The Hojancha Christmas party took place this week for the kids and community members we work with in the beautiful town of Hojancha in Guanacaste Province in the North-West of Costa Rica.   We had 13 volunteers helping us in all, including a group of 12 from Central Michigan University - thanks so much guys!!  Thanks to all the wonderful donations we've received and the great help our volunteers gave us in putting up the decorations and organizing games, prizes and food, everyone had a wonderful day.

The kids from the small school next to the Camaronal Reserve (where our volunteers work doing turtle conservation) put on a puppet show for everybody all about turtles and the need for preservation.  All the children enjoyed the games we had and loved beating our group of volunteers at soccer!

Thank you so much to all the volunteers from Michigan who donated gift bags for the children from the  Daycare & Nutritional Center in Hojancha.  These were really special and all the items in the gift bags such as tooth brushes, tooth paste, pencils and stationery items are really important for the learning and healthy development of these kids.

We're today off to Puerto Viejo for the Bambu and Puerto Viejo parties over the weekend and coming week.  We're looking forward to meeting all the volunteers and we hope these events will be as successful as the Hojancha party!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE!

International Volunteer Day: 5th December 2008

Today the UN, Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations all over the world are celebrating International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development. It’s an opportunity for volunteer organizations around the world to highlight their achievements and efforts towards helping reach the 8 Millennium Development Goals set out by the world’s Nations and leading development organizations in the year 2000 to be achieved by 2015.

These are to:

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Develop a global partnership for development

With the help of our generous and hard-working volunteers and donors, Tropical Adventures is working hard to help children, indigenous people, under-resourced communities and wildlife in Costa Rica improve their lives and have the prospect of a better future. Through our non-profit volunteer and adventure programs and tour department, Tropical Adventures enables tourists and travelers to help fight poverty while still experiencing a rich and fulfilling trip to Costa Rica.

Despite the poor economic situation, we are still so glad to be receiving as many applications from volunteers as ever and look forward to hosting them all. We are pleased to say we have more than fifty people coming to help donate supplies and organize Christmas festivities on our Christmas Projects this month. 

We’ve come a long way in the last three years and hope through continued support we will be able to carry on our growth and reach out to more of Central America’s poor and under-resourced areas. Please consider supporting us in any way that you can. Volunteer with us, become a member, donate money or supplies or contact us to see how you can use your skills to help – we appreciate you more than you can imagine!

Pura vida,

Sarah

 After a long period of heavy rains over the last couple of weeks, the Caribbean side of Costa Rica experienced horrible flooding. The worst flooding occurred in Sixaola and on the Talamanca Indigenous reservation. According to our friends who live there, this is the worst flooding the area has experienced in at least 30 years.

Many people are left homeless and without potable water. Initially there were nearly 50 shelters open and full of people. Many people have since returned home, however there are more than 1,200 people living in the eighteen shelters which still remain open. Some areas are still impossible to reach, such as Amubri, Besta and parts of Talamanca. So the US Army has been present with helicopters, dropping US AID boxes of supplies and  food to people from the sky.
 
The Costa Rica National Emergency Commission (Comision Nacional de Emergencias) estimates that there has been $77 million in damage to crops, roads and community buildings such as schools and clinics. Because nearly all the banana / plantain crops were destroyed, the indigenous people whose livelihood depends on these crops are in serious financial trouble. Nothing can be replanted for at least a year. That means these folks won't have an income for at least 18 more months.

Tropical Adventures staff responded to the crisis by delivering supplies, clothes and food this Thanksgiving  weekend to the community of Bambu, where we have 3 projects. The damage was quite shocking. We only hope we can continue to support the people who really need help right now. As we get more donations, we'll continue to provide support. Anyone interested in donating can visit our donations page. If you are visiting Costa Rica soon, please contact us for information about the kinds of supplies which are needed. More pictures of our trip can be seen at our photo gallery - we will upload videos soon.

Thank you all for your continued support!

Scott Pralinsky, Executive Director


Roberto’s Trip to Help Indigenous People in Costa Rica
Having employees that are dedicated to the cause is a great asset for Tropical Adventures. On a separate endeavor aside from his work at Tropical Adventures, our Project Coordinator, Roberto Guzman, has in his free time organized a trip with friends to donate toys, school supplies, food and toiletries to a remote community in the Talamanca Indigenous area this weekend.

The people in this community lack basic everyday items and he will be making a special trip to donate supplies to the elderly people, children and 13 families. It is not known at the moment whether they have been affected by last week’s floods, but this great act of generosity by Roberto and many of his friends will benefit this community greatly – well done Roberto!