A lot of people I know have visited Costa Rica and they loved it. The beaches were fantastic. They zip-lined through the rain forest. They saw monkeys from their hotel room. Hearing these stories, I quickly learned that despite my dabbling in being a tourist, the Costa Rica they visit and the Costa Rica I know are vastly different. This is both the advantage and disadvantage to being a long-term volunteer.
I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t (and won’t) get the chance to visit many of Costa Rica’s main tourist attractions. Instead, I have slowly gotten to know the country through talking to small business owners who receive microloans and the Fundación Mujer loan officers that work with them. As a Kiva Fellow, I have seen breathtaking views that aren’t on the regular tourist circuit and I have also seen heartbreaking poverty. The most lasting images I will take with me are all of the ordinary people I got the chance to talk to: the pineapple grower in Paraiso, the piñata maker in Naranjito, and the pedicurist in Cartago.
As a long-term volunteer, the picture I have of Costa Rica is so much more complicated, and, in my opinion, much more interesting than what short-term visitors get to see. And while at times it can being incredibly difficult, even heart-wrenching, to talk to people who have so little and so few opportunities, it both inspires me and reminds me of why I wanted to be a volunteer in the first place.
For another perspective on how hard it can be to move between being just a visitor and seeing what everyday life is like in a developing country I suggest reading Rob Packer’s blog Living in Two Worlds at Once.
Meg Gray is finishing up her work as a Kiva Fellow at Fundación Mujer in San José, Costa Rica. Follow her or La Vida Idealist on Twitter to get more frequent updates.
Latest posts by mgray2noti
- Back in the USA - April 26th, 2010
- Reading List - April 8th, 2010
- Volunteering Does Not Equal Vacation - March 31st, 2010
- Things I Never Thought I Would Do At Work - March 24th, 2010
- La Lucha Para Ejercicio - March 18th, 2010
- When Body Language Goes Too Far - March 10th, 2010
- My Hips Just Don't Move Like That - March 3rd, 2010
- Life Without a Cell Phone - February 24th, 2010
- Safety Versus Freedom - February 17th, 2010
- Day in the Life: Elections in a Foreign Land - February 10th, 2010
Hi Kent, For more perspectives on the impact/potential of microloans I would check out the Kiva Fellows Blog: fellowsblog.kiva.org
Too true! I feel the same down here in Puerto Jimenez … there’s such a dearth of opportunity for people. And, the opportunities that DO come are given by expats who move here. I’d love to learn more about the impact/potential of microloans to help spark locally driven entrepreneurship.