MARINE BIOLOGY – UWF

Costa Rica, "Rich Coast" in English, is indeed very rich in marine life. Scuba Divers have voted Costa Rica #1 in the world for "Big Animals". And few places are better than the Gulf of Papagayo, one of the best fishing spots on Earth. Students will receive lectures from two renowned Marine Biologists directly at your beachfront hotel and will accompany the group in three marine excursions in which diving or snorkeling is included, as well as visiting the three main tropical forests present in Costa Rica at Monteverde, Rincon de la Vieja Volcano and Guanacaste National Park. We invite you to enhance your knowledge of the marine world of Costa Rica, receive a complete vision of tropical forests in ten days full of exciting and learning experiences all in the most beautiful surroundings.   
The 2007 UWF Marine Biology Study Tour of Costa Rica will take place in Hermosa Beach, Guanacaste  during the month of August.  Here lies the legendary Gulf of Papagayo, world famous as a great fishing destination and home to abundant marine animals and variety of species.  This natural fish trap, is rimmed by the Bat and Catalina Islands and home to sailfish, blue, black and striped marlin, giant yellow fin tuna, Wahoo, Dorado, and Roosterfish.  Schools of fish numbering in the thousands give the diver the chance to glide into a "wall" of fish, and large pelagic animals are a thrill to see.  Lodging is Hotel Bosque del Mar, a beachfront small hotel. Activities will be programmed every day and include scuba diving, fish counting, mangrove tour, coastal species. Students with Padi certificates will dive with the best diving company of the area. Equipment for scuba or snorkeling will be provided for rent. Many opportunities for whale observation during the boat trips. For further learning on the dry, rain and cloud forests of Costa Rica, two nights at the Guanacaste Conservation Area in  two different stations, for an in site visit to the last dry tropical forest of Central America and a historical visit to Hacienda Santa Rosa, one night at Rincon de la Vieja National Park for a dip in the hot springs and mud bath and an optional hike to the crater for the brave, and two nights at the precious Monteverde Cloud Forest will provide students with a complete vision of tropical forests. Two marine biologists will accompany the group at all times and a group coordinator will be available 24 hours for help and consultation.

For Applications and brochures:
Office of Diversity & International Education & Programs
11000 University Parkway, Bldg. 71
Pensacola FL 32514
Phone: (850) 474-2479
Fax: (850) 474-2915
Email: intered@uwf.edu

Service Learning
Visit Costa Rica works with The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation (CRHF), a non-profit organization committed to developing creative and economical solutions to a wide range of social problems in Costa Rica. The CRHF is currently engaged in over fifty humanitarian projects throughout Costa Rica. The CRHF provides opportunities to exchange friendship, goods, services, and financial resources for critical needs among different cultures, socio-economic classes, and language groups.

THE CRHF VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Volunteers are the heart and soul of the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation. Because of their effort, input, and shared resources, we are able to work toward our mission of creating a better quality of life for individuals in need. If you are able to join us, be it for a day, a week, a month or a year, you will find yourself challenged, frustrated, stimulated, and immensely satisfied. CRHF programs are what you make of them, literally. Foundation volunteers are involved in service projects of their own design and can count on the CRHF to provide the cultural training and logistical support to help make their projects a success.

VOLUNTEER GROUP PRICES

Because no two CRHF volunteer group experiences are alike, we do not charge a set fee for volunteer groups. Prices are determined after first discussing what humanitarian project your group would like to undertake and which tourist destinations you would like to visit. Typically, volunteer group prices range from $28-$100/day/volunteer.  Programs include Eco-Camp, Education, Elderly, Health Care, Housing, Indigenous, Women, Youth
The History of La Promesa – a Low income housing community

We began to work with La Promesa nearly 15 years ago when it was a slum neighborhood in the foothills of Santa Ana.  At that time, the project was called El Esfuerzo and was made up of nearly 100 families.  This group had joined together to find a way to solve their housing problem since most of them qualified as extreme poverty cases. They found a piece of land and lived there in cardboard, tin and plastic shacks. They had no sewage system and used pirated electricity and water.  There was a plan in effect to help them purchase their land and get government housing bonds to build low cost houses.  However, due to legal entanglements which to this day are not entirely clear, these families were evicted from their homes and scattered to the four winds. 

They spent two years living under bridges, with relatives, in small homes or rooms that they could afford, and even for a time, in the community centers of Santa Ana.  Finally, however, a persistent group of 80 families managed to do the paper work and get through the bureaucracy so that they got a fully titled piece of land and the government bond for new houses.

When these families first moved into their new homes, they were still suffering from the trauma of the eviction and the past abuses they had nearly all had.  Most of them are single women heads of household and the majority have had personal physical, emotional or sexual abuse. 

Our Foundation began to help in this new community by painting each house a different color in the front. Then , we held a contest to see who would have the most beautiful flower garden.  Since then, we have had nearly weekly activities with the women, including arts, knitting, therapy, dance, theater and gardening. Two years ago we built the first phase of the community center and since then have renovated our original building.

The women have evolved so much.  When they lived in the El Esfuerzo neighbhorhood, they had serious interpersonal problems, were demonstrating poor parenting skills, were unable to show cooperation among themselves and there were problems of drinking and drugs in the neighbhorhood.

Now, we have a fully developed tourist hosting program, a program to help women earn money with catering, small business enterprises and many activities for the children.  From under the bridges to into their own homes, these women have worked hard and progressed greatly.

For Applications and brochures:
Gabriela Gutierez
Visit Costa Rica
visitcr@racsa.co.cr
Phone: (506) 273 6759