Update on the women and children’s center in La Carpio, April 4, 2011

One would assume our biggest challenge in creating a women and children’s community educational center and playground in La Carpio would be raising funds; however, as it turns out, security of the property in this impoverished neighborhood has become an issue.  Last week, one of our buildings was broken into and tools were stolen.  This just confirms the desperation of the local people and teaches us that we need to make security a priority.

On a lighter note, we were able to raise the remaining $3000 to buy out the third, and final, building to complete our vision for the women and children’s center and in addition, we received a generous donation of $4000 USD from GP Service, a local Costa Rican company, for the construction of the playground area.

This week, we will be tiling the floor of the second building, which means it is almost ready to be fully utilized!  With the help of Morron Design, a local architect firm, we are drawing up the plans both for the play area and the third building.  Our vision is to connect all three buildings, centering around the play area.  As soon as we have the final blueprints we will post them on this blog.

Thank you again to all our local and international supporters—our dream is in motion!

Tamale Tuesday in La Carpio

Every week, Bien de Mujer hosts holistic, educational playshops as part of our Ilori Children’s Education program—which seeks to nurture the mind, heart, body, and spirit of each child living in La Carpio, the slums of San Jose, Costa Rica.  This past Tuesday, March 29, we had a full house of enthusiastic kids, as well as a group of hard-working women, from our Granos Solidarios women’s group, cooking up tamales to sell throughout the neighborhood.

Each Ilori playshop usually begins with songs and some yoga or dance, and this week, we continued to use Wise Heart Books as a tool to teach values to the kids.  They read “Captain Grimy”, “Manny the Mouse” and “Annie the Ant” together, followed by games and exercises to reinforce the lessons in the books.  If you visit the Bien de Mujer/ Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation FaceBook page , you will see some videos taken by a volunteer.

While the children were busy doing art work and playing games, the women of Granos Solidarios were busy making home-made tamales, to sell, and thus raise funds for the Granos Solidarios group business fund.  The Granos Solidarios are working to develop their current tamale-making micro-business into a larger, sustainable business; while at the same time, they are learning business skills 101, basic finance management, and how to work efficiently as a team.

The women of Granos Solidarios are so enthusiastic about this growing tamale business that the women had to be separated into two working groups, so each group alternates, each month.  To further support our children’s educational programs or the work of Granos Solidarios, please send us a donation at

Thank you again for your generosity of spirit!

Urgent Opportunity to help complete our vision for our women & children’s center!

As you may know, we have been busy transforming two neglected buildings into on our women and children’s community playground and education center in La Carpio; home to our Ilori Children’s Education programs and our local women’s group, Granos Solidarios.  Recently, very serendipitously, the house on the other side of the first building came up for sale, and we knew, in our hearts, this was meant to be for the expansion and completion of our vision for the women and children’s center.

Therefore, we took a huge leap of faith; vigorously negotiated with the owner (bargained down to $17,000 USD total!); and managed to scrape $14,000 USD together, required for the down payment.  We signed the papers on Monday, February 28^th –now, we have until the end of March (March 31 is the deadline!) to come up with the remaining $3000 to “seal the deal.”

Therefore, we are appealing to our neighbors, supporters, and fans to contribute to pulling $3000 USD together by March 31.  Twenty dollars here and $50 there, adds up quickly; no contribution is too small!  Already individuals, companies and peer organizations are working with us to make our vision a reality.  A local donated a double-door fridge.  Local companies have pledged to assist us with creating an organic and aesthetic garden, the design and construction of the playground, as well as interior furnishings.

Grupo Armonia, a local collective of environmental professionals and artists, which seeks to connect and facilitate ecological consciousness movements throughout Costa Rica and Central America, and actively promotes the reconnection of humanity with the spirit of the earth through various activities, workshops, and the muy popular “Feria Verde” (Saturday morning Green Farmer’s Market in Barrio Aranjuez, San Jose), has hooked us up with an eco-architect!  They will also be designing and creating a “vertical” organic veggie garden, as frequently used in urban permaculture.

Cemex has already donated a truck load of cement, and Mecco, another local company, has donated a truck of sand and gravel.  In others words, we are getting to our complete vision for the women and children’s center at a rapid pace and all we need to seal the deal is $3000.  Therefore, if there is any amount you can share, please donate here:

 

Or if you happen to be in Costa Rica, you can always donate directly to the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation, Costa Rica at our bank:

Nombre: BAC San José, Costa Rica
Swift: BSNJCRSJ
Nombre del banco: BAC San José, Costa Rica
Número de cuenta: 906417993 (Moneda extranjera y americana)
Número de cuenta: 906418017

Thank you again for all your time, consideration, and support.  And before I forget, Happy International Women’s Day!

Meet our neighbors in La Carpio, Costa Rica

Every time I mention I work in “La Carpio” to a Costa Rican, they grimace and ask, “But isn’t that dangerous?”  This reaction is most likely because the only times “La Carpio” is mentioned in the local media it involves drugs, crime or violence.  Most visitors to Costa Rica have never even heard of La Carpio because the local media (and the tourism industry) is proficient at covering up any blemishes on the face of Paradise.  But yes, despite Pura Vida, there is poverty, disease, crime, and neglect in Costa Rica; however, most of it seems to be isolated to one particular San Jose neighborhood:  La Carpio.

Founded by squatters in the mid-1990s, La Carpio’s estimated 40,000 residents, around half of whom are immigrants and refugees from Nicaragua and other Central American countries, live in an area of 296 square kilometers, encircled by two heavily polluted rivers and the city landfill (which receives over 700 tons of waste daily.)  As a matter of fact, more garbage-per-capita comes from the wealthy, predominantly ex-patriot community of Escazu into the La Carpio landfill, than from La Carpio residents themselves.*

Forgoing the obvious environmental hazards of living in La Carpio, like most “slums” throughout the world, public infrastructure such as schools, clinics, roads, security, and sanitation systems are under-resourced or plainly neglected; unemployment is high; drug and alcohol abuse is common; low levels of education; large families with single parent homes; and there is a high prevalence of HIV and other chronic diseases.

Without getting into the complicated reasons why such a place continues to exist in a country whose pride and reputation lie in being an eco-progressive, peaceful “social democracy”, I will refer you to more qualified (and eye-opening) resources such as

http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2782
http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2008/october/04/nac04.htm
http://www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=547

It is within this context that we, at the Women’s Wellbeing and Development Foundation/Bien de Mujer, are actively building our women and children’s community playground and education center, which seeks to be a safe, eco-conscious, community education and resource center for both local women and children living in La Carpio.

“If you build it, they will come…”

Thanks to bighearted donations from the Charles and Betti Saunders Foundation, AMURTEL USA and a few local Costa Rican companies, including 40 bags of cement from Cemex, WWDF/Bien de Mujer is currently renovating two concrete buildings in the heart of La Carpio, the slums of San Jose, Costa Rica.  These buildings will become the women and children’s community playground and education center; home to our Ilori Children’s Education programs and our local women’s group, Granos Solidarios.

Anantoliy Yujimets, originally from the Ukraine, with a background in reforestation engineering and over 20 years construction experience, is heading our renovations work with the help of two local workers.  Anantoliy has worked with WWD-F for over 8 years; he previously built the Sattva Vita Holistic Health and Education Center in Managua, Nicaragua.

Our first renovation goal was to break open these cold concrete “boxes” (standard housing in La Carpio), to allow for some fresh air and sunlight.  The second goal was to internally connect the two buildings.  Rooms are being created for a library and entertainment center; arts, crafts and music studio; an indoor play room (for rainy days!); venues for workshops and classes; as well as a community kitchen (funded by the Charles and Betti Saunders Foundation), for instructional purposes, the actual preparation of nutritional meals for the children, and for the Granos Solidarios food preparation business.  Electricity and water systems have already been implemented.

Here are some recent photos, taken just last week, of the work done over the past couple of weeks:

We will continue to keep you updated on the center renovations work.  In the meanwhile, we are meeting at local churches and, sometimes, homes throughout La Carpio, until it is possible to meet in the actual center.  Of course, we can use more help and professional input on both the creation of the playground and the interior design–especially from artists, eco-designers, urban perma-culture specialists, etc. to assist us in making this center a safe, eco-conscious, artistic, and welcoming example to the local community.

*If you have some talents or skills you would like to share, please do not hesitate to contact Aine Ni, WWD-F/Bien de Mujer Director, at aine@wwd-f.org . To donate to the creation of this women and children’s community playground and education center in la Carpio: http://www.wwd-f.org/help.html