Costa Rica Care For Vulnerable Children

Sunday-Monday: Arrival in Costa Rica and Orientation

Today you will get your first glimpses of this stunning country as you are met at the airport by one of our representatives and then transferred to spend your first night in a guest house in Alajuela. Alajuela is a small city that is close to San Jose (Costa Rica’s capital), the perfect place to spend your first two nights. On Monday you will have a detailed orientation, covering all the great work you will be doing at the projects, while letting you know how to make the most of the rest of your time in Costa Rica.

Tuesday: Transfer to your homestay and project site

Following your first two days in Alajuela you will transfer by public transport to your homestay, either in Palmares or San Ramón depending on your choice of location. Once you have had a chance to settle in and meet your host family, you will go to your project to meet all the people that you will be helping. Once you have finished introductions, you may have time to spend with the children and get started straight away.

Wednesday – Friday (and Monday to Friday for all following weeks) 

Wednesday will be your first chance to get fully immersed into the project. You will be involved in a variety of activities to interact and help the children who will be looking forward to learning from you.

During your time on the project, your working hours will be divided between centres and homes. You will generally be volunteering between 8am and 4pm, with evenings and weekends as your free time. You will be free to explore this stunning country or get to know the local culture while improving your Spanish.

Please note: Itineraries and activities are subject to change.

This project has been set up to help the underprivileged children and over worked staff at adoption homes and care centres in and around San Ramón, Costa Rica. While the homes and centres have been set up by government agencies to house vulnerable children they do not have the staff or ‘tias’ to give these children the time care and attention they greatly deserve. The children at the homes are not able to live with their families anymore for various reasons and so any time that can be given to them is appreciated. The care centres have been set-up to help low income working parents, specifically single mothers, who have to work during the day and can’t afford to pay for child care during that time.

The homes and centres help children up to twelve years of age. You will be able to get involved in a range of activities that will help a number of children, even just playing with the children or talking to them makes a huge difference to their lives. The placement in which you will be placed will depend on the need of the projects at the time. The more you put into the project, the more you and the children will get from your time with them. The activities that you will be able to get involved in will vary between the homes and care centres however will generally include:

• Taking care of the children
• Helping to organise recreational/teaching activities
• Playing games and activities with the children
• Helping them with school duties
• Teaching English
• Feeding the children
• Practicing outdoor activities
• Helping the babysitters with daily activities to give the ‘tías’ more time for their other duties
• Helping the ‘tías’ with the upkeep of the house when the children are at school