27 Months of La Pura Vida

With the event finally over, the planning for the construction of the court has begun, finalizing our plans to house and feed the group and talking logistics and specific needs with CFK back in the states.  Of course, nothing in this life is as easy and straightforward as you hope and there have been some significant bumps along the way these past 2 weeks, most the product of small town drama and the indirect culture here in Costa Rica.  However, I think everything is back to being on track and while it required a little extra work on my part, we are involving more of the community and possibly giving a little financial assistance to some local groups here as well.

Courts For Kids

Drama

On Tuesday the 12^th, we had our final meeting to discuss the event profits and discuss how we would like to invest the profits into the court project.  Prior to this meeting, I had met with Jorge and Olger (the contractor and the president of the ADI) to discuss our plan to move forward.  Olger wants to make bathrooms and put doors on the salon communal before the team arrives so that we can store materials in the salon and the team will have bathrooms nearby during the construction.  In order to start with this project though, we need to make a water pump nearby first.  Since the water pump will also function to provide water during the construction and because we now only have a month until the team arrives, I suggested we use funds from the event to buy the pump materials and get started ASAP.  However, Edgar was not in agreement with the fact that such a small group of people met to decide how to use the funds and then decide to invest in a project that is technically the ADI’s responsibility.  On top of that, Jorge was going to be in charge of the construction of the pump and even though he is donating the labor costs (an estimated $150), Edgar and Jorge butt heads and Edgar, indirectly, tries to get me to look into alternatives to Jorge.  During the meeting on the 12^th, Edgar and I ended up in an argument in front of everyone else there about the fact that Jorge was making money and that we were not including people in decisions about investing the event money. He left visibly angry and the next morning texted me saying he needed to talk to me about transportation.

And this is where the drama and stress begins.  Our original plan (since October of last year...) was for the team to eat all their meals in the colegio and the escuela as both locations are very close to the court site, there are already cooks in both locations that have experience cooking for large groups and with the extra money provided from the team ($6 per person per day), there would be more than enough money to buy a little extra food to feed the team each day.  Edgar had also used a contact to find a bus large enough for the team that offered to take us from the airport to the community, from the community to La Pavona (the entrance to Tortuguero National Park) and then back to the airport for only $600.  Considering most other companies quoted me around $1000, $600 is a great deal...or was  a great deal.  

Edgar told me on the 15^th that the board of the colegio no longer wants to provide food for the team :-/ and that the friend with the bus was offered to more lucrative contract and since we didn’t sign a contract with him, he can no longer provide transport for the team…one month before the team shows up…Naturally, I left pretty pissed off and the next few days offered little relief.  I was really worried we wouldn’t be able to find anyone to cook for the team and that we would have to scrap the Tortuguero trip again.  Thankfully, the ADI stepped up and I have since been able to mend my relationship with Edgar.  The evangelical church, who is already housing part of the team and providing the cots, has also offered to cook for the team and was actually excited to learn that they would be getting so much money (I thought it was a really low amount).  We have also been able to find a couple viable alternatives for transportation and although each one is higher than $600, they are all around $800 which is doable for CFK.

Updates

The good news is that all is back on track and the lot is already leveled from donation of a government organization who donated a grater.  We also secured a donation of the gravel and sand material which amounts to around $800 in savings for the court.  Since we have been able to lower the cost by so much, we have to now look into other projects we can do to utilize the $5000 donation from CFK.  We will be putting lights on each corner of the court and then using the money from the event, may paint a mural on the side of the salon to promote sports, healthy lifestyles, etc.

I had a call with CFK yesterday and the president (who is 100% coming to our community) was impressed with all that we have been able to secure in donations and we were the only community to hold an event to support the project which he says goes a long way to show CFK that we are very serious about the project and supporting it in the long term.

Without a doubt, this project has been the most stressful projects I have ever managed but I have learned a lot from the experience and here in the community, it has worked to start new relationships and strengthen others.  Regrettably, though poor communications or the small town gossip, I unavoidably may have damaged some relationships but nothing too serious…

Recycling

These updates seem to be just focused now on these two main projects and it’s pretty safe to say that these two projects take up most of my time here.  We have made some slow but measurable progress on this project in the past week.  While we hoped to have the bike installed last week, the water pump we had was in poor condition so we had to find another (which also didn’t work) but finally, this past Sunday, a student donated one in semi-decent condition and Jorge was able to put together the bike pump (see pictures below).  Hopefully today or tomorrow we will go and install the bike pump along with the rest of the tubing so that we are ready to start with that process by next week.

Limon Business Classes

Last weekend I got to leave again for the weekend to head into Limon Centro for some more work with Junior Achievement.  This weeks topic was how to write a resume in English and then I had to "interview" each kid about their experiences and pretend it was a real professional interview.  The class varied on their grasp of the English language with some able to answer every question without much assistance to some who because a mixture of nerves and lack of knowledge, we unable to muster a single word.  We had one class Friday afternoon of about 25 students and then we joined the Saturday morning and afternoon class in one (another 27 students) so I had the entire afternoon to relax and head to the small beach near the hotel.  Again, everything was paid for and I got to enjoy some beers on the beach, good food, AC and hot showers.  My last class is the 29th and 30th and I am truly going to miss this opportunity to get back to a little civilization.

VACTAIL

As surprising as it is, the newest Tico group is already getting their site assignments meaning they only have 3 weeks left of training!  On Friday, the group gets their assignments and then we have a big celebration in San Jose so they can meet the older groups, talk about our experiences and our sites.  For me, I and just looking forward to seeing everyone else and having a few days with all the amenities of the capital.

That's all for this update, 3 weeks until the team comes and I can finally put this project into the books!  Thanks for reading!

-Conor