Can You Bring a Book to Costa Rica Too?

In our literacy department: if you'd like to do a little for children's literacy in Costa Rica - reading materials are hard to find and very expensive here - if you have access to any Spanish language school books (text books, reference books and stuff for younger kids) which are perhaps in the donate pile at your local library or school bring a few with you when you arrive. These books will go the Centro Educativo Tuetal Sur public school in the village of Tuetal Sur down the road from the hotel . . .. 1 book, 10 books - everything counts here.

About Our Local School:

"Muchas Gracias!", from the children of Costa Rica

We have two local schools in walking distance from the hotel. The Marianna Madrigal de la O of Tuetal Norte and the Centro Educativo of Tuetal Sur. When you visit we suggest you ask a question.

Both schools have the same demographics, about the same number of children (400 each), both started around the same time but there is a striking diference between them. What is it?

If you would like to visit we'd like to show you what can be done in a village public school in the neo-tropics. The kids would like you to become a part of it. Come visit and see.

About four years ago we visited both of our local schools to see what might be useful for the schools and for the kids. Something that was also within our knowledge, experience or capability. It became apparent that one thing we could help with was books for the library. We were already aware of some of the components needed.

The Gym, a recent addition

There were loads of books being disposed of by North American public schools, there were programs to help move surplus books from libraries in the US and Canada to third world countries. There was the US M-Bag system for moving printed matter around the globe at reasonable rates (the M-Bag system). And there were many nice guests coming to Pura Vida every day.

We wondered - would they mind helping build a planned library for the Centro Educativo Tuetal Sur school?

Today there is indeed a library as well as a program to get the kids involved

The Library last year

in more reading and using the library. Guests from Pura Vida have brought in about 500 kilos of used and new books as well as teaching aids and school supplies.

Every day we receive donations of a few books from our guests willing to give up a little luggage space for some books the local kids will benefit from. But we need to get more organized on the donations for specific activities for the school. This led to discussions about doing that through the Internet.

Director Soto & future computer lab

A few months ago we started talking about computers in schools. At the time there were none at the school, later the school received a donation of 6 PC's into the library from a local foundation.

More results this year, the Library

But no way to operate over the Internet and this created a new level of problems with maintenance and so on. Soon we are to receive a generous grant of over 20 more PC's. The staff room has been given over to a computer learning lab and the teachers room is now a converted storage area. We were there the morning the teachers were painting it with one of our guest visitors donating books.

More results this year

The teachers seemed happy to give up their space for learning. (Hey that's what they told me!)

In addition the school has "found" a new language therapist, a computer teacher and a new assistant English teacher who will aid in computer learning of English in the future. In Costa Rica the schools can have about as many teachers as they can justify or build classrooms for. The school and community must find the wherewithall to build classrooms and find materials.

Now we are trying to find ways to bring the Internet to the school. This is a bit dificult as we can't run a computer lab over a dial up phone line even if we had any spare which we do not. This problem is in process as we look to ways to leverage whatever we can with government agencies resonsible for electricity, education and internet.

What we are planning what may be the first "escuela" public school web site in Costa Rica - it is begining here. The school web site shares the general mission of the school as set out in the "school plan" (we will post this here soon). In addition we have some significant additional missions for the web site:

The web site will act as a place to exchange information with other schools - the Tuetal Sur school is seeking "sister schools" to exchange teaching ideas, materials, techniques and so on. The web site will act as a link to and from anywhere in the world to support the school library, school reading program, further development of the "green school" concept, a new initiative in the arts with a focus on music and theater and the new language therapy program.

There is a lot to do and the library and adjoining computer lab are just begining.

Shelley visits from Santa Cruz, Calif with our english teacher

Most people come to Costa Rica for something beyond "sipping Mai Tai's on a tropical beach". Most of our guests are seeking something - new ideas, an exposure to nature, an experience of the tropics, an understanding of what makes this tiny peaceful country work. If you are coming to Costa Rica and would like to be a small part of this, bring a book or an idea and come visit this very interesting school.

HOW TO GET BOOKS TO OUR LOCAL SCHOOL:

Information about the US Postal Service M Bag web page is here. Unfortunately in 2007 the US Postal Service raised the rates on M-Bags and "used school books" are now too expensive to mail this way for most people. BUT the most popular way is to stuff a few books into your baggage. Give it to us when you arrive or tell us ahead of time if you can you'd like to visit the school and we can deliver them together. If you want to use regular surface mail, the mailing address is below - yes our PO Box will accept books for the school.

Another way, IF YOU ARE NOT STOPPING at Pura Vida Hotel is to box up your books and put them in an orange airport taxi as you arrive at the Juan Santamaria airport (go to the taxi booth at the International airport exit) and tell them to take the box to the Pura Vida Hotel, Phone 430-2929, Attention Berni and that "hotel pays".

Class in session

The following is the tale of one person's effort to help - thanks Evenyl!

BOOKS FOR COSTA RICAN KIDS

It all began in early June 2005 when Berni confirmed a reservation for me at the Pura Vida hotel. He suggested bringing a few Spanish books or Spanish/English dictionaries for a couple schools in the Tuetal valley - near his hotel - when we visited Costa Rica later in the year.

She knows

This was my second visit to Costa Rica so I wanted to obtain as many Spanish books as I could. It was a daunting task. After checking with several contacts - local Hispanics, school board trustees, a Spanish newspaper, Friends of the Library Bookstore, El Concilio (Council for the Spanish Speaking) and anyone else who would listen - it finally turned fruitful when our local school district was eliminating surplus or obsolete books from their inventory. Some Spanish books were among the tons of English books being shipped to the Philippines.

As a young child I was sick a lot and didn't even attend school until I was almost eight years old. So I spent a lot of time at home reading (before the days of TV). I always thought that Costa Rica was a very literate country. After it was explained to me - Literacy means gone to school between 5 and 13 or they don't have a reading habit because of no reading books - I knew I had to help!

After sorting the surplus books I soon realized I had more than what would fit in a suitcase. The trunk of my car was weighed down each time I made a pick up. Berni mentioned the M Bag - a service provided by the Post Office for educational or literacy purposes of material shipped internationally. Not cheap, but better than regular shipping would have cost - about $1 a pound in this case. (this price is now MUCH higher). Different countries have different rates.

It is 12:05, why are they making us wait?

It was another process trying to obtain the M Bags - people in the know snap them up. They come in three sizes to accommodate weights of 11 to 66 pounds - the amount that can be shipped in the M Bag. I wanted canvas bags because they are stronger, but they all said Domestic Only. The other available bags are a heavy woven plastic. This didn't appeal to me, but I had no other choice and they really are quite sturdy. With the help of a "bulk mail" employee I finally secured six bags in medium and large sizes.

According to instructions on the web site HERE
- the books needed to be boxed in waterproof material (heavy garbage bags worked), labeled, then bagged and tied with the M Bag label. There is also a customs form to fill out. Each bag must have its own tag and customs label.

I was shocked when I weighed them at home as we were packing them. My friend said, "Well, you don't have to send them all." But I had made a commitment with myself, so I waited for the official weight from the Post Office. Sure enough - they weighed a total of 346 pounds - or $346. I had 12 boxes that went two each into six bags.

On Sep. 9, 2005 they were shipped. They should be delivered in four to six weeks in their own "cage."

The Student Government

But on Oct. 18, we arrived at the airport with a suitcase filled with more Spanish books. Some I bought, some friends donated. One friend who owns property in Costa Rica gave me her Spanish books after calling me the Patron Saint of Spanish books for Costa Rican kids.

It had all been a lot of work. But was it worth it?

My follow-up story is that the books I sent on Sept. 9 from Stockton, California arrived in Alajuela around Oct. 31. One bag short, but perhaps it will still appear one day. It was perfect timing as I arrived at Pura Vida Hotel Nov. 2 (we had already been in Costa Rica two weeks) and the following day we delivered the books to Escuela Tuetal Sur school.

The welcoming committee were four students - officers of the student body as their sashes gave their title - Humberto Soto, the director and an interpreter and school counselor Juan Vargas. The students - spotless, hair combed and polished shoes - carried the boxes of books into

Tuetal Sur

the recently opened library where they were to be catalogued and put into circulation.

Then we had a meeting with the director, learned about the school, plans for the future and toured the classrooms, library and cafeteria. A number of the 400 students are considered "at risk", or come from "at risk" or very poor families living in struggling neighborhoods. We learned about some of the programs such as one called PROMECUM run by the Costa Rican government to assist "at risk" children as well as initiatives at the school level to bring back older children who had never finished school due to economic or other reasons.

I learned that the government gives the school 100 colones (20¢) a day to feed the students breakfast and/or lunch in a very small cafeteria that is able to seat around 20 at a time. Nourishment for the body, as well as for the mind and soul! The government provides teachers, but does not provide books. Just imagine a school with no books!

Yes, a great big YES, it had all been worth it. I hope to check on the progress again next year to see many shelves full of books. I don't expect anyone to do what I did. It's one book at a time. But, I'd like to see a school, or many schools in the United States adopt a school in Costa Rica. There are hundreds who need your help!

Eyes to the future

Muchas Gracias.

Evenyl Roemmich
Stockton, CA 95207
eroemmich@stocktonchamber.org


You can bring books or school supplies in your baggage, in the M Bags described above (from US locations only) or books can also be mailed to our PO Box:

Pura Vida Hotel
PO Box 1703-4050
Alajuela,
Costa Rica
Attn: Berni
Please include your personal information and an email address so the school can send you their thanks!

The kids will thank you. These books will go to the Centro Educativo public school in Tuetal Sur. This idea is not original - thanks to Robbie Felix at the Hotel California in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica for her work with the kids of the Quepos area and giving us some ideas of what can work.