Sometimes you are part of something that is so much bigger than yourself you don’t even know where to start. That is exactly how I have felt the past couple weeks, as I just returned from a humanitarian trip to Costa Rica.
I haven’t really blogged or talked much about this because it all fell into place so fast, so I need to explain a little background first. Last fall my friend Tamarie sat by a man on an airplane and through their conversation she was introduced to the Copey Learning Center in Copey, Costa Rica – population 900. The students come there before or after their regular school classes to learn English. The man told her how they didn’t have many school supplies. If you know Tamarie, you know she has a heart of gold, so she immediately wanted to know how we could help.
We brainstormed together and decided that perhaps because we work together volunteering as “house parents” for our our elementary’s House System that it might be the ideal vehicle for this! (Our elementary school has a house system, similar to Harry Potter but we focus on teaching characters and values) Our house had been looking for a service to work on throughout the year and this provided us a way to open it up to the whole school. Tamarie presented an idea to our principal and got the green light to go! We were so excited and presented an assembly about this in January. And then we started collecting….
At the end of the 2 weeks, thanks to the generosity of the incredible parents and staff at our school, we had collected 400 pounds of supplies. I cannot tell you how many times I looked at those supplies and cried! We gathered them all together at the end of the drive and counted them all and it was SO humbling.
We considered mailing the supplies but it just didn’t feel right, then Tamarie and Carolyn, our principal, were going to take them, and then right before buying tickets Lisa, a first grade teacher, and I jumped on board too! It was a whirlwind decision, and in the end what seemed random was the perfect combination! We represented all aspects! Our principal, a first grade teacher, an office staff member and a parent volunteer. Plus we had SO much fun together! Every wondered what 400 pounds of school supplies looks like? We were SO tired after our red eye flight, but we felt SO incredibly blessed at this point. We had just come through customs. We just had school supplies but we were just nervous for the unknown and it was a huge blessing – we walked right through and not a single bag was searched.
I cannot even begin to express my gratitude towards the people of Copey and their generosity towards us while we were there. They opened their homes, hearts and families to us. And we ate SO much delicious food!
I cannot even begin to express my gratitude towards the people of Copey and their generosity towards us while we were there. They opened their homes, hearts and families to us. And we ate SO much delicious food!
We fell in love with the people – both the students and the adults. We met people who will remain our forever friends. We laughed until we cried, and we cried because of tender moments and good-byes.
We had the opportunity to skype with one of our 6th grade classes and it was So much fun to see the kids interact. Kids are kids no matter where you go! We really aren’t that different.
This week has been amazing! It never would have happened if Tamarie wouldn’t have talked to Arthur and then decided to do something about it. One of my favorite quotes has been reverberating through my head all week, because it is so true.
And as my new friend Ana pointed out on our trip, God wants us to do good things and there are so many good people in the world, we just forget that sometimes.
Our experience here has been completely overwhelming for me at times and life changing. We have met INCREDIBLE people who do so much for others without any expectations. I will forever be grateful that I had this opportunity to serve.
