Click here to see more results

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in posts

FOR YOU, FOR FREE: 17 years' worth of firsthand Costa Rica trip planning and travel advice compiled into hundreds of articles, plus exclusive discounts. Created by a Costa Rican and a four-time published Costa Rica guidebook author. Welcome, amigos, and as we say in Costa Rica, pura vida!

NEW! Our awesome Costa Rica Destination Tool filters 66 destinations by nearly 150 criteria to help you quickly and easily decide where to go in Costa Rica according to your unique preferences, wants, and needs. Learn more and access the tool on our sister site, DIY Costa Rica, here.

True Inspiration At Its Finest. Treat Others While Treating Yourself!

True Inspiration At Its Finest. Treat Others While Treating Yourself!

Last updated on May 17th, 2017 at 06:51 pm GMT-6 (Costa Rica time)


Written by Nikki Solano

Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, oversees the brand-new (summer 2023) Costa Rica Travel Shop, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. Also, Nikki wrote the Costa Rica cover feature for Wanderlust Magazine's sustainability-focused Travel Green List issue, showcased Costa Rica destinations and experiences on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, and served as the Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist, a luxury travel brand. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️

Costa Rica Travel Consulting Nikki Solano


A few months ago Ricky and I were fortunate enough to receive a truly inspirational email from a client. This client mentioned that he and his wife were planning a trip to Costa Rica and during their vacation they wanted to visit a local elementary school in order to donate a number of supplies they were planning on bringing with them from home. Not only did this couple purchase, pack, and lug 130lbs of school supplies and toys from their Minnesota home to Costa Rica, but they also took the time to think about how their decision to visit a foreign country might be used for something beyond their own reward.

Supplies to donate
Supplies to donate

Fortunately for us, these clients needed the assistance of a bilingual Spanish-English translator to help express in English the words and emotions of the Spanish-speaking school children. Naturally, Ricky jumped at the chance to be able to help in any way that he could and he met the clients upon their arrival into La Fortuna. What followed was a visit to a school in nearby Monterrey, a likely humbling experience for our clients (although I would assume these clients were pretty humble to begin with!), and some life-changing experiences for the kids.

School in Monterrey
School in Monterrey

For an entire account of the day you can read the full post on our client’s blog: Boris Chaplin Blog. In the meantime, I can’t help but share the following few paragraphs with you as written by our client’s wife. If this doesn’t remind you of how easily a kind gesture can bring pure happiness, I don’t know what else will.

Attentive students
Attentive students

“Our interpreter Ricky stepped up as we were bringing the bags in and told the kids that we brought some school supplies for them.  The kids were looking at us with curiosity.

We opened the first box and pulled out large bundles of colored construction paper and markers.  With Ricky’s help we asked if there is anyone in the room who likes to draw.  Every single hand shot up in the air.  We started pulling things out of the box and laying them out on the table that was right by the door.  Next, we pulled out half a dozen boxes of band-aids with fun cartoon characters.  After explaining to the teachers and the kids what that was, judging by the excitement in the room we thought for sure someone is going to run outside and scrape their knee on purpose just to get the fun band-aid.  Then, we pulled out some bottles of antiseptic and I think the female teacher’s heart began to melt.  We also gave packages and packages of stickers and I think we finely won her over.

Next, we pulled out shiny soccer balls and the kids went ballistic (soccer is the most popular sport in Costa Rica).  When the sparkling pencils came out the kids were uncontrollable.  Finally, they managed to form a line so each child could receive two pencils.  And then it was the stuffed animals.  The kids were jumping up and down, screaming and crying.  The reaction took us completely by surprise.  Both boys and girls were hugging and kissing their toys, they were rocking and petting them.  Our hearts swelled up with joy.  My hands were shaking and I was completely choked up trying to hold back the tears.  It was very emotional to see how much joy a simple toy could bring to a child.”

A grateful hug
A grateful hug

I cannot help but smile each time I think of these clients and their incredible passion to give. Hopefully this couple is not one in a million. We hope they are one of a million other tourists who take a minute to think about what they can do while on vacation to give back to a country wherein pockets of poverty lie between the high-rise condos and all-inclusive resorts. Specifically, and as also mentioned in our client’s post on the subject, most school children in Costa Rica walk to and from school daily, many of them unsupervised (as their parents are at work), and often in the rain. If any group of children would be deserving of such an unselfish gift, it would be these kids. Ricky and I regularly find the same small group of three school children (two brothers and one friend) at our home whenever it is raining in the afternoon, as they seek shelter until the rain passes and have taken a liking to our doorstep. We provide them with a glass of juice or water (although they are polite enough not to ask), perhaps a snack, and a few board games and/or playing cards to keep them entertained during their visit. We know as soon as the rain lets up they have a multi-mile walk home and will arrive just in time for dinner before its off to bed. Morning comes early when the long walk needs to be made all over again.

Frequent visitors
Frequent visitors

To our clients who made the decision to visit and donate to the school in monterrey – thank-you for your work and your humility. Your example is true inspiration at its finest and a perfect example of how travellers can use their vacations to treat others in addition to themselves.

QUESTION TO COMMENT ON: Have you participated in a volunteer program in Costa Rica or initiated your own by donating supplies brought from home? How did it go?

Pura vida!



Hey, Costa Rica Travel Blog reader, thank you for visiting and reading our blog! We're truly grateful for your time and preference.

Do you know that your spam-free reading experience is most important to us? Unlike some other Costa Rica blogs, we do not to sell your personal information, and we choose not to display ads, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing on our blog so we can keep your visit as distraction- and junk-free as possible. Because we prioritize your privacy, we don't earn money when you visit us, when you sign up for our e-course, or when you click on our links, which means the time and work we put into this blog—including its 300+ articles—is entirely voluntary! If you find our content valuable, and you'd like to thank us for making the trip-planning process easier and your Costa Rica vacation more enjoyable, please consider making a small donation ($1, $2, $3, or an amount of your choosing) to our blog. Doing so is a great way to pat us on the back if you feel we deserve it. 😊 Pura vida, amigos!

Click on the button above to donate through PayPal. (If you cannot see the PayPal button above, click here.) A PayPal account is not required to make a donation; credit and debit cards are also accepted. PayPal donations are confidential; we never see your payment details.


Love our blog? Check out our other Costa Rica-related projects, too:


DIY Costa Rica

Costa Rica tour discounts

DIY Costa Rica

Costa Rica Travel Consulting Nikki Solano

Costa Rica Recommendations Map

Costa Rica Destination Tool

Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course

Costa Rica Travel Shop




Viewing 2 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
  • #196279
    Kris Elam
    Guest

    I will be visiting with my cousin at the end of September and doing an Ecoterra 7 day trip. As I am a teacher in San Diego I would really like to bring a donation of school supplies/soccer balls. Do you know the best way to coordiate it? We have two free days at the end of our trip in La Fortuna and visiting a school would be amazing but I understand that may not be a possibility. Thanks for the great and inspirational idea!

  • #196280
    Joey R
    Guest

    We would love to do this when we visit in June 2017—visit a school or orphanage. We reached out to an orphanage in La Fortuna, but we don’t speak enough Spanish on our own. We will be staying near La Fortuna & Playa Negra. Can you help us or know someone that can?

  • #196281
    Nivette
    Guest

    Do you need to sign up to do something like this or can you just bring stuff and choose a school? We are visiting La Fortuna and Monteverde next July and this would be freaking amazing to do.

Viewing 2 reply threads
  • The forum ‘Costa Rica Travel Blog Forum’ is closed to new topics and replies.