The local community center in Atenas was created to offer a warm, gathering place for local community residents. The services offered -- enrichment classes, craft work shops, and special events all combine to encourage social interaction and celebration of the local culture.

As a volunteer, you may be assigned the following responsibilities:

• Teaching English to adults or children at the community center;

• Assisting with conjunctive projects between the community center, and the local library or cultural center;

• Teaching English or leading weekly arts and crafts projects for small children;

• Assisting the library with the children’s hour;

• Planning and organizing special events in town such as the Festival of Dance and the Angels for Christmas Project;

• Creating brochures and flyers, and distributing information to the community to market and promote community programs and events; and

• Assisting with the creation of the local website.

As one of 20 countries with the greatest biodiversity in the world, Costa Rica is home to some of the most spectacular flora and fauna. Location and climate have contributed to the creation of the nation’s natural splendor. Efforts by the government and private corporations have teamed to help maintain it.

Through policy initiatives, the Costa Rican government has taken a deliberate and conscientious approach aimed at protecting and preserving some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems. As a result, over 25 percent of the country’s land has been categorically protected to stave off further degradation.

Corporations are doing their part as well. Helping to establish private reserves to encourage ecotourism and research, the local private sector is helping to promote appreciation and better understanding of the need for environmental conservation among future generations.

Protecting and preserving the environment is a matter that affects everyone. As an AMPED volunteer, you can do your part to further this global community effort. Lend your knowledge and skills to develop and implement grassroots recycling programs, clean-up efforts, and other local projects in Atenas.

Volunteers may be assigned the following responsibilities:

• Planting trees;

• Cleaning creeks or park areas; and

• Developing and promoting recycling efforts.

Growing old can be a lonely experience wrought with physical challenges and limitations that can lead to sadness and depression.

Volunteering for AMPED’s geriatric care project is a ‘golden’ opportunity to brighten the day of the elderly retirement home residents. In the absence of family or between family visits, volunteers can offer much needed companionship. Share your experiences with them. Laugh with them. Learn from them.

As an AMPED volunteer working with the elderly, participants usually spend most of their time working with the physical therapist during their recreation time and may be assigned the following responsibilities:

• Planning and organizing games and socials;

• Teaching an exercise or yoga class; and

• Providing physical therapy (if properly trained and certified).

When it comes to health and wellness, the citizens of Costa Rica have it good. The hospitable tropical climate, fresh and healthy foods, and the enviable living pace help to bring the country’s average life expectancy to mid to late seventies. All of these factors are undergirded by a top notch healthcare system, a rarity among developing nations.

Costa Rica has its finger on the pulse of healthcare, with highly organized national and private systems and well trained professionals. Though the public system is taxed with bureaucratic red tape, and long waits, the level of care and service delivery offered by the two systems is often said to rival that of the United States and the U. K.

AMPED offers a variety of opportunities for participants to become engaged in healthcare through education, emergency service, and research options.

• AMBULANCE SERVICES - Assist a team of first responders by volunteering with a public or private ambulance service. The public ambulance service assists the public by providing emergency transportation to the clinic, conducting community service projects, and conducting presentations about the dangers of drug use and to heighten AIDS awareness. Volunteers may also help teach English to EMTs so that they may offer better service and care while working in the field. Volunteering with the private ambulance service affords participants an opportunity to work with the highest quality ambulance service in Atenas. Assist EMTs in the office with various administrative functions and responding to calls for assistance.

• DENGUE - Dengue is an infectious viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes in tropical regions. The dengue project is a public health project informing the public about the ways to prevent dengue and to eliminate the spread of the disease. It is a grassroots door-to-door community project that involves inspecting areas that could breed disease carrying mosquitoes and educating the public. As a volunteer, you may also spend part of your time teaching English to the Ministry of Health officials.

• DENTISTRY - Assist dentists and observe dental practices at a local clinic in Costa Rica. Volunteers may help sterilize and disinfect instruments and equipment, prepare and layout materials needed to treat each patient, obtain and update patients’ dental records, and instruct patients concerning postoperative and general oral healthcare.

• LABORATORY - Work in a private laboratory that runs general and specific specimens for the detection of diseases and infections. Assist the lab physician with analyzing samples.

Frequently overlooked for the massive sea turtles, land and fresh water turtles have especially come under watchful protection.

At a privately funded clinic, natural habitats similar to their natural ecosystems are constructed to improve the quality of life for freshwater and terrestrial turtles that have suffered trauma, have been harmed by disease carrying parasites, and have experienced other health problems.

In addition to caring for the turtles, the organization aims to educate the public and community, and to conduct investigative research aimed at safeguarding and conserving the turtles and fostering sustainable development that is in harmony with nature.

Volunteers for this project may be assigned the following responsibilities:

• Caring for land and fresh water turtles;

• Constructing new habitats for the turtles using organic and environmentally friendly techniques;

• Working with hydroponics project;

• Making organic fertilizer from dry leaves; and

• Maintaining the greenhouse.

Some children are born with the odds stacked against them, and many of them have endured unimaginable experiences that have left an indelible marks on them physically and psychologically. Thanks to the help and compassion of others, these children now have an opportunity to experience and enjoy their childhood and grow to be productive citizens.

Participants may choose from one of the following orphanage/daycare options:

• ORPHANAGE - Once abused, neglected, and abandoned, now the children at the children’s orphanage wear the label survivors thanks to the compassion of one married couple that recognized the pain and despair born by many children in Atenas. Because of their traumatic pasts many of them are struggling with trust issues and working to overcome physical and mental limitations due to abuse and neglect that occurred during their formative years. In a private home rooted within the foundation of a Christian ministry, the children, ranging from birth to ten years, have a safe haven where they receive love, care, nutrition, and education within a warm nurturing environment until their home life improves, they can be adopted by families, or are old enough to transfer to orphanages for older children. For some of the children, the orphanage may be the only home they know. While the numbers may vary from day to day, on average the fifteen year old orphanage, located just outside Atenas provides shelter to between 25 and 30 children, which can be a handful for the small staff. That makes the support and help of volunteers all the more important.

• DAYCARE - The governments of many developing nations, including Costa Rica sponsor daycare programs to help children from low income families. Through such assistance, the government helps to ensure that the family stays intact as the support offered by the daycares allows parents to work to meet the needs of their families while ensuring that their children are in a safe, loving environment.

• TEENAGE BOYS' ORPHANAGE - The adolescent boy’s orphanage in La Garita, Costa Rica is government-run and offers a program for teen boys who have been taken from the street or from family situations which are not ideal. The boys remain at the orphanage until the situation at home is corrected or until they come of age. These children are dealing with issues of poverty, abuse, and street issues—drugs, prostitution, and more.

As an orphanage/daycare volunteer, you may be assigned the following responsibilities:

• Organizing constructive educational activities and games;

• Helping the children with their homework and teaching them English;

• Reading stories, playing sports, and teaching them songs and dance;

• Spending quality time with the children; and

• Assisting the staff with maintenance and up-keep of the facilities.

Face licking, tail wagging, shoe chewing, and lap pouncing, you gotta love’em. If you have ever had the joy of owning a pet, you know exactly what we mean. There is a special bond that exists between pets and their owners. Over time, they have a way of becoming one of the family.

As familiar as your favorite pair of jeans or sneakers, it just feels good having them around and parting with them is hard to imagine.

Because animals in Costa Rica are often abandoned due to illness or lack of love, the pet rescue project was created to provide warm and loving homes to abandoned cats and dogs.

In addition to being a no kill shelter, the project is also the first animal rescue project in Costa Rica to function as an in-home foster care program for animals. Rather than being kept in kennels, the animals are kept in the home where they are nurtured, cared for, and trained until they are adopted.

Currently, there are 14 dogs and 2 cats. The potential to care for more animals exists, but it depends on the number of people that are willing to dedicate their time and effort to saving the animals.

Shelter volunteers will have the following responsibilities:

• Walking and playing with the animals;

• Leash training;

• Bathing and grooming; and

• Providing general love and care.

By culture, Ticos are passionate conservationists. The country’s megadiverse flora and fauna attracts globetrotting scientists and nature enthusiasts from all corners of the world, seeking to research and learn about its complex and intriguing ecosystems. The varied species of wildlife garner particular interest, with sea turtles being among the most fascinating.

This project has 3000 meters of beach front on the Caribbean coast and last year protected 3,800 nests. It is primarily the nesting area for leatherback turtles, although greens and hawksbills sometimes come to shore.

It is located on the Caribbean coast. The primary purpose is to protect the nests from human poachers and collect research information while helping newborn hatchlings reach the sea safely. The nesting season is March through June and July with hatchling turtles emerging May through the end of the season. The site is a serious scientific research headquarter with a resident biologist on site.

Night patrols and hatchery shifts are the main work of the volunteers. Daytime work at the project may involve beach cleanup and small projects, and conservation or environmental projects. Most nights, volunteers will be searching the beach for nesting females.

Sea turtle project volunteers will have the following responsibilities:

• Conducting nightly patrols in search of sea turtles;

• Taking carapace and nest dimension measurements;

• Harvesting eggs;

• Building new nests so that the harvested eggs can be transplanted at the hatchery;

• Tagging turtles for tracking purposes;

• Collecting DNA samples; and

• Recording data for analysis -- number of eggs, nest location, and turtle identification information, and survival rate

That which is not understood, is often dismissed or cast aside. In many parts of the world, the mentally/developmentally disabled are shunned and socially marginalized because they are believed to be burdensome or an embarrassment. They are abandoned to stereotypes and false, generalized notions that place greater limitations on their ability and development

Patience and an encouraging atmosphere will help them to reach their individual potential. Compassion and an open mind will open the door for volunteers to witness the world from a whole new perspective.

Volunteers working with individuals that have special needs may be assigned the following responsibilities:

• Teaching basic life skills;

• Planning and organizing small group activities to enhance basic skill development;

• Accompanying groups on outings; and

• Socializing with them and assisting them with projects.

Poor, rural children are falling behind their rich counterparts in the cities because the schools are in such bad physical condition. Overcrowding makes it difficult for instructors to teach and for the children to learn. Further, too few teachers and lack of funding make it impossible to cover all the subjects, including the compulsory English courses, much less tend to the needs of every student.

In other schools, the courses are taught, but at a very low level as the teachers do not have the proper education and training. The gap, therefore; between the rich and poor is ever expanding.

By the time the children make it to high school, where they are expected to have mastered the basic skills designated at that level, they become frustrated and abandon their pursuit of an education altogether, contributing to the high dropout rate.

Help is desperately needed to teach English and other subjects in neighborhood kindergarten and elementary schools, as well as at the local high school.

English teaching volunteers may be assigned the following responsibilities:

• Teaching the children English and other core subjects;

• Assisting the teacher’s with developing lesson plans;

• Helping the teachers to learn English; and

• Organizing constructive learning activities and games.

Traditional beliefs concerning gender roles continue to be firmly entrenched in Costa Rican culture as cooking, cleaning, and other household chores are still widely believed and accepted as female responsibilities. This is no surprise given the fact that like most Latin American countries or any country in the developing world for that matter, Costa Rica is strongly patriarchal. There is, however; a gradual shift taking place as more women enter the workforce and opportunities for cultural exchange and communication expand.

Historically well educated, Costa Rican women are only now beginning to break out of their socially imposed shell and entering realms such as politics and other traditionally male dominated arenas.

At a women’s cooperative just outside Atenas, a group of women are asserting themselves and paving their own path to economic self-sufficiency in a way that also benefits their community.

The women have organized a greenhouse and conservation project. Orchids, organic fertilizer, cactus, and ornamental plants are sold to the community so that the women can earn income to further their personal goals and ambitions. Through the reforestation component of their project they are able to encourage the rebuilding of natural habitats and ecosystems.

As an AMPED volunteer, you may contribute to this project in the following ways:

• Website construction and content writing;

• Identifying funding sources to help sustain the project;

• Developing creative strategies for advertising, marketing, and promoting the women’s cooperative project; and

• Maintaing the greenhouse;

• Planting trees; and

• Working with organic fertilizing methods.