Student Information
Travel and Serve Abroad in Samara, Costa Rica
Background
New Voices has been producing arts based service learning opportunities for high school students in the Greater Cincinnati area since 2009. In these programs, students and their community partners work together to create bodies of expressive photographs which they use as prompts for sharing personal stories and perspectives on community issues with each other. In the course of over 75 artistic collaborations, high school students have helped hundreds of individuals in the community who are emerging from dependent circumstances to develop a new sense of confidence and a means to reconnect with the community in positive ways. At the same time they are serving the needs of individuals in the community, students become ambassadors for change by sharing their discoveries and personal opinions about divisive issues, their new voices, with school, family and broader communities.
Going Beyond Tourism
New Voices offers a new service learning opportunity for Cincinnati area high school students through its collaboration with Asociation CREAR, an organization in Playa Samara, Costa Rica which provides educational and other support to school age children in the area. This is not just an opportunity to visit and explore another country. While Costa Rica has become a very popular tourist destination for very good reason (it has a huge variety of spectacular natural attractions), New Voices is an opportunity to place additional context around traveling and experiencing other places. By connecting with individuals and learning firsthand about issues across the globe, students have an opportunity not only to be worldly or well-traveled, but globally aware. Learning about a region’s geography, resources, history, economy, religions, and languages provides insight into varying perspectives and ways of being and thinking around the world. Students will develop the ability to think more critically about complex issues with a greater sense of empathy toward individuals and groups with differing and at times, conflicting viewpoints.
New Voices students are not only learning, but also serving critical needs of individuals and communities in marginalized or dependent circumstances. Hearing and sharing stories from these individuals gives them a sense of recognition and empowerment by including their voices in important community debates. By creating a body of photography and video and presenting it in a condensed final format, students become advocates for the individuals, communities and issues they encounter firsthand during their service trip.
What is Pura Vida?
Pura vida literally means “pure life” in Spanish and has become a motto for Costa Rica. It implies a pure, laid back and fulfilled sense of life. It is used in speech in many ways including as a greeting or farewell, to ask someone how they’re doing or even as an answer to that same question!
Asociation CREAR
New Voices now has an opportunity for students to form connections and learn about important community issues in the global arena through its collaboration with Association CREAR. Asociacion CREAR was founded in 2006 to provide supplementary educational, recreational and career opportunities to members of the rural communities surrounding Playa Sámara in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Offered primarily to community youth with limited resources, CREAR’s innovative programs focus on creative and artistic expression, English language development, socio-cultural responsibility and women’s empowerment.
Service Learning Opportunity
New Voices students from Cincinnati will travel to Costa Rica to work directly with youth in Asociation CREAR programming on artistic collaborations which support CREAR’s mission in the community. This collaboration will engage New Voices and CREAR students on an equal footing in learning and using photography, video and mixed media to explore and interpret Playa Samara, to exchange personal stories and to develop a shared vision for positive change in both local and global communities. In the course of this collaboration, all participating students will:
-Work in small groups consisting of both New Voices and CREAR students to engage in artistic and recreational activities in and around Playa Samara throughout the program.
-Have their own cameras and learn how to create expressive photographs of sites of historic, environmental or recreational interest.
-Use a small selection of these images as prompts for personal reflections on their experiences.
-Create a final display, video and/or publication which expresses their shared discoveries and find ways to communicate their ideas to friends, family, school and broader communities.
Playa Samara
Playa Samara is a small town of about 3,000 on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica in the province of Guanacaste. While other towns in the north of Guanacaste have seen a significant tourism industry develop in recent years, Playa Samara has remained a relatively small town. In addition to the Ticos who call Playa Samara home, a growing international community enhances the vibrancy of the area. Many hotels and restaurants are within walking distance of the beach. Banks, grocery stores and other amenities are all located within a five to ten minute walk from the city center. There are many opportunities to interact with others, both residents and non-residents in Samara. You will also undoubtedly encounter some of the “community” dogs, cats or even horses which have free run of the city.
The beachfront in Playa Samara is approximately one mile long and is bordered by natural dunes and estuaries. Many providers of surfing, snorkeling, paddle boarding and other water sports activities can be found on the beach along with restaurants that provide oceanfront dining. In addition to beach activities, there are several other opportunities to discover the wonders of Costa Rica nearby. The Werner-Sauter biological reserve is on the site of a former farm about 15 minutes outside of Playa Samara. The reserve has examples of many of Costa Rica’s incredible old growth trees including the Guanacaste, houses many examples of Costa Rica’s extensive bird population and is the playground of many howler monkeys. Isla Chora is a small island just off the coast of Playa Samara. It can be reached easily by sea kayak and is also a good snorkeling site.
Community Issues
Education
As the Costa Rican economy shifts from agricultural and other commodities to services (mostly tourism), access to education is becoming a more critical path to success. It’s more necessary than ever to obtain language, technology and other skills to find sustainable employment. While Costa Rica is a stable democracy, it has limited ability to provide human services and as a result, educational opportunities in Costa Rica are often dictated by personal wealth. Many of the youth served by Asociation CREAR whose families have less resources than others, find themselves in danger of being shut out of Costa Rica’s growing service economy.
Environment
Another significant community issue in Playa Samara and throughout Costa Rica is environmental stewardship. While the growth of the tourism and other service industries has allowed some former agricultural areas to return to their natural states, the construction of resorts and vacation homes is putting new pressure on coastal and other environmentally sensitive areas. In addition, non-indigenous plants which were accidentally or intentionally introduced through agriculture, such as teak, are also straining some of Costa Rica’s fragile ecosystems. It is critically important that Costa Rica’s environmental riches be understood and preserved. It is equally important, however, for visitors to Costa Rica’s natural preserves to understand the balances which must be struck between environmental conservation efforts and the economic needs of Costa Rican citizens.
Service Learning Goals
Students will learn about the language, customs and culture of another country by forming personal relationships with their international partners and will gain new confidence in their ability to communicate with others outside of their own communities. Students will learn how to express themselves through photography and video by engaging in a series of photo exercises in collaboration with their partners. They will also learn computer and other technical skills associated with photography and video.
CREAR students will gain a new appreciation for their own community by exploring it with their high school partners through photography and video.
All students will learn about significant community issues in Playa Samara through interaction with their partners and other members of the Playa Samara community and will begin to understand the impacts of their personal choices on both local and global issues.
All students will gain confidence in their creative problem solving skills by producing a display, video or publication which expresses the shared understanding of the group and which advances the mission of Asociation CREAR in the community.
Dates of Service
Participating schools will arrange for dates which work best within their academic calendars and which also coincide with the academic calendar in Costa Rica. Costa Rican schools run on the calendar year, January through December, so school vacations and intersession periods in the US don’t necessarily coincide with similar periods in Costa Rica. Potential dates for working with Asociation CREAR include the last two weeks of January and March through August. Service trips can take place over the course of one to two weeks depending on the needs of each participating school.
Travel/Itinerary
Arrival:
Flights from Cincinnati to Liberia in Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica have one connection. Flights to Costa Rica from the connecting airport (usually Atlanta or Houston) are around 3 ½ to 4 hours long.
The group will be met by a van at Liberia airport which will transfer the group to Samara, about a two hour drive. Samara is on Mountain Standard Time (two hours behind Cincinnati), so the group will arrive in Samara in the early afternoon. Lodging will be provided at one of several commercial hotels located in Playa Samara. Each program will have a curriculum personalized to suit the academic and logistical needs of both CREAR and Cincinnati area students and to take advantage of different activities available in Playa Samara at various times of the year. All students, both high school students and their younger partners at CREAR will take part in educational and recreational activities throughout the trip. It’s important to the work of this program that all students have the same opportunities to learn and explore together. These shared experiences will also be great photo opportunities!
Each day will generally consist of one group outing for high school students only and one group session with CREAR students at CREAR’s facility in Samara.
Recreational and educational activities may include:
Walking tour of Samara
Environmental education programs or tours such as a sea turtle tour at Camaronal National Wildlife Refuge.
Hiking tour of Werner Sauter Biological Reserve
Surfing/Paddleboarding on Playa Samara
Visit to Playa Carillo
Cooking, dancing and language classes at CREAR
Breakfast and dinner will be provided at local restaurants and lunches will be packed for students each day.
Return:
The group will depart Samara between 9 and 10 am for our early afternoon flight from Liberia. We will have one connection before returning to Cincinnati between 10 and 11 pm.
Staff
Cincinnati high school students will be accompanied by one New Voices staff person, at least one faculty member from participating high schools and up to two parent chaperones. Additional staff from Asociation CREAR will assist with supervision of collaborative sessions. Tours and activities provided by third parties such as environmental tours or surfing lessons will be staffed by additional guides or instructors.
Pre-Service Learning and Connection
To prepare for your service, your teacher will provide a short set of readings and exercises which will give you some background information about Playa Samara and Costa Rica. These exercises will also help you clarify the goals of service learning and your own expectations for this experience.
Students may also have an opportunity to correspond with each other in written form in advance of the program itself, depending on how far ahead each trip is booked.
Student Cost
It is estimated that a one week trip for students would cost between $1,500 and $2,000, depending on the time of year each program took place. The “dry season” in Costa Rica (January through June) is much more expensive than the “wet season”. Costs include air fare, transfer from the airport, lodging, meals and tourist activities. Costs below are an illustration and are approximate. Final cost per student will be determined upon scheduling each trip.
Flight $1,000 Transfer to Samara $50 Lodging in Samara $250 Food $250 Tourism in Samara $250 Total per student $1800
Prerequisites to go on this Trip
1. A desire to learn and connect with others! 2. Complete application form and be accepted according to school criteria. 3. Complete pre-service learning requirements set by faculty at your school. 4. Have completed at least one high school level Spanish course prior to the trip. 5. Meet all tuition payment deadlines and financial aid application deadlines (if applying for financial aid).
Travel Preparation and Packing
Each participating student will receive a more detailed itinerary, permission forms and trip preparation instructions upon acceptance.