Volunteering in Costa Rica

[ls6pilot]

My daughter is a recent college graduate and would like to spend an extended time in Costa Rica. I was searching the internet for a possible volunteer job that would provide housing and meals. It looks like these are available but most are short term and charge the volunteer money. Does anyone know of volunteer opportunities which might provide housing and meals without a large fee?

thanks

[guru]

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

[terrycook]

Guru…you are very right but Please make that 72 hours (3 days not 24)
I know picky picky
Thanks
Terry From Texas
p.s. perhaps you could try your local church they often help people with funds set aside for such a worthy cause…or even a raffle, sale or what ever..

[DonHo911]

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

[Andrew]

I can’t think of anyone whom I know in a similar situation and would encourage you to get professional advice. Having said that, seeing how family oriented the Ticos are, I also cannot imagine there being a situation where they would separate the child from the parents even if the ‘child’ was 18 years old.

Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.com

[sprite]

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

[rankingee]

If your daughter is really serious about volunteer work and would like to make a difference and has some basic skills and a college degree she may want to check into the Peace Corps. They have a program in Costa Rica. This is not for the faint of heart or for non-serious people as the commitment is for a two year period. Saying that, she will get an experience that will last for a life time, immersion into the culture, become fluent in spanish, and make wonderful friends with the locals and other volunteers. I make this recommendation from personal experience being a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines for two years in an agriculture program (graduating UCLA with a BA in psychology and no agriculture experience!) from 1979 to 1981 (shows my age) but with experiences that you can get no where else.

Let me know if you need anymore info on this.

good luck and keep me posted.

rich

[alexgil]

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.

[Author]

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