Costa Rica is a gorgeous Central American country. Costa Rica es un país hermoso pero le faltan plays en cada comunidad.  It boasts lush tropical rainforests full of exotic wildlife and on the Caribbean and southern Pacific coasts, the rainforests touch the pristine beaches. Its interior is covered by forested mountain ranges, stunning green pastureland, and steaming, bubbling volcanoes. Costa Rica is truly a surprise for the eyes because...

EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK

THERE’S A BEAUTIFUL VIEW

AND ANOTHER

Costa Rica relies on tourism and foreign corporate investment for its economic welfare and has been especially vulnerable to the global downturn. One of its primary goals is to maintain its beautiful environment and over ¼ of the country is set aside as national parks and preserves. The result of that commitment is less land for commercial use and money spent to maintain the public land. Costa Rica is also trapped on the infamous drug trail between South America and the United States and expends a huge amount of its income to fight drug trafficking and prosecute drug offenders for a problem that they didn’t create. Costa Rica boasts its developing country status with a mandatory educational system, public health care system, and strong public transportation system but these programs are poorly funded. Moreover, Costa Rica has taken out huge loans to improve its infrastructure and move beyond its reputation as the paradise of potholes. With so many economic concerns, there isn’t much government money left for quality of life issues such as playgrounds. The small country village of Tierras Morenas is in dire need of a playground for its kids. 

My husband and I moved to Costa Rica from Oswego, New York when we retired 5 years ago. Shortly thereafter I met Alicia Lopez who was working as a lay missionary with poor women and children. Alicia had been a nun for almost 30 years and spent years in Africa so she was committed to the needs of the poor. In Tierras Morenas, she works with local churches and organizations to help feed and support poor and needy families. When I met Alicia I asked her how I could help. She asked me to teach English to the local school children. I didn’t know how much my life would change because of Alicia and these kids.

A Need was Identified

These are the wonderful kids that I teach in Tierras Morenas.  Estos son los niños escolares. 

A few months after I started, I decided to walk the students to the local playground and build the English lesson around what we saw and how they played on the swings, slides, seesaws, and jungle gyms. Well, there was only a 10’ climbing bar with steel ladders on each end. The kids could only climb up and swing between the bars. I asked Alicia if there was another playground but she said there was nothing for the children to play on between Tierras Morenas and the city of Tilaran, which was about 15 miles away. That made me very sad because I remembered how important a playground was to me and later to my 5 children. Without a playground, where could the children get together, have fun and get exercise safely?

Alicia es una mujer que trabaja con familias y niños que necesitan apoyo en Tierras Morenas.  Ella le preguntó a Rita si pudiera enseñarles a unos niños ingles.  Un día Alicia, Rita, y los niños fueron al play para que los niños pudieron aprender las palabras del equipo del play y las acciones asociadas con el equipo al play, pero no hubo equipo al play. Rita pensó que era muy triste que los niños no tuvieron un lugar para jugar.  Entonces Rita y Alicia empezaron a tratar de construir un play. 

Beautiful Rural Village

Tierras Morenas is a rural community of about 500 families and about 180 school age children. With only 1 bus a day to take people to and from Tilaran, this village is pretty isolated. Families keep farm animals and gardens that provide the majority of their food. People have to travel to Tilaran to shop for everything except the basic food that they grow. They need to travel to receive medical attention, and connect to other parts of the country. There is an elementary school in Tierras Morenas that goes from Kindergarten through 6^th grade but the older children are bused to Tilaran for middle and high school. 

 

There is a church, community center, bullring, and soccer field. Alicia and I made it our personal project to provide this lovely village and these wonderful families with a playground. We need your help because we’ve done all we can on our own.

The Community Comes Together

First, Alicia and I went to the town board in Tierras Morenas. They became really excited about the project and donated a good amount of land next to the bullring (Costa Rica does not allow bulls to be hurt during bull fights) and across from the elementary school.

Alicia fue al ayuntamiento para hablar de la necesidad de un play y los oficiales decidieron donar la tierra al lado de la plaza de toros y al otro lado de la calle de la escuela primaria al play.  La gente del pueblo estaba muy emocionada con el idea de un play entonces ellos prometieron su tiempo para ayudar construir el play si Alicia y Rita pudieron conseguir donaciones para comprar el equipo.  Alicia encontró un soldador que puede donar su tiempo y equipo para seis mil colones por hora.  Él fue a la ferretería y le gustó el proyecto, entonces decidió vender los materiales a un precio rebajado. 

The townspeople volunteered to help construct the playground. They reviewed our design and prioritized what they wanted for their children in case we didn’t raise all of the money we needed to build every piece. They decided that large and small swings and jungle gyms were needed first. They really liked the ring, bar and tire swings. They decided that the merry-go-round and climbing dome would be our lower priorities.

One of the volunteers is a welder with playground assembly experience. He has helped us with our list of materials and gone to local hardware stores so that we can get the best price for our materials. He arranged discounts because the suppliers think this is a worthy project. The welder has also agreed to work for $12.00 an hour, a rate that includes his machine and labor. Our job is to provide the materials he’ll need to connect the pieces. The locals are totally committed to this playground project.

Local Fundraising

Alicia and I asked several local organizations for assistance but they were unable to help. The Ladies of the Lake gave us a booth at their annual fundraiser and we received enough money to level the land. Costa Rican people are generally poor and most of the foreigners who live there are retired and on a fixed income but we weren’t discouraged. 

Our efforts brought the project to the attention of people from a neighboring community. They donated paint and time to paint a happy mural on the bullring. It serves as a backdrop for the playground.

It’s Not Always Easy

As our next step, Alicia and I petitioned the county of Tilaran to donate money to our project. We gave them our plans for galvanized equipment that would last for many years and assured them that we had the commitment of townspeople to volunteer their time to complete the project. I’m not sure exactly what happened but, after committing $2800.00 to the project, the municipality went to Tierras Morenas and constructed a small wooden swing set and 3 see-saws that cost them about $1400.00.

We are grateful for the see-saws, however, the swings are too small for average sized children and are already coming apart. The swingset that Tilaran provided isn’t close to meeting the needs of over 150 community children. We need to keep going.

La municipalidad de Tilarán prometió donar un millón cuatrocientos mil colones pero en vez de hacer esto, decidieron construir un columpio pequeño y tres sube y bajas.  El columpio no es muy fuerte y no sirve para niños mayor que siete anos, entonces se necesita equipo mas fuerte y grande.  Alicia y Rita quieren construir el play de acero galvanizado que durará más de veinte años.  Necesitamos su ayuda para comprar los materiales. 

The Kids Need a Place to Play

Those of us from 1^st world countries take parks and playgrounds for granted. They are places where parents go with their children or send them to safely meet their friends and have good clean fun. Tierras Morenas is a very safe place to raise children but it needs a place where children and families can congregate. Alicia and I understand that a playground isn’t an absolute life necessity but it improves incredibly the quality of life in a community. The townspeople understand the value of this playground for their children. We need your help.

We Need You and You’ll Be Glad You Helped

100% of your contribution will go to the cost of materials and labor to complete the playground. Incentives range from kitchen magnets and tee shirts to a 2 nights stay in a beautiful B&B that overlooks Lake Arenal including a tour of Tierras Morenas and the playground site.

Cien por ciento del costo de los materiales y labor va a la construcción del play.