La Carpio
August 2, 2018 National Holiday of the Virgen of Los Angeles Costa Rica's patron saint.
Just northeast of San Jose and Grecia is a small town called La Carpio. La Carpio is a peninsula 25 square kilometers in size, one river on each side that merge into a single river at the end of the town. Unfortunately, the end is where all the trash of neighboring cities goes. A single, paved road runs through the length of the town, parallel to the two rivers. The town's population is mostly consisted of Nicaraguan refugees in search of shelter and peace. In the small town is the Humanitarian Project with the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation. The project itself helps to educate the impoverished children of La Carpio. The director, Gail Nystrom, is the manager of seven different schools and has always dreamed of helping people in poverty. Ever since she was little, she wanted to join the Peace Corps and, in 1975, she was sent to an island just off the coast of Costa Rica. Even though Costa Rica differed from her original vision, she eventually fell in love with the tranquil country.
Inside the building where the foundation is located, Gail explained the history of the Nicaraguan immigrants. When the upper class needed workers for their coffee plantations, they offered the peasants salary, shelter, healthcare, food, and education, all of which turned out to be a scam. Finally, some Nicaraguans fled to La Carpio, a near-deserted place in Costa Rica where they could live quietly. They started with houses of plastic wrapped around wooden poles, but gradually, after much hard work, they improved their quality of life. Even now, there are people seeking refuge from the uprising in Nicaragua. Gail told us the story of one man, seeking refuge from the war, who came into Costa Rica two weeks ago and fell weeping into her arms because of the deaths of many of his friends. Now, he runs a business making the corn flour used to make tortillas. The rest of the population have to think of ways to make money as well. For example, the foundation offers single-mothers a chance to sell their creations inside to support their families.
After a short tour of the city, half of the group went to a small daycare in a home to read to the children. Parents can drop their kids off starting at six in the morning before work and pick them up later in the afternoon. The daycare was full of life; the children were animated, running around, playing with balloons, and, of course, listening to us reading the stories written by students last year in their Spanish classes. The second group visited a house of a local family and taught the children nursery rhymes in both English and Spanish in addition to reading the stories. After we finished the stories, everyone played a fun game of freeze tag in the streets.
Our visit to the small town of La Carpio was eye-opening; not everyone is fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy family, but the people of La Carpio are working hard to improve their lives.
Written by Emily Tan and Clare Jin
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La Carpio |
Just northeast of San Jose and Grecia is a small town called La Carpio. La Carpio is a peninsula 25 square kilometers in size, one river on each side that merge into a single river at the end of the town. Unfortunately, the end is where all the trash of neighboring cities goes. A single, paved road runs through the length of the town, parallel to the two rivers. The town's population is mostly consisted of Nicaraguan refugees in search of shelter and peace. In the small town is the Humanitarian Project with the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation. The project itself helps to educate the impoverished children of La Carpio. The director, Gail Nystrom, is the manager of seven different schools and has always dreamed of helping people in poverty. Ever since she was little, she wanted to join the Peace Corps and, in 1975, she was sent to an island just off the coast of Costa Rica. Even though Costa Rica differed from her original vision, she eventually fell in love with the tranquil country.
Inside the building where the foundation is located, Gail explained the history of the Nicaraguan immigrants. When the upper class needed workers for their coffee plantations, they offered the peasants salary, shelter, healthcare, food, and education, all of which turned out to be a scam. Finally, some Nicaraguans fled to La Carpio, a near-deserted place in Costa Rica where they could live quietly. They started with houses of plastic wrapped around wooden poles, but gradually, after much hard work, they improved their quality of life. Even now, there are people seeking refuge from the uprising in Nicaragua. Gail told us the story of one man, seeking refuge from the war, who came into Costa Rica two weeks ago and fell weeping into her arms because of the deaths of many of his friends. Now, he runs a business making the corn flour used to make tortillas. The rest of the population have to think of ways to make money as well. For example, the foundation offers single-mothers a chance to sell their creations inside to support their families.
After a short tour of the city, half of the group went to a small daycare in a home to read to the children. Parents can drop their kids off starting at six in the morning before work and pick them up later in the afternoon. The daycare was full of life; the children were animated, running around, playing with balloons, and, of course, listening to us reading the stories written by students last year in their Spanish classes. The second group visited a house of a local family and taught the children nursery rhymes in both English and Spanish in addition to reading the stories. After we finished the stories, everyone played a fun game of freeze tag in the streets.
Our visit to the small town of La Carpio was eye-opening; not everyone is fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy family, but the people of La Carpio are working hard to improve their lives.
Thank you Emily and Clare for your vivid, thought provoking, and very well written article.
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