In addition to the many projects we have in the Hojancha area, we started a basic computing skills course, teaching the basics to interested community members. Tomorrow starts the fourth week of computer classes.

Attendance has been high and the students have been surprisingly enthusiastic. At the beginning of the first week, many students arrived with nervous faces, frantically explaining that they had never even touched a computer before! Already, each student has written a news article, conquered the art of adding borders to pages in Microsoft Word, changing fonts, text sizes, inserting word and clip art, and more! One more advanced group even designed PowerPoint presentations that were shared among the group. Topics included nature, music, animals, best-friends, and family.

Some of our groups have a 50+ years age range; it is very interesting to see how the groups collaborate to help each other out. Next week is an “examen” which will test the skills learned so far in the course.

Opportunities here for volunteers will be directly assisting students navigate menus, directories, and other portions of the computer covered in the lesson. Having someone help the students a few times gives them a huge boost of confidence to later do it themselves!

(by Jason Marschke - Hojancha Volunteer Coordinator)

(This blog entry was contributed by Kelly Wall, a 5th and 6th grade teacher who was able to obtain funding to pay for her volunteer experience with Tropical Adventures. She was kind enough to share with us how she went about it and to give us some ideas of resources for students and educators to do the same. Thanks Kelly!)

A classroom has always been a sacred place to encourage a love of traveling. As a humanities teacher, it’s been my prerogative to instill a sense of wonder about the world and I make it a goal to encourage my students to develop a desire to explore and discover it; seizing any opportunity take a risk, provide a service, and above all work hard to make that opportunity become their reality. In my classroom we often ponder how big and diverse the earth truly is. We often discuss and contemplate what our roles are as global citizens, even if it ends in a heated debate about what it means to be a responsible global citizen.

These are important questions for students, teachers and all to consider. This is after all a huge part of what the 21st century is all about. With the rise of technology, global connections are easier to cultivate any ever before. Within moments, we can skype, chat, email, listen, share and record our thoughts and ideas around the world. This is the kind world that children will grow up in, and for this reason, it’s important that we encourage them to take risks, to become responsible global citizens and above all to take an active role. It’s also important that we model this for them too, and this is where my adventure begins…

I was very fortunate to come across such an accommodating team of staff members at Tropical Adventures. I was taken back with how quickly my needs and many questions were answered. As any traveler knows, the early stages of committing to a trip are the most trying. Tropical Adventures provided all the services necessary to create my dream volunteer trip. They encouraged me to step outside of the box, and plan something that would meet my needs and fulfill me personally and professionally, even if that meant drawing up budget spreadsheets, itineraries and multiple email exchanges; this service was invaluable for me. So, here I am, ready to embark on a new adventure and travel to one of the most lush and biologically diverse areas on the planet.

Costa Rica was appealing for obvious reasons, but I was also drawn to the volunteer service opportunities. For one month, I’ll be dividing my time between two volunteer projects including the Ostional Sea Turtle Project and Hojancha Art and Music Project. I was fortunate to also to secure grant funding through my employer and it was quite a relief to know that these opportunities do exist for those in need. While it can be challenging to secure funding for volunteer service work and travel, it is possible and many individuals and organizations are willing to support motivated advocates. It’s my hope that you can become one too!

Kelly Wall (5th and 6th grade teacher)

I. Resources for Travel Grants and Scholarships:

For Students

• http://journals.worldnomads.com/scholarships/story/72164/Worldwide/Travel-Writing-Scholarship-2011-Our-Winner!
• http://www.statravel.com/cps/rde/xchg/us_division_web_live/hs.xsl/scholarships.htm
• http://www.sytayouthfoundation.org/

For Educators

• http://www.edutopia.org/teacher-travel-grants#fund_for_teachers http://www.fundforteachers.org/ http://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpssap/index.html

Thinking about Costa Rica brings back a lot of beautiful images and cherished memories. Spotless beaches, soaring through tropical canopies on a zip line tour, white waterrafting in the Pacuare River…the list goes on!

My first trip to Costa Rica was to PuertoViejo at 17 years old, to teach English in the Cocles Elementary School. To say that thetrip changed my life is an understatement. I fell in love with the culture, the accents,the people, the scenery, and the change of pace.

Needless to say, I called up Tropical Adventures to arrange something for the next summer, and I have been back to Costa Rica at least once a year since! Now I am working for Tropical Adventures, maintaining relationships with local host families where our volunteers stay, remaining updated on our community and wildlife projects, and working with the local municipality and citizens to enhance the amount of productive activities available in Hojancha. The art & music project is my main goal, collaborating with existing structure and smoothly incorporating skills, guidance, materials, and smiles from our volunteers.

What is truly exciting to me is how much more opportunity there will be for volunteers in the Guanacaste area; I can’t wait to start working with volunteers again! Pura Vida! -- Jason Marschke