GVI, Ethical Impact: Volunteer in Costa Rica

My name is Caylie, I am a current sophomore at the University of Missouri in Columbia. I had the opportunity to travel to Quepos, Costa Rica with Global Visions International last summer for a two week program. This opportunity has given me more than I ever could have hoped for when initially signing up for my GVI program. In my two weeks, I volunteered with young children, increased my Spanish skills, and made friends from all around the world. The volunteer work in Quepos was not easy, but it was extremely rewarding, fun and an overall learning experience for everyone involved. When attending this trip, I knew I would be giving back to the community; but what I didn’t know, was truly how much the community would give to me. Since my time in Costa Rica, I have learned new things and been exposed to new situations, people and culture. I can only hope that I will have another opportunity like this one again sometime in my life. If you are interested in travel and volunteer, GVI is the organization for you.

I did a 3 month child care programme in Costa Rica and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! Everyday was so much fun, and I have made so many amazing life long friends from all over the world. I have also had so many great experiences and learnt so much from the amazing community that we worked in.

The staff at GVI always went the extra mile to make sure that everyone was making the most of their experience both in project and outside of it. Inside of project they always encouraged volunteers to do and contribute more, and outside of project they organised fun nights like Trivia night and Salsa night.

It was also amazing to be so welcomed into the community where we worked, and to be so immersed in a new culture. I have learnt so many things from the kids that we worked with, even when our only form of communication was a mix of broken spanish, english, and sign language!

The whole experience has helped me grow so much as a person, and I really have left a massive piece of my heart in Costa Rica!

Gvi changed my view of life. In Jalova I respected nature as he is. I learned so much about animals and their habitats. The monkeys for example where so crazy. When we where surrounded by them in the jungle I felt like I was in the zoo but then the monkeys where the tourists and we where the animals.
It's been a month since I left Jalova now and I really miss this place already! I wish that one day I will return back to Base. It's such a beautiful place with nice people. So happy I've done this adventure,

My volunteer experience in Quepos, Costa Rica with volunteers ages 18 and above was an amazing and unforgettable experience. The program consisted of organizing activities for local children and promoting sustainable development in their community. I can safely say that I made an impact on the locals and the community where I volunteered. By designing educational activities for the children, participating in beach cleans, and helping organize a community surfing event, I know that I have made a long lasting impact. I highly recommend this GVI program. It was such a wonderful experience!

I can pin many of the things I have done in the past few years and much of the person I have become today as having stemmed from the time I spent with GVI in Costa Rica. It was such a formative experience for me, in the way I now see the world, my own personal development and even the people I have in my life. I really did make friends for life, I'm still in contact with people I was away with and one is even my best friend three years down the line! I learnt so much from the homestay, construction work and adventure week and Costa Rica will always be a very special place to me, all thanks to GVI!

I was at Jalova for a month and everything I did gave me a feeling of pride and accomplishment; simply put, my time there was life changing.

Foremost is accommodation, which for me was a pleasant shared dorm, with kitchen and shower facilities, all of which located on the coast of the beautiful and secluded Tortuguero National Park: don’t expect a five star hotel, we’re here to take part in jungle, beach, and canal research as a Jalova volunteers, and not to be shown around as tourists by guides.

As for ‘events and entertainment’, it would be hard to put a price on the amount of time spent canoeing and hiking the jungle, or the education that was provided by the experienced and engaging staff members. And the food? It was awesome. Everybody there cooks with an emphasis on making exceptional meals for everyone.

I literally couldn’t list all of the incredible animals I saw in my month here, so I’ll give you a couple of highlights:

I first saw a great curassow in a zoo and thought they were a flightless bird – our legendary boat driver Jorge spotted one for us perched in a tree, and it quickly flew to another. The forest came alive for ten minutes when our survey was interrupted by a herd of at least 25 white lipped peccary – the canopy was wild with bird calls and monkey howls until something big (perhaps a tapiir or a jaguar) scared them away. On a quiet and serene canal survey, three neotropical river otters popped up and studied us not more than five meters away from the canoe – for five seconds, before they submerged again like little furry submarines, we were in the presence of animals so shy and rare that a lot of the staff hadn’t even seen them. During a night walk (a survey where you hike the beach without torches looking for nesting turtles) we spotted a leatherback disguising a nest – we were even able to measure her before she returned to the sea.

I will conclude with something a holiday cannot provide: the valuable Conservation experience and education you can gain here. I’ve been told that employers love to see voluntary work on a CV, but my month at Jalova gave more than just a nice paragraph for my CV: it gave me the frame of mind that I can actually achieve whatever I set my mind to. This new frame of mind is of course something personal to me, and everyone will have a different experience, but based on my experience I would advise anybody thinking of volunteering to go for it and join the adventure.

During the summer of 2018, I was fortunate enough to travel alone to Costa Rica to participate in a two-week wildlife and marine conservation under 18’s volunteering program with GVI. Alongside ten other people from different parts of the globe, we came together to form a team to fight against the heat, the thunder storms, the language barriers and the constant smell of dirty laundry, in an effort to support the future for Costa Rican bio diversity.
The work that we assisted and observed on was carried out in order to help the preservation of the conservation of endangered species, but I also learned a lot about myself and where I would like to expand my skills as an environmentalist. My experience has had a positive impact on myself, allowing me to grow and learn more about the world that we live in! Volunteering enabled me to increase my confidence in meeting new people, being in unfamiliar surroundings and taking on new challenges whilst surrounded by an amazingly diverse rainforest.
I can't wait to return to the jungle for another eye- opening experience!

This summer I went on the Under 18's wildlife conservation trip in Costa Rica. I loved the experience of being completely immersed in the jungle and the culture of the area. I felt safe and comfortable with the GVI staff and volunteers whilst I was there which added to my enjoyment of the trip. I was lucky to have some incredible encounters with sloths, monkeys, turtles, crocodiles, snakes, an abundance of birds and many other vertebrates. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and I hope to return to the Costa Rican jungle with GVI in the future.