Costa Rica Volunteer
Work
Disabled Children LHVPSP09
Description of
organization:
This is a school dedicated to autistic children. Autism
is defined as a
psychiatric disorder of childhood characterized by marked deficits in
communication and social interaction, preoccupation with fantasy,
language impairment, and abnormal behavior, such as repetitive acts and
excessive attachment to certain objects.
Location:
It is located in Tibás, 20 minutes from San
José.
Volunteer
responsibilities:
Description: The assistants (niñeras) are people in
charge of helping the personnel inside and outside the class. They
follow the instructions of the teachers and work under their
supervision.
Activities:
1. Participate actively in the class together with the
teacher in charge of the group, who supervises the activities of the
assistant. The teacher gives the instructions necessary to
handle the group or to control the children.
2. Help watching the children and their behavior and discipline in the
class and out of the class. .
3. Cooperate keeping the order of the class, putting in order office
material, mats, toys, and recreational and teaching material used in
class.
4. Make material for the students (following the instructions of the
teachers)..
5. Assist the personnel in the case a student shows an aggressive
behavior, and help dealing with situations like pulling hair, hits,
bites, kicks, or others.
6. Look for students that escape from the class, and try to avoid
dangerous situations for them.
7.Do some administrative tasks indicated by the director; for example,
organize the room where the materials are, enumerate and label
documents, make photocopies, organize files, and similar activities.
8. Collaborate at lunchtime distributing the food to the children.
What´s included in the program?
1.Accommodations in host families
2.A detailed orientation on arrival, including full support from LH
personnel prior to departure
3.An airport pick up in San José
4.24 hour emergency help
5.Tour advice in Costa Rica
How long is the program and
what are the available dates?
The
minimum stay at the program is 4 weeks and it is possible to stay
up to 12 weeks.
Language requirements:
To participate in this project, it is best that
volunteers have a basic knowledge of Spanish. Project
coordinators at the school do speak English but park staff usually do
not speak English.
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DAY CARE CENTRE FOR
CHILDREN OF LOW INCOME FAMILIES LHVPE09
Back ground – Why volunteers
are needed?
The
Guardería Casa de Niño takes care of 135 children from 6:30am to 6pm.
The children in this organization are between 6 months and 9 years old,
come from very poor families and/or have single mothers. Volunteers
also offer children the opportunity to have creative educational
activities and learn about other languages and cultures.
Where is the project located ?
This day care center is located in Barrio Naciones
Unidas, San José;
neighborhood in the south of the city of San José.
Volunteer work activities
Generally volunteers are responsible for the following:
Educational games and activities
Teaching children arts and crafts
Organizing sports and other physical activities
Playing with the children
Accommodations
Participants
will stay with a Costa Rican host family. These families are carefully
selected to ensure clean, comfortable and safe lodging, as well as the
opportunity for participants to practice their Spanish. The family will
provide a private bedroom, breakfast, dinner and laundry service.
Free time and organized
activities
During
their free time participants are welcome to use LH partner facilities
for internet and telephone access, for use of cafeteria, free coffee
& fruit juice and use of travel information &
reservation desk.
They can also participate in the daily Latin dance classes, the cooking
classes, and conversation classes.
What’s included?
Airport pick up and drop off
Accommodation in host family
2 meals a day
Laundry service
Onsite support and 24/7 assistance
Use of LH facilities
Daily afternoon cultural activities
Language requirements:
To
participate in this project, it is best that volunteers have a basic
knowledge of Spanish. Project coordinators at the school do
not
speak much English.
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Sea turtle conservation program LHVPN11
Background –why volunteers are
needed?
Since 1986, the ANAI's Marine Program has been working to protect the
Leatherback Sea Turtle nesting population at Gandoca beach in the
Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge. The main objective of the
project is to protect the nests from human poachers and more recently
from the erosion of the beach.
Gandoca beach is located on Costa Rica’s southern
Caribbean coast in
the Talamanca region, province of Limón. This region that represents
around 5% of the national territory, is one of the biologically richest
areas of the planet with over 2% of the entire world's biodiversity.
What do volunteers do?
The main work of
the volunteers involves:
- Night patrols during which volunteers led by an experienced patrol
leader walk a sector of the 11 km beach searching for nesting
females.
- Night hatchery shifts. The collected eggs are relocated on
the beach or taken to the hatchery where the volunteers will build a
new nest to specification and transplant the eggs .
What´s included in
the program?
1.Accommodations at the field station or in the Gandoca community
2.All meals breakfast, lunch and dinner
3.A detailed orientation on arrival, including full support from LH
personnel prior to departure
4.An airport pick up in San José
5.24 hour emergency help
6.Tour advice in Costa Rica
Facilities
Volunteers have the option of staying at the ANAI Sea Turtle field
station or with local families that have cabins
available. Included in your program are all of your
meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner.
How long is the
program and what are the available dates? The
minimum stay at the program is 4 weeks and it is possible to stay up to
12 weeks.
Language requirements:
To participate in this project, it is best that volunteers have a basic
knowledge of Spanish. Project coordinators at the school do
speak English but park staff usually do not speak English.
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WILDLIFE RESCUE CENTER LHVPNE12
Project Background
In
1973 a group of local farmers or “campesinos” established farming
cooperative focused on sustainable agriculture as a way to promote the
social and economical development of local families through the use of
profitable enterprises and the protection of the environment that
surrounds them.
Why Volunteers are Needed?
Since the
year 2002, El Silencio Cooperative has taken on the responsibility of
protecting Costa Rica´s fauna by giving shelter, food, medical
attention and rehabilitation to confiscated, donated or injured
animals.
Where is the Project?
El Silencio is located in the Puntarenas province, in
Costa Rica´s Central Pacific Coast.
What do Volunteers do?
Prepare food and feed the animals
Clean cages and build and repair them
Build and repair feeding platforms
Clean and bathe animals
In the dairy farm: milk cows, distribute the milk to the families in
the community, herd cattle.
In the vegetable garden: plant new vegetables, prepare
compost and fertilizer, harvest crops, distribute crops
In the store: price merchandise, sell products to customers
What’s included in the program?
1.Accommodations with local families
2.All meals breakfast, lunch and dinner with the family
3.A detailed orientation on arrival, including full support from LH
personnel prior to departure
4.An airport pick up in San José
5.24 hour emergency help
6.Tour advice in Costa Rica
Facilities
Volunteers stay with local families, in a private room
and shared bathroom.
How long is the
program and what are the available dates?
The minimum stay at the program is 2 weeks and it is possible to stay
up to 16 weeks .
Language requirements:
To
participate in this project, it is better that volunteers have a basic
knowledge of Spanish. Project coordinators at the school do
speak
English and a few staff members at El Silencio also speak some English.
