Volunteering in Costa Rica

ls6pilot,

I cannot help you but I do know that requiring volunteers to pay their own way is fairly universal. They pay for their transportation, meals, a place to stay AND often the materials to do whatever it is they came to do. This includes charities and religious institutions as well as individuals.

While this sounds odd, the point is that the volunteer should not become a financial burden on those they have volunteered to help. While “working for free” may seem like a big deal there is the question of what is that labor actually worth? Could it be bought cheaper than room and board by a regular employment situation? In countries with low wages this is very possible. There is also the problem of volunteers that do nothing and are just taking a vacation.

Normally the volunteer must seek financial help on their own for their “good deed”. They apply for grants and donations from individuals and organizations that support the things that the volunteer is going to do. They often work and save their OWN money for the same purpose. Many church organizations supply no money, just their name to the cause and sometimes means to raise funds by the individual.

Several years ago our blacksmithing organization provided funds to a fellow that was invited to South Africa to teach blacksmithing. He had sufficient funds to pay for his air fare to get there but needed money for room, board and incidentals. Although it is not our usual focus we made a donation so that he could do this deed. In exchange we got photos and an article about the trip and the school where he volunteered.

The length of time may be related to the 90 day max. tourist stay time. If the place wants the volunteer longer they must leave CR for 48 hours and return with both the exit and entry marked on their passport. The cost of doing that would also be on the volunteer.

One of the amazingly odd things I see in Costa Rica is foreign volunteers building churches. Costa Rica is a country full of churches large and small. If a village has a name it usually has a church. But these are mostly Catholic churches, and the volunteers are building other churches to push their brand of Christianity . . . There are many things Costa Rica needs help with, but building Churches is not one of them.

Edited on Jun 12, 2007 07:53

My wife and I want to retire in Costa Rica. We have a 10-year-old son who would be moving with us. We qualify under the PENSIONADO program; however, we have concerns about what our son’s status would be in the future. Would he be allowed to stay in Costa Rica forever or would he be required to leave at a certain age? He would attend college in the U.S.; so would he be able to return to Costa Rica to live after college?

Don

i am in a similar situation and have been advised by arcr that as long as a child is attending school, he falls under the parents’ pensionado plan. My son will be college age when we come over and therefor an adult per Costa Rican law .I am hoping he will stay in CR for university (we are spanish speakers). Should he decide to NOT attend college for a year or more, I would simply deposit the rentista amount in his name. There may be other options. This was one that was presented to me.

Edited on Jun 13, 2007 08:40

Another option is to pay to volunteer for 2 weeks on a local project and then make an approach for a more long term position that would be free. What alot of projects do is pick up long term volunteers from the short-term fee paying group of people that help on the project. $$ from volunteers frequently pays for the long-term overhead for the project.