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| COSTA RICA |
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Costa Rica means the "Rich Coast" and was so named by the Spanish for its wealth of natural resources. Today the country is renowned for the protection of its rainforests and the abolition of its army in 1948. Despite being a Caribbean paradise, Costa Rica continues to face development challenges with work to be done in rural communities in education, health, gender, infrastructure and environmental protection. Secondary school dropout amongst rural youth continues to be a key challenge.
YCI has been working with local partner Reto Juvenil Internacional for over 17 years on implementing programs geared towards youth skills development, young women’s empowerment, local ecotourism including National Parks trails building and construction projects to meet basic community needs such as access to clean drinking water.
YCI is proud to offer three dynamic program options in Costa Rica: Group Programs that are five, eight and 10 weeks in length. These programs provide extraordinary opportunities for youth to acquire solid skills from exciting and dynamic projects.
Working in teams of six to 12 volunteers with the support of YCI staff, volunteers will work to improve the social and economic welfare of communities. You may live and work with residents in small communities to help build aqueducts, health posts or schools. Your group may be assigned to help construct small-scale projects such as trails, lookouts, ranger huts and visitor centres in parks and conservation areas in order to attract and educate more visitors. Volunteers may also organize and help facilitate Youth or Women’s Action Conferences addressing key issues identified by local communities with topics ranging from teen pregnancy to leadership. Some YCI groups help strengthen rural women's cooperatives by improving community facilities that in turn allow the women to generate new revenue—which is ultimately an investment in families.
"My project in El Bosque de la Cangreja allowed me to take a step back, out of my textbooks and away from the theory behind development, and fully understand the societal, political, environmental and economic forces driving local communities, agricultural and environmental protection. Working at the grassroots level allows you to really truly get your hands dirty and fully grasp the work involved in promoting international cooperation, understanding and development."
-Past Volunteer, Costa Rica
Past Project Activities:
Environmental Sustainability: During a five-week project in Juanilama de Pocosol, Canadian volunteers teamed with local groups to coordinate a two-day environmental conference. Twenty-five elementary school students along with parents participated in workshops about ecology and organic vs. non-organic waste. For the high school students and teachers, workshops focused on ecotourism and participants took a tour of the Reserve. Several families participated in workshops about ecology, eco-rural tourism and biodiversity. The conference was a great success and connected the community more closely with their natural environment and provided tools for its protection.
Gender Equity and Infrastructure: With funding from the National Office of Community Development and from an initiative of the community and a local development association, volunteers helped finish building a community centre during a 10-week program in Los Jazminesa, Puntarenas. Canadian and Australian volunteers along with local community members finished the construction of the “Salon Comunal,” which included important upgrades to the health centre. This space was created for fundraising activities, training opportunities and other community events. After construction and renovations were finished on the centre, volunteers organized a Women’s Action Conference that included art and sports activities as well as training programs for single mothers in the area.
For information on project dates, please refer to the Program Calendar.
| HDI: |
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48/177 |
| Population: |
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4.3 million |
| Life Expectancy: |
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78.1 |
| Infant mortality: |
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11 |
| Youth Literacy Rate: |
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97.6% |
| HIV prevalence: (ages 15-49) |
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0.3% |
Population living below
the
national
poverty line: |
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22% |
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Program Overview
