Roblealto, Costa Rica (June 2024) - Service Trip Recap
Dates: June 22 - 30, 2024
Location: Roblealto, Costa Rica
After kicking off this year’s service season in Roblealto, Costa Rica, we headed back this June 2024 with a second team! The team consisted of several school educators plus some family & friends. Our team members in education got to put their skills to good use as they helped out in the classrooms, had after school homework sessions, and hosted fun-filled activities for the kids throughout the week. Yet another amazing week with this partner site!
Read all about this eventful week below! ⬇️
Day 1
This morning, part of the team met at the airport with donation bags in hand and traveled to Dallas, Texas. There, they met up with another team member and enjoyed a delicious lunch before boarding the next flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. 🇺🇸✈️🇨🇷
They arrived safely, and were greeted by the team host. They helped them load the donation bags in the bus and headed to Roblealto Hogar Bíblico. They gathered in the living room to reflect on their first day as a team. 🧳🙏🚐
Day 2
A couple members of our team made breakfast for the group. They enjoyed a cup of Costa Rican coffee and huevos pericos with toast. ☕️🍳🇨🇷
After breakfast, they headed to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. There, they explored the sanctuary where they enjoyed seeing the toucans, monarchs, sloths, jaguars, and so much more. They also hiked to see five different waterfalls! 🦜🦋🐯
After lunch, they headed for dessert at Fresas del Volcán. They had delicious fresas con crema among other snacks. Fortunately, they finished the hike before the storm and headed back to the Casa Hogar in Roblealto. 🍓🌊⛈️
The team would love to give a special thank you to Cristian, their driver and tour guide, for going above and beyond to make sure they had a successful day! 🚐💙✨
Day 3
The team had an eventful day! First they toured and got to know more about the four centers (Los Guido, El Manantial, 15 de septiembre, Niño Felíz). During the tour they met the staff, visited the classrooms & facilities, and interact with the students. 🏫🇨🇷
Since most of our team members are teachers, they had the opportunity to dialogue with the teachers from the centers and exchanged how the educational system works in both of our countries. 🧠📚
They had lunch at one of the centers that included: rice, salad, cheese, plantains, and beef stew. 🥗🧀
They headed back to Hogar Bíblico and were greeted by the kids from each house with individualized posters. They each had dinner in the different houses and got to know the kids and the parents more. They closed the night with the Costa Rica vs. Brazil soccer game. It was a nail-biter! 🏠⚽️
Day 4
On Tuesday, the team visited the Museum of Costa Rica with the kids where they learned about the Pre-Colombian era. After the museum visit, they enjoyed having pizza with the kids. 🇨🇷🏢🍕
In the afternoon, they volunteered at the Niño Feliz Center. This was the team’s highlight of the day! They spent time in the classrooms and played soccer with the kids. 📚⚽️✨
Later that day, they returned back to the team house and organized donations. 🧳🤲💙
Day 5
The team had the opportunity to help in the classrooms at the school at the Hogar Bíblico. 📚🏫
Later, they had a delicious lunch called “Sopa Negra” which consisted of black beans, rice, egg, chayote, plantains and carrots. 🍲🇨🇷
The team helped the kids with their homework after school. They celebrated a team captain’s (Katia) birthday and the kids made a special party celebration with cake, gifts, and dances. 🎂🥳
At the end of the day they organized the Listos Learning interactive books with the team to prep for the next day! 📖💙
Day 6
The team started the morning with a special talk with the house moms. They got to learn about their daily life and the strategies they use to care for their mental health. 🤲💙
Next, they supported teachers in the classrooms and some team members led lessons. They enjoyed a delicious Costa Rican lunch that included oven roasted chicken, salad, rice and beans. 📚🇨🇷
They ended the night with an amazing pizza party! They enjoyed different interactive activities including “Cabecita”, a Costa Rican version of rock, papers, scissors, and even had the whole room dancing to “Cupid Shuffle”. 🍕🕺
Day 7
On Friday, the team woke up early to help set up and lead the activities for the Roblealto carnival. It was such a fun day! Everyone dressed up as a clown & enjoyed a performance by the Payasita Arco Iris. The kids had a blast and so did the teachers! 🤡🌈
The carnival was held to celebrate the end of the semester before the kids left on a two week break. After an afternoon of play, the team said goodbye to the kids as they boarded the bus to go home. 🎯🚌
Later that day, they enjoyed coffee and games with the house moms. In the evening, the team watched the Colombia vs Costa Rica soccer game with the parents. They ended the night with a daily reflection. 🇨🇴⚽️🇨🇷
Day 8
On Saturday, the team visited the church at Alajuelita situated in an underserved community. They played games, danced, and provided donations to the kids from the neighborhood. ⛪️🇨🇷
Later, they headed to downtown San Jose where they stopped for some Costa Rican empanadas and helado pops. They did some shopping around the area, including a Mercado de Artesanias. 🛍️🥐
Their final stop of the day was to the mall in Escazu where they enjoyed a delicious dinner and watched the Peru vs. Argentina soccer game! Pura vida! 🇵🇪⚽️🇦🇷
Day 9
For their final day together, the team headed to Punta Leona. They visited Playa Blanca and had their last team reflection at the beach. 🌊🌞
After the beach, part of the team went to do zip lining. They had a delicious lunch and watched the Mexico vs Ecuador soccer game. ⚽️🙌
In the evening, they headed to the pools and relaxed the rest of the night. 🏊♀️😌
✨ Donor Spotlight ✨
We wanted to take this opportunity to give a special spotlight to our partners Listos Learning for their incredible donation of bilingual activity books in English and Spanish! Our team used this helpful tool to engage the students in learning English. The students were excited to participate in these interactive lessons, and show off their English skills! After the week was over, our team donated some of the activity books to our partners at Roblealto for continued use in their classrooms.
Thank you Listos Learning! 💙💚
What an amazing week this team had in Costa Rica! We feel incredibly blessed to have sent a total of TWO teams to our partners in Roblealto this season.
Feeling called to serve at this partner site? Stay tuned for our 2024-2025 Service Season! 🇨🇷✈️
