, 2011 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | 2 Comments
The beach clean up was a great success, you really do not know how much trash there is all over the beach until you are out there picking it up for yourself! Volunteers collected around 300 kilograms from Home Creek river all the way to Salsa Brava beach in downtown Puerto Viejo.
A big thank you to the Puerto Viejo School kids, who spent their unscheduled day off from school with us in the unrelenting heat. Way to go!
These community events do not only rely on the people to come out and spend their day picking up trash, we also need the local businesses to get involved. I am happy to say that the support from the local businesses was amazing! It is truly a great feeling to have companies and organizations like ATEC, Banana Azul, Cantik, Coco Loco Lodge, El Diamante, Exploradores, Farmacia Amiga, Interbus, Koki Beach Restaurant, Supermercado Old Harbour and Terraventuras which all pulled together to help make the event a great success.
Special thanks to Terra Nostra for coming to support us for this day! Their insight of how important the clean-up of our beaches is, was very inspiring. They instructed us on not just picking up trash, but also on how to sort trash correctly. I guarantee you I will never look at trash the same way again.
After collecting all this trash it had to go somewhere. Well that was when Reci Caribe and Municipalidad de Talamanca took over. After the trash was sorted correctly all the recyclable items were documented and then loaded onto a truck and were sent to the local recycling center, all the remaining trash was transported away by Municipalidad de Talamanca to a local land fill.
All the collected trash collected at this beach clean up is going to be reported to the Ocean Conservancy and the data is going to be added to their world wide program “International Costal Cleanup 2011”.
Residents and local businesses of Puerto Viejo really proved that even the smallest communities can make a difference when everyone works together. Once again great job everyone! Lets all continue to keep our beautiful beaches clean!
You can see more photos and more information about the results at the facebook album.
 Article by Nina Neidhart. Nina is the general manager of Gecko Trail Adventures, a Puerto Viejo based tour company which offers packages, transportation, tours and activities throughout Costa Rica. They specialize in helping clients to set up a customized and authentic experience of the real Costa Rica. More information at GeckoTrail.com. |
Sep
20
Education by example in the southern Caribbean
September 20, 2011 | Tags: Community Calendar, Community News, Helping Out | 1 Comment
| September 30, 2011 | ||
| 8:00 am |
Local tour company Gecko Trail Adventures is organizing a beach cleanup day on Sept 30 with local school kids.
Lead by example! Keep the beach clean.The company strives to actively participate in community projects that promote a sustainable development of the local area. In this effort, they encourage their employees to look beyond their day-to-day tasks and work on projects benefiting their community. One of these endeavors is the beach clean-up they are organizing with children from the local school along with staff from Gecko Trail Adventures and Hotel Banana Azul for September 30th.
The project was made possible thanks to supplied donations from local businesses and various providers Gecko Trail Adventures works with. The trash collected will be counted with the help of Terra-Nostra. The results will be reported to Ocean Conservancy to be able to have a document that governments, organizations and companies can use to check the Waste World Marine Index.
If you find yourself in the Puerto Viejo area on September 30th you are very welcome to join them. The meeting point will be at the beach in front of Hotel Banana Azul at 8:00am.
 Article by Gecko Trail Adventures. Gecko Trail Adventures started 3 years ago with 2 staff and a tiny tour desk in a local hotel. The main objective was, and still is, to offer good quality and reasonably priced tours to clients that wish to visit the Caribbean as well as all other areas of Costa Rica. Today they employ 14, local Caribeños as well others from around Costa Rica and around the world, who devote themselves to ensuring that everyone has the best possible experience while visiting this beautiful country. Their goal is to provide customized services that fit each client’s needs, and in this way utilize local guides and small companies and hotels to be able to offer an authentic Costa Rica experience. More information at www.gecktrail.com. |
Sep
12
Seeing Another Talamanca: Volunteering with ANAI
September 12, 2011 | Tags: Environment, Helping Out | Comments Off
Sleeping in an indigenous Bribri house 15 miles from any road, as part of an expedition as insightful and non-touristy as it gets. Listening to our Bribri friends relate the ancient beliefs of their culture, part in Spanish, part in Bribri. Eating lunch out of banana leaves next to a cool mountain stream. Watching a 5-foot eel narrowly escape our seine net. Looking at thousands of freshwater fish daily. These were all relatively normal events during my time volunteering with the Asociacion ANAI, which hopefully sheds some light on how interesting living and volunteering in Talamanca can be.
I spent about half a year living in Hone Creek, a small town 5km inland from Puerto Viejo, as a volunteer with ANAI. The organization’s objectives lie mostly within the realm of river and stream monitoring and environmental education, though in reality it is involved in a multitude of related activities. The field station in Hone Creek takes 25-35 trips a year,between February and May/June, to sites all over Talamanca, for 1-5 days each. The trips take place in many different places, from the border at Sixaola to Limon, from the coast to higher up in the mountains than most people knew existed, even into Panama.
Many of these expeditions take place high up in the watersheds, in places very few people see, where human impact is minimal to none, to get samples of fish near their breeding grounds, where the indicators of stream health are most present and significant. On these expeditions, 3-5 ANAI staff, usually a couple volunteers, and about 4-8 locals, all participate in biomonitoring to improve the health of the water systems in the region.
Everyone, including the volunteers, are directly involved in the work, and aren’t left standing and watching on the side. Fish are collected and identified, along with shrimp, eels and macroinvertebrates (larvaeof flying insects). Visual assessments are taken, water is tested, pictures are taken, and at the end of each day, a delightfully large cache of information has been made to be used in various ways. The information is put into a database and compared to previous years, then given to the local government, the Costa Rican government, the University of Costa Rica (which volunteers sometimes work with as a partnership), UNESCO, and other NGOs working in environmental management. Academic articles are also published from time to time in peer-reviewed journals. The field work can be physically demanding, but then again most rewarding things aren’t easy, right?
These expeditions serve as environmental education courses almost as much as they serve the goal of biomonitoring. The ANAI staff teach as they go, to the local people hired to help carry gear (and participate) as well as to any volunteers with ANAI at the time. These “courses,” at least in my opinion, are infinitely more helpful, practical, and interesting than the majority of courses in a classroom because everyone has the opportunity to ask questions all dht”ay long, see firsthand what the studies look like, and not worry about tests to pass or homework to do. The work is fun, the information is very interesting, and therefore learning becomes an enjoyable and interactive experience that doesn’t feel forced. After all, who could complain with being outside all day, learning about watersheds and tropical ecology?
The website is http://anaicr.wordpress.com and any inquiries can be made to Maribel Mafla, who lives permanently in Talamanca and co-runs the field work, at mmafla@anaicr.org (Spanish only) or to Diego Lynch, the President of ANAI, who lives in San Jose, at diego@anaicr.org (English or Spanish). They are happy to take phone calls at 2756-8120.
 Article by Kevin Wells. Kevin is a 25 year-old Biology/Spanish college graduate currently living in Talamanca. His current work is in the field of forest ecology and wildlife conservation, but is involved in other related projects. He is from Eugene, Oregon, USA, and is therefore well adjusted to the rain. Kevin welcomes any questions or comments, and can be reached via email at kjwells86@gmail.com |
Jun
25
Cocles Lifeguard Program Faces Funding Crisis
June 25, 2011 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | Comments Off
The Cocles Lifeguard program is again facing a funding crisis that may cause the program to be suspended if additional funds cannot be raised.
As of June 5, the program account had a deficit balance of 24,127 colones and generally runs short about 75,000 colones each month unless there are special donations or fundraising events to cover the difference.
The lifeguard program receives no government support, it is supported only by donations from supporting businesses and individuals.
Please see the www.Cocles.org page for the latest information on the program and which businesses are regular supporters. Let local businesses you see on the list know that you appreciate their support for the program which has saved many lives in its almost 10 years of existence.
To make a donation, the donation page gives options for how you can support the program through regular monthly donations or via a one-time bank deposit or credit card donation (Puerto Viejo Satellite will process any donations received and pass them on to the program).
May
26
Centro Educativo Playa Chiquita holds Gastro Fair & Multicultural Fundraiser
May 26, 2011 | Tags: Community News, Helping Out | Comments Off
Delicious aromas wafted around the grounds of the school in Playa Chiquita Friday May 13th when they held a colourful multicultural fundraiser.
The mouth-watering smells were surpassed only by the taste of this internationally diverse buffet supplied by parents and available to visitors at modest prices. The event was organised to raise funds for further expansion and improvements at this well respected non-profit school.
Those attending were treated to a varied musical and dance programme featuring, amongst others, soloist Ed Mundo accompanied on the electric piano by Silvia, his wife, who is also music teacher at the school. Ed’s voice and the music filled the newly built classroom with wonderful renditions of a Bolivian song “Kapuri” followed by “Alfonsine y el Mar” and finishing with a melodic “Granada”.
However, the fun had only just begun! A Flamenco group of pupils gorgeously costumed in black and red, showed rhythm and flair, which suggested extensive rehearsal and their obvious enjoyment was matched by that of the audience.
Other acts included pupils singing ambitious and spirited versions of pop songs, enthusiastically performed to toe-tapping beats.
The evening was well attended not only by parents and friends but also by well-wishers showing support for this worthwhile cause. Centro Educativo is a non-profit organisation committed to continuous improvement of the educational standards offered to the children of this area. To achieve this, facilities need to be constantly upgraded and expanded.
Can YOU help build the next classroom?
Absolutely any Donation is helpful: just think what a difference it could make to these pupils schooldays if every person in the Puerto Viejo area gave a small amount of money!
If you can help with a donation, please email the school secretary, Stephanie Achenbaum at the following email address: asocepp@ymail.com or contact the school by telephone at 2750-0754. You can also follow them on facebook.
 Article by Zoë Courtier. Zoë along with her husband Tom Keller are the proprietors of Geckoes Rainforest River Lodge. Two luxurious holiday houses with private plunge pools in a magnificent rainforest and river setting minutes from Playa Cocles. More information at www.geckoeslodge.com |
THANK YOU on behalf of all the children at Centro Educativo in Playa Chiquita!
Mar
8
Saving Lives at Cocles Beach
March 8, 2011 | Tags: Accidents and Natural Disasters, Helping Out | Comments Off
An idyllic day at the beach almost turned deadly for Canadian tourist Bonnie W. in January when she got caught in a rip current at Cocles Beach (Playa Cocles), south of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.
The lifeguard who performed the rescue at Cocles of Bonnie W.
“I was swimming when, suddenly, I realized I was very far away from the beach,” Bonnie said. “I tried to swim back to shore but I seemed to be stuck. I could feel myself getting sucked back further and further away from the shore. I started to panic.”
Bonnie was caught in a rip current — a powerful, narrow current of water that flows rapidly away from the shore, often at speeds in excess of 5 miles-per-hour (8 kilometers-per-hour). It is estimated that rip currents are responsible for about 80% of ocean drowning.
While a rip current often measures 200 feet (62 meters) to 2,500 feet (762 meters) in length, they are typically less than 30 feet (9 meters) wide. As a result, a person can often escape one by remaining calm and swimming parallel to the beach until the current loses strength. Once out of the rip current, they can then swim towards shore. However, many tourists unfamiliar with rip currents panic, and risk become exhausted and drowning.
“Had the lifeguard not been there, I could have drowned,” Bonny said. “I am so grateful to the lifeguard and the Playa Cocles Lifeguard Program.”
This sign explains how the flag system works to alert you to ocean conditions. A red flag indicates that it is too dangerous, stay out of the water. A yellow flag indicates that you should not go in above waist level. A green flag indicates safe swimming. Note that the blue flags seen on some beaches are an indication that the beach has been certified under Costa Rica’s “Bandera Azul” program for excellent water quality and beach cleanliness. It does not indicate ocean conditions.
Cocles Beach is the only lifeguard-patrolled beach on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. Managed by volunteers, the program receives no government funding and relies on donations from local businesses, residents and tourists. That funding is often in short supply and the program has been temporarily suspended in the past when it was unable to raise the money needed to pay the lifeguards, who are paid ₡11,000 per day (approximately US$22).
The minimum monthly bill for running Playa Cocles Lifeguard Program is ₡660,000 (approximately US$1,320), which pays for two lifeguards a day. Its lifeguards have rescued more than 1,500 swimmers at Cocles beach since the service began.
Every donation helps – please support the Playa Cocles Lifeguard Program by making a donation (PayPal accepted). Local business owners in Puerto Viejo can also sign up to provide regular monthly support for the program. For more information, please email Eddie Ryan at La Costa de Papito. More information is available on the Cocles Lifeguard Program website.
Tips:
- Avoid rip currents by always swimming between the red and yellow flags.
- Do not swim alone. Have someone on the beach looking out for you.
- Avoid beaches that are not attended by lifeguards.
- If you find yourself caught in a rip current, stay calm. Conserve your energy by floating or treading water.
- Don’t fight the current by trying to swim back to shore directly against the rip – you could become exhausted and drown. Instead, try to swim parallel to the beach. Once you are out of the current, swim towards shore.
- If you cannot escape the rip, draw attention to yourself: face the shore, wave your arms and yell for help.
- If you see someone who is caught in a rip current, alert a lifeguard. If there is no lifeguard, throw them a floatation device or surf board. Do not go in after them!
| Article by Laura McLeod. Laura is a writer, editor and communications specialist in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She loves toucans, gallo pinto and dreams of moving to Costa Rica one day. lsoucek@shaw.ca. |
May
18
Free Ice Cream!
May 18, 2010 | Tags: Community Calendar, Helping Out | Comments Off
| May 22, 2010 | ||
| 9:00 am |
Project Green Jungle is having a beach cleanup this Saturday on Playa Negra.
They meet at Caribeans Coffee at 9am. Free ice cream for all participants courtesy of Caribeans!
Help the environment and treat your tummy!
You can get more details and confirm your attendance on their facebook event page.
May
14
Community Fundraiser for Puerto Viejo School
May 14, 2010 | Tags: Community Calendar, Helping Out | Comments Off
| May 16, 2010 | ||
| 7:00 pm |
Sunday evening there will be a community fundraiser for the Puerto Viejo School at Loco Natural Restaurant.
The event will feature yummy Loco Natural food (of course), entertainment and raffles. It starts at 7pm.
The funds raise will help the Puerto Viejo school with much needed funds for school repairs and construction.
If you can’t make the event but would like to make a donation and help out, you can do so via the Puerto Viejo Satellite community donation page. Go to the form at the bottom, select Other project and enter “Puerto Viejo School”.
Mar
15
Project Green Jungle: Achieving Conservation through Responsible Commercialisation
March 15, 2010 | Tags: Community Calendar, Environment, Helping Out | Comments Off
| April 17, 2010 |
Has anyone ever sidled up to you, eyes darting furtively left and right and offered you a baby frog, iguana, parrot, or snake for a ‘very cheap price’ ?
Illegal trade in wildlife is rampant in many corners of the world – and we’re not talking about just off the beaten track here. In countries where there is extensive wildlife and low wages the temptation to resist can be too great for the seller. If you can barely make enough to feed your family you are exactly what illegal exporters are looking for.
It works like this: these exporters turn to local indigenous and low income families to obtain wild animals/reptiles for a few dollars, organise the smuggling for a few dollars more and then sell the remaining creatures that survive the inappropriate transport for a handsome profit. And the end result? ‘Silent Forest Syndrome’, communities bent on capturing wildlife to eke out an inadequate wage and exporters banking the proceeds.
If we can assume that the industry in wildlife will always exist, due to demand coupled with global wealth inequalities, how can the damage to the environmental wildlife populations be contained?
Enter John Brickel and Tom Snyder, founders of Project Green Jungle, a non-profit conservation organisation intent on changing the current picture. With zoological backgrounds and extensive experience these two environmentalists share a passion for conservation through education and responsible commercialisation.
Wildlife and commerce is a connection most of us don’t feel comfortable with. It smacks of caged animals, lack of natural habitat, neglect, cruelty even … after all it’s just plain unnatural isn’t it?
But what if controlled breeding programmes of certain amphibians and reptiles:
• Increases numbers of certain species by reintroduction programmes.
• Benefits indigenous communities financially through capacity building programmes.
• Preserves more natural habitat for wildlife that would otherwise be ruined through traditional agriculture.
• Educates children, locals and tourists on conservation methods.
• Promotes cross cultural communication in pursuit of a common goal.
Then the picture begins to look significantly different.
The advantages of a captive breeding programme of this type are significant and far reaching.
If, for instance, an indigenous community is taught how to breed a certain snake such as the dwarf boa (Ungaliophis panamensis), just one of these snakes will net the community around a years worth of wages when legally sold to a zoo. This means that the community does not need to clear rainforest or jungle to make a meagre living from bananas or maize. Obviously it also makes poaching and the illegal trade of wildlife redundant in that area.
In a captive breeding programme reptiles/amphibians are healthier, transport is less stressful, control is exercised on who they are sold to and not unimportant, price is regulated. The initial investment is minimal, the profit made goes to the local community breeders and up to half of those bred in captivity will be released into the wild.
The educational and cross cultural communication aspects of such a programme are just as significant and may even help determine the future of a large area. If schoolchildren, tourists and locals living in this area become interested and/or involved, the opportunities to exchange knowledge on conservation methods and much more between differing cultural groups are legion. By learning from each other about each other we remove a barrier of ignorance and assumption that will have an important impact on our lives.
Project Green Jungle hopes to achieve all of the above and more! As a non-profit organisation they are concerned with integrating various factors to achieve a goal that is long term and pervasive. And that goal is ultimately a symbiotic relationship between humans, wildlife and the environment.
As Tom put it, “Puerto Viejo and its surrounds is an area dependent on its natural environment and its environment is dependent on degrees of conservation.”
Project Green Jungle believes that this area is “ripe for traditional progress” so that by promoting ecological, social and cultural conservation and preservation the community will create a balance between it and the environment.
To that end, Project Green Jungle are busy on a number of fronts. Whilst interviewing John and Tom it became clear that this is not a quick ‘flash in the pan project’, but a way of life.
But it could be said that this project does not belong to just John and Tom, the committed and dedicated founders, but to all of us: those who visit this area and those who live in this area, whether indigenous, foreigners or locals. As John said, “ the social aspect of this project is as significant as the conservation aspect, as one is dependant on the other. We are all involved in the development that happens here just because we are here.”
To leave a ‘positive footprint’ means getting involved. During Earth Days from April 5th to April 22nd, various activities will take place in Puerto Viejo, ‘from the Reef to the Beach to the Jungle’ to elevate environmental consciousness and have fun while you’re doing that!
There will be:
• Tours to watch a bio survey in progress.
• Tours to Kachabri to meet the people involved and share in some traditional celebrations.
• Kayak tours to Sixaola.
And on Saturday April 17th 2010 there will be a community day where there will be:
• A Beach Clean-up by our younger members followed by a party especially for them and awarding of prizes to the ‘most effective rubbish collectors’!
• Talks by local experts on various environmental aspects of this area.
• An Earth Day party for adults including live bands, food and a raffle with seriously good prizes.
Green Jungle is a project of a non-profit-making zoological organisation and their efforts will benefit us all. So spread the word and be part of Earth Day in April. Donate, Volunteer or simply Attend and do your bit for our community!
If you would like to make a donation or to offer a prize for the raffle, do contact John or Tom through their website www.greenjungle.org.
| Article by Zoë Courtier. Zoë along with her husband Tom Keller are the proprietors of Geckoes Rainforest River Lodge. Two luxurious holiday houses with private plunge pools in a magnificent rainforest and river setting minutes from Playa Cocles. More information at www.geckoeslodge.com |
 Photos by David Langs, founder/editor of www.packcamera.com and www.greenphototours.com. |
Feb
7
CATCAS and UNICEF present “Guest of the Heart” program in Puerto Viejo and Cahuita
February 7, 2010 | Tags: Community Calendar, Helping Out | Comments Off
| February 13, 2010 | ||
| 11:00 am | ||
| February 14, 2010 | ||
| 11:00 am |
Local hotel and tourism operators are invited to the launch of this program presented by our local business association CATCAS and UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund).
The “Guest of the Heart” strategy is aimed at helping children with problems or abandoned children.
The meeting for hoteliers from Puerto Viejo, Cocles, Punta Uva and Manzanillo is Saturday Feb 13 at 11 am at the Hotel Punta Cocles.
The meeting for hoteliers from Cahuita is Sunday Feb 14 at Restaurante Relax in Cahuita.
This is a great opportunity for Caribe Sur tourism operators to help and join to be part of this program, the first time that UNICEF has partnered with a chamber of tourism in Central America.
More information on the “Guest of the Heart” program can be found on the UNICEF Costa Rica website.
For more information on the local meetings or the involvement of CATCAS, contact Rolando Soto at turismocaribesur@yahoo.com.
Jan
14
Local community reaches out to Haiti
January 14, 2010 | Tags: Accidents and Natural Disasters, Helping Out | 1 Comment
Costa Rica has had it’s share of natural disasters and is no stranger to earthquakes.
So many in the local community have been profoundly touched by the pictures coming out of Port-au-Prince, knowing that it could’ve just as easily been San Jose or some other part of Costa Rica.
The department of immigration puts the official Haitian population of Costa Rica at only 215 residents but the actual number is probably much higher. Many of them work as mobile vendors in San José. Those interviewed on Teletica last night were anxiously waiting news from home as to whether their families were okay.
A number of local businesses we spoke to have already sent donations:
- Puerto Viejo Satellite $100
- Gecko Trail Adventures $200
Donations within Costa Rica can be sent to the Banco de Costa Rica or Banco Nacional accounts set up for this. International organizations which are collecting donations include Doctors without Borders who have worked extensively in Haiti for many years (Their US, Canadian and other national offices all accept online donations) and and the International Red Cross.
Jan
6
Playa Cocles Lifeguard Program Launches Website
January 6, 2010 | Tags: Helping Out | Comments Off
In order to highlight the work they do and to acknowledge publicly their supporters, the Playa Cocles Lifeguard program has launched a website www.Cocles.org.
The website goals are to:
- Provide a place for residents and visitors alike to find out more information about the program
- Provide a place to acknowledge the supporters in the community who’s regular support keeps the program alive and saving lives
- Provide an online place for donations to be collected
The program would like to hear your stories of how the Cocles Lifeguards have affected (or saved!) your life. Send them to info@cocles.org.
A number of individuals were involved in getting the website launched:
- Doug Dosdall of Puerto Viejo Satellite who is donating the hosting and domain name and did much of the website layout,
- Bethany Hope of Code 3 Design for the graphic design and website layout,
- Zöe Courtier of Geckoes Lodge for writing the backgrounder article that appears on the site, and
- Eddie Ryan of La Costa de Papito for providing the history and records for the program and shepherding it all these years!
Those businesses who were regular supporters of the program at a minimum donation level of 5,000 colones per month are thanked and acknowledge with a link on the site. “Lifesavers”, the businesses supporting the program at a monthly level of at least 20,000 colones per month, are especially thanked.
Businesses who wish to start a regular donation should contact Eddie Ryan to make arrangements and let info@cocles.org know so their donation can be acknowledged.
Business supporters are also encourage to add a link to their website like “We support the Playa Cocles lifeguard program” with a link to www.Cocles.org.
Individuals who wish to make a one time donation can do so by following the Make a Donation link on the website.
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