Monthly Achievement Report

Quepos, March 2016

Cultural Camp
A Holiday Camp for students during Semana Santa
Objectives
To extend awareness of our program to students not yet in attendance, and encourage
higher attendance for those that are.
To engage with our students in an exciting way, different from our usual classroom setting.
To expose our students to cultural ideas from around the world.
To provide a safe, fun place for children to spend their vacation days.
Summary
Semana Santa, which literally means Holy Week, is the week surrounding Easter that is celebrated throughout Latin America. During this week, the children are free from class from Monday-Friday!
Therefore, instead of having our regular class schedule, GVI Quepos implemented a 3-day holiday camp for the children with the
theme Around the World! Each day focused on two continents,
and each activity was based on a cultural celebration from a country within one of those continents.
Report
On Monday of Semana Santa, we started our Cultural Camp in El
Cocal! Through an interactive combination of arts and crafts,
games, and foods, GVI Quepos sought to accomplish the objectives
outlined above. These objectives directly relate to GVI Quepos greater objectives for our education
and community development program, and ultimately seek to improve the livelihood of the children
that participate in our program.
Our first day focused on Europe and Australia, the second day celebrated cultural traditions from Asia,
and the final day wrapped it up with Africa and the Americas. We exposed the children to a wide
variety of cultural activities such as Aboriginal painting (Australia), Lantern making (Asia), Netball (England), and an Easter Egg Hunt (North America). By engaging the students in these experiences, we
introduced them to new ideas and ways of living around the world. For the majority of the students,
this was the first time that they were exposed to traditions outside of Costa Rica.
In this way, the volunteers with GVI Quepos successfully provided students with a safe, fun, educational environment to spend their Semana Santa holiday week. This is important for several reasons.
The community of El Cocal, located on an isolated peninsula outside of Quepos Central, is a society
within itself composed of a micro culture separate from Quepos. The demographic is comprised of
refugees from throughout Central America, especially Nicaragua, whom have fled civil conflict in their
own countries. As a result, land right issues, cultural clash, and poverty create an environment that is
not always ideal for child development. Many times, it is not uncommon for drugs to be seen throughout the streets of El Cocal, and children are often exposed to a variety of adult ideas that surround
this type of behavior. Therefore, when children are not in school but instead playing in the streets of
their own community, they are at higher risk to being subject to drugs, violence, and other negative

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social interactions. It is
for this reason that GVI
Quepos knew the importance of implementing a holiday
camp that provided
the children with an attractive environment
for fun education, that
gave them a safe space
for positive, meaningful interaction with
their peers and volunteers.
By the end of the week,
the volunteers with
GVI
Quepos
had
achieved the objectives outlined above.
Word of camp reached
over 20 children, which gave the program an outlet to inform more families about what we were
teaching on a regular basis. As a result, we had 10 new children join our classes! Further, we bonded
with students who were already attending class, and a greater level of mutual trust was achieved
between the volunteers and their students. It is safe to say that Cultural Camp during Semana Santa
was a great success in both positively influencing the children in the various ways outlined by our
objectives, as well as expanding the ability of our program to reach great heights of beneficial community impact.

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