San Gerardo de Rivas, traditionally an agricultural community, is typical of small communities throughout Costa Rica and Central America generally. Blessed with fertile soil, good weather and a history of farming the region has been able to support itself well until recently when communications and opportunities have brought change to the community.
- Barry
Thousands of visitors arrive each year to climb the famous Cerro Chirripó, tallest peak in Costa Rica’s mountainous geography, bringing wealth and the possibility of ecotourism ventures to the community. On the other hand decently paid work is hard to come by so families want their children to stay in school, learn English and computer skills, and get good jobs.
The sad fact is that every year young people leave San Gerardo to find work in towns, cities and abroad – whilst the village welcomes many outsiders who choose to live there for the glorious natural setting, the peace and the relationship with nature that happens daily.
As one of those outsiders lured to San Gerardo by its magical quality (and by the marriage of our daughter!) we wanted to find a way to engage positively with the community, and in some way repay their generosity. Asked to teach English, our small project was born – a project to enhance local skills and opportunities.
In February 2007, after planning, training and getting together the necessary resources, the pilot project got started in the Community Salon.
2008 update!
- Barbara
In January and February 2008 English classes were in full swing with three Canadian volunteers teaching daily at the Beginner and Intermediate level, plus a class for children.
Having three volunteers allowed the students to make great progress as well as lots of fun! The classes finished with a huge party and certificates all around.
The volunteers themselves considered working and living in another country a truly valuable experience. Their homestays allowed them to meet more people, learn some Spanish and contribute more fully to the community. During the Chirripó Festival they donated time and energy to the preparations and hosting the event.
Thank YOU Volunteers!
San Gerardo Project
The project’s goals are:
- To help develop local skills to support engagement in an environmentally-friendly way in ecotourism and small business ventures
- To build on local skills and talents to realize local development – not outside interests
- To promote San Gerardo de Rivas as a tourist destination
- To support the needs of women and youth in the community
Activities planned include:
- Developing a local tourist brochure in Spanish and English to highlight tourist attractions.
- Developing more ‘tours’ of the coffee fincas and sale of local coffee products.
- Developing tours to the sugar mill(s) or trapiche for tourists to visit the ox-driven sugar mills and try the products, and buy.
- Developing opportunities for more campsites and cabinas on a small scale on local fincas
- Development of art and artists
- Linkage with other projects in the region.
Current Activities:
Computer Skills - Nowadays it’s almost essential to know how to use computers – accessing information, keeping connected and organized are all important assets the computer age provides – and San Gerardo wants! The project is committed to finding ways to make this world a reality for the community – via Spanish medium classes and free access.
In late 2007 the project was lucky to receive donations of computers from individuals and Vancity, a community-minded credit union in British Columbia, Canada. This has enabled us to fulfill another goal and arrange for computer skills classes in Spanish for the community. In May and June 2008 we offered:
- Computer basics and keyboarding
- Intermediate classes – WORD, Excel, graphics
- Internet and email
The demand for classes was enormous and with the recent donation of 5 more laptops we will be able to provide more opportunities to people of all ages and abilities to learn computer skills. Our bilingual teacher, Oren, from New York, created our curriculum and managed 3 classes of beginner and intermediate students.
We are always on the look out for volunteer teachers for both ESL and computer classes, so please contact us here to find out more.
From March –August 2007 our project volunteer, Liz, taught English to three classes: adult beginner, adult intermediate and junior class. For information on how to get involved, click here.
First Aid classes were provided to the community. This was considered necessary since the village is 45 minutes drive from a hospital or doctor. Being able to respond to medical emergencies, especially injuries, is very important in such a remote environment. Click here to read a story on teaching First Aid in Costa Rica.
Keep Fit Women’s Group – out of the blue and a wonderful success! Three times a week women meet to work out and enjoy each other’s company. Latin America is unfortunately demonstrating an alarming rise in chronic diseases such as congestive heart failure, diabetes and other diet-related illnesses. Keeping fit and being aware of nutrition is a must for a long and healthy life. Local women have taken over leading these classes, making sure they are accessible to everyone.
This website! Was developed as a community collaborative! In order to promote San Gerardo to visitors, its wonderful activities and places to stay, the local Hoteliers Association provided the content for this website. Developed in Vancouver, Canada, it is now maintained from Costa Rica and invites everyone to contribute to the blog – share your San Gerardo experiences with the world!
For More information
Contact Jenny via our contact form.