Service Opportunities
The goal of our Project Costa Rica Community Service program is not only to help the local communities, but also for our participants to learn about themselves and to grow through their experiences. Upon completion of Project Costa Rica, each participant will receive a certificate recognizing 52 hours of community service credit. Each person volunteers with the same project throughout both weeks in La Fortuna for four hours per day, to create meaningful bonds between our volunteers and those they are helping. During the 3rd week of the program, everyone will volunteer together, helping local organizations in both the Monteverde and Playa Carillo areas. At the end of the experience, each person will feel a sense of pride knowing they provided an invaluable service to the different communities they helped in Costa Rica.
La Fortuna
While in La Fortuna, each person chooses one of the following community service options:
Sustainability Project
Costa Rica is known for its lush rainforests and beautiful landscapes. If you are passionate about nature, this experience is for you. You will work on a sustainable environmental project, helping build accessible hiking trails through the rainforest for people with disabilities. You will work with local professionals as you build the trails, paint signs, and provide general upkeep of the paths and surrounding area. This project is also part of an environmental program for a local elementary school and is being used as an educational component for the school children.
Volunteer at a Wildlife Rescue Center
Volunteering at the Wildlife Rescue Center, located on an 8-acre reserve on the edge of the rainforest, is a meaningful opportunity to help abandoned and injured wildlife. The mission of the center is the care and eventual release of the animals into their natural habitats. Resident wildlife has included monkeys, kinkajous, peccaries, sloths, parrots, and other exotic animals. All of our volunteers will participate in each volunteer activity throughout the program, including helping make meals for the animals, cleaning the animals’ living quarters, and working on long-term projects that benefit the rescue center and its inhabitants. In past summers our projects have included building new enclosures, painting the property’s buildings, clearing new pathways through the jungle, and improving the general condition of the rescue center. Due to our hard work and commitment to each task, the rescue center is able provide a better quality of life to their residents. Please note that due to Costa Rican law, non-professionals and volunteers are not permitted to directly interact or handle any of the animals on-site.
Volunteer at a Dog Sanctuary
If you love dogs, this is the place for you! Lend your heart, time, and energy to an incredible dog sanctuary, home to 80 dogs looking for their forever homes. Nestled in the lush, green landscape of La Fortuna, the dog sanctuary relies on the support and time of volunteers, as well as financial contributions from the public to give these deserving dogs a loving home at the sanctuary until they are permanently adopted. Here you will walk, play, feed, bathe, clean and groom the dogs, as well as help with projects that will benefit the sanctuary and improve the lives of the dogs. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of our volunteers, the dog sanctuary is able to provide extra love, care and attention to the dogs. This is truly the experience of a lifetime – one you will never forget! For dog lovers, only.
Volunteer at a Day-Care Center
The Cen-Cinai Center, or “Cen” as it is known locally, is a government-funded organization that aims to create optimal conditions for education and development in impoverished communities of Costa Rica. The center’s objectives are to give pre-kindergarten children that live in poverty the opportunity to develop their physical, intellectual, and social potential. This is a great opportunity to improve the quality of life for Costa Rican children.
During the first week of the program, our volunteers will work on projects that improve the general condition of the Center (most of the children are not at the Cen due to schools being closed in Costa Rica). Our volunteers have helped by participating in several projects: painting and improving the buildings and classrooms, planting new flowers and plants to beautify the grounds, and rebuilding the playgrounds on the property. During the second week of the program, when school is back in session, our participants will also spend some time with the children, helping the center’s teachers with various tasks. Each volunteer will participate in each activity, every day.
Monteverde and Playa Carillo
While in Monteverde and Playa Carillo, everyone volunteers together on the following projects:
Monteverde
During our time in Monteverde we volunteer with the incredible Bosque Eterno de los Ninos (BEN), the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. BEN is Costa Rica’s largest private reserve, purchased and protected thanks to the fundraising efforts of children from around the world. With more than 56,000 acres, the eternal rainforest is one the most biologically diverse places on the planet.
This amazing organization relies on the help from international volunteers to maintain and protect the reserve. Our participants may be asked to perform several tasks:
- Sweeping walkways – This technique is the least invasive on the trails, as other equipment causes noise pollution and stress for the forests’ animals. This allows for a safer experience for people visiting the reserve.
- Painting structures – The maintenance of structures in the rainforest is extremely important, as it helps to prolong their useful life in a humid environment. In turn, this helps save money which allows for more investment in other projects, infrastructure, and activities.
- Trail maintenance – This keeps the hiking trails in better shape by moving natural materials, known as grava, directly onto the surface of the trails.
While performing the above activities, BEN staff will teach us why each activity is important to the functioning of the reserve.
Playa Carillo and the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge
During our time in this Pacific Paradise, we’ll work alongside the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was established with the primary mission being the conservation of sea turtles and the protection of their reproductive habitat. Ostional is the second most important nesting site for the olive ridley sea turtles in the world. This site is one of few in the world to host the mass-nesting behavior, known as arribadas, a phenomenon considered one of the most amazing wonders of nature. During arribadas, tens of thousands of sea turtles come ashore to nest simultaneously over a period of several days. Ostional hosts the highest frequency of mass-nesting events of olive ridley sea turtles on Earth.
All our volunteer activities with Ostional National Wildlife Refuge center on the health of the sea turtles and their environment. Depending on the timing of the arribadas, we may be asked to help with excavating the sea turtle eggs and data collection, which helps determine the health of the baby turtles. Other activities include beach clean-ups, recycling projects in and around the beach and green spaces, and maintenance work of the local facilities. Throughout the experience, the local staff will educate us on how every project we participate in is vital for the health of the sea turtles.
Service Details
- While in La Fortuna, each person chooses a service project and will volunteer with the same project for both weeks. While in Monteverde and Playa Carillo, everyone volunteers together on group projects.
- Participants volunteer four hours per day on service days, for the duration of the program, earning 56 hours of Summer Community Service credit.
- Service project space is limited at each volunteer site in La Fortuna, so project selections are granted following your date of enrollment, based on a first-come, first-served basis.
- The goal of community service is not only to give back to the local communities but also for our participants to learn and grow through their experiences.
