Childcare placement project in Costa Rica

Schools in the local community often request academic support, particularly for English teaching.

Indeed, the country is a major transit point for English-speaking tourists. Employers in Costa Rica are often looking for English-speaking locals to guide international visitors. As a result, teaching English often helps children improve their future employment opportunities.

While supporting English education, you will also have the opportunity to improve your own Spanish language skills.

Your tasks depend on your interests; you may:

• Teach basic English to children
• Suggest and lead activities for children
• Interact as much as possible with students
• Take part in sports, drawing, music, and other games with young people

All children need exposure to stimulating activities, such as specific games that help them effectively develop age-appropriate skills. These may include sports to improve gross motor skills, art, crafts, and music to develop fine motor skills, as well as group activities such as games to build effective social skills.

Before committing to this project, it is important to understand that in countries like Costa Rica, children often grow up in difficult conditions: domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc. The school supported in this area is the only structure that enables young people to overcome these challenges. Local teams work every day to give these children a chance and provide them with a safe environment.

However, volunteers will be asked to remain cautious outside the school and be prepared to face uncomfortable situations related to extreme poverty during this humanitarian trip in Latin America.

Your new home will be one of two newly built eco houses in our centre in Esparza: Jaguar House and Toucan House.

The two houses sleep up to 22 people. Most rooms have bunk beds and are shared by volunteers of the same gender. One room in each house has a bunk bed with a double bed below, single above, suitable for couples or small families, if needed. (Private rooms can be obtained at additional cost; this must be arranged before arriving for your programme).

All doors are lockable, but as rooms are shared, and we carry out regular cleaning, we recommend that you don’t lock your rooms.

There is also a large dining hall/games room/communal area shared by both houses, with free WiFi, and table tennis, and a large garden of tropical plants, including coconut palm, papaya, banana, and citrus.

Food Arrangements

Three meals a day on weekdays (two on weekends) are included during your stay. The meals will mainly be a mix of traditional and modern Costa Rican food, so you may experience the Costa Rican take on foods you will be familiar with. Most meals will include either fish, chicken, pork or beef, but vegetarians can be catered for.

Orientation Day

On the Monday of your first week at this location, you will join our orientation day, which will familiarize you with the surroundings as well as local culture. Your programme will continue as usual from Tuesday onward throughout the rest of the week.

Schedule

• Introduction meeting, house rules, setting expectations, health and safety advice and handling of documents.
• Costa Rican do’s and don’ts, Costa Rican culture lessons and Spanish language lessons.
• Tour of the compound and local area: where to find local shops and how to get a SIM card if necessary
• Lunch
• Introduction to the project and the project site, and start participating in the project (if possible).