Newsletter # 7 September 17, 2007
Greetings all. I apologize for the long silence. I returned to the states August 10, tired and somewhat discouraged. As a year has passed since forming Bridges & More I’m going to take this opportunity to review our original aims, to look at what actually happened over the past 12 months, and to reflect on possible future courses of action.
Julie Rich and Todd Schwebel arrived last January with their two children (8-year-old Zeno and 5-year-old Freya). Much of what we’ve been able to accomplish this past year is a direct result of their generous help and hard work. Julie gave her artistic and organizational talent in a number of endeavors as well as teaching English both in the elementary school and to local adults. Todd provided expertise and labor in carpentry and construction projects. Julie and Todd have returned to the Cape and don’t have immediate plans to return to Costa Rica. Real tears were shed in the community at their departure, and I’m going to miss their presence and support!
As you may remember, we started out with plans to build 3 footbridges in the town of San Josecito de Uvita and to extend loans for the formation of small businesses that would give Tico residents who want to keep their farms the opportunity to bring in some much-needed income. Our motivation was both social (to relieve problems of local displacement and poverty) and environmental (to keep property in the hands of local farmers thus avoiding sales to developers). We also left open the possibility of educational and environmental initiatives such as recycling and reforestation.
Bridges: We’ve scored “0” on the bridges! The first problem we encountered was that none of the Costa Ricans really wanted foot bridges. They (quite reasonably) would prefer to drive their cars to their homes during rainy weather. In two instances a local family that lives beyond the river took the initiative go to a municipal level for the needed bridges, as these would involve public roadways. Bridges & More may have helped indirectly by offering its encouragement and presence at municipal meetings, but the credit for any success here goes to Luis Núñez. We are awaiting results: during my time there I observed several visits to the river by municipal engineers, and the new mayor (whose reputation is better than the reputations of his predecessors) has given a solemn promise…Nonetheless, I believe continued vigilance and persistence by Luis are called for, and I think Luis knows this.
The third bridge involves no public roads, but does involve easement through privately owned land. This bridge would give access to the Isidro Nunez family. Don Isidro and Dona Ester are finding it increasingly difficult to navigate the steep muddy trek down to their current rickety footbridge and from there up to the public road that leads to the school and the town of Uvita. I don’t know what they would do if they had a medical emergency during high water. Formerly don Isidro tried to sell the entire farm to a developer, and easement legalities emerged, causing the sale to fall through. All of us in the community are happy that don Isidro and his family now plan to stay in San Josecito, but he still needs to sell several parcels of land to finance a bridge and to see him and Dona Ester through their senior years; and the easement problems persist. One possible solution would be if someone were to purchase a strategic section of don Isidro’s land for preservation, without requiring easement access. Bridges & More doesn’t have adequate funds to do this. I’m looking at the possibility of doing it on a private basis if I can sell some of my own land. One such purchase would allow the construction of a bridge and buy time for legal resolution of the easement problems.
Loans: We’ve done slightly better on the loan front. Early in 2007 Beatriz Picado Rodriquez began to build a sheltered area (a “huerta”) to grow organic produce and medicinal plants. She is using some of the principles of Biodynamics, such as raised beds and companion planting. Bridges & More has loaned Beatriz a total of $500 to complete the project. $200 of the loan is due to be repaid in December, while the final $300 is being repaid in monthly installments of $30. In addition to the loan Bridges & More was able to help Beatriz find a local buyer for her produce, and Julie Rich put in quite a few hours working in the huerta.
Bridges & More also purchased materials and paints and built five tables for Milena Núñez to paint and sell. Milena paints vibrant scenes including Costa Rica’s huge array of plants and animals. She hopes to study art at a university when she finishes high school. The tables have been displayed at a couple of local establishments and at the Eco Fair in Dominical last April (see photo). Three have been sold. Proceeds of the sales are divided between Milena and paying back the Bridges & More for the materials.
With regard to loans, the IRS is still reviewing our application for tax exempt status, and one question they have for me is “how can the loans be considered charitable?” I answered that because they are given free of interest and because the emphasis is on the giving rather than the repayment, they can be seen as charitable. However, I was happy to be able to say that in one case we simply gave materials and labor to aid in a possible family business. The purchase of some firebricks and sand, along with the research and labor of Todd Schwebel, enabled us to help Alvin Núñez & Guiselle Lopez build a clay oven to bake bread. Guiselle is looking for a good whole-wheat (or perhaps multigrain) bread recipe----maybe some one of you has a recipe you could send me?
I’m attaching a couple pictures of Todd, Alvin and their two sons Zeno and Estiben working of the oven.
Other Projects
River Protection: Last January at the first meeting of Puentes y Mas Alvin and Luis Núñez expressed concern about the well-being of the river that flows through our valley. They believe that illegal methods of fishing have depleted the stock of larger fish, and that the use of poison to flush out fresh-water shrimp is occurring among laborers who enter the neighborhood as construction workers. Bridges & More purchased materials and Julie Rich painted signs enumerating the official regulations for river use. Additionally we held a meeting of the entire pueblo at which it was decided that, in addition to extra vigilance on the part of the entire village, we would hire river guards at certain times of the year when river use is at its peak (January vacation and Semana Santa in April). Most of the cost of last April’s operations was covered by donations from residents. We contributed $100, most of which remains in the kitty awaiting January vacation. We’ll begin organizing protection efforts when I return in December.
Road signs: Problems with people driving too fast and traffic eroding the dirt road by failure to use four-wheel drive in the steeper sections led to interest in putting up road signs. Julie illustrated some truly lovely signs to announce the school zone and to encourage care toward the ever-present wild-life in the roads. Again, photos are attached.
Recycling: Barrels for recycling plastic, aluminum, tin cans and glass have been painted, labeled and placed in the salon. Gradually an increasing number of people in the community are bringing disposables that were formerly burned or buried. A small contribution is being requested of each person who uses the barrels to pay gas for a monthly trip to Dominical where the recyclables are deposited.
Teaching English: Last year Elizabeth taught English classes to a few interested adults in San Josecito. Julie stepped up the effort when she arrived in January, enlarging class size, teaching multiple levels, and teaching the children at the local school a couple times a week.
International Pen Pals: This is another project that hasn’t made it off the ground. Julie met several times with local parents and with the principal at the high school in Uvita. While there was interest among parents and young people in establishing communication between students in Costa Rica and those in the U.S., caution on the part of the local principal won out, and permission to carry out the project was denied.
Going Forward
Recently Bridges & More received a request from the town to help pay some legal costs involved in title transfer for the land where the salon and the soccer field are located. This is prime, ocean-view land that had been left to the town in someone’s will, but still officially belonged to one of our North American neighbors. That person has signed the land over to the San Josecito Neighborhood Association. Bridges & More will be paying slightly less than half the total cost of the transfer ($360), while the Neighborhood Association has raised money for the remainder of the costs.
Guiselle Lopez still wants to grow orchids to sell. Our Costa Rican cohort Carlos Rojas has developed a proposal where he would provide the young plants and instructions while Bridges & More would loan money for the materials necessary to construct the nursery. Guiselle’s husband Alvin would do the building with help from other family members. We’re hoping to get started on this when the rains subside, probably in January.
River and recycling efforts will continue under the initiative and supervision of Puentes y Mas. Two other great areas of need in the community include upkeep of the road and the construction of a new Catholic Church (the old one was torn down over a year ago for the sake of safety, and the townspeople have been struggling to come up with enough money to complete its replacement). As Bridges & More still has unused bridge funds, we will at our October meeting discuss contributing to one or both of these causes.
As I have spent more time in the area I’ve begun to see that there is very little real communication between Costa Ricans and North Americans. As conditions become more difficult for the Costa Ricans, and as North American developers take over increasing amounts of land and resources, some of that Tico warmth and welcome has begun to evaporate. San Josecito is the only town I know of where a real effort is being made to work together for the good of the whole community, with the intent of lifting the less affluent in that proverbial “rising tide.” I am discovering that metaphoric bridges are as necessary as the physical ones to reach across the divide of cultures, assumptions, and economic status. For this reason I envision future work for our organization in the form of reaching out to neighboring communities to encourage similar efforts.
Before Julie left Costa Rica Mari Monje said to her, “What will we do without you? Can you send another volunteer?” As Julie has pointed out, we have laid the basis for someone to come and do volunteer work in the community. Other volunteer organizations in Costa Rica charge people to come and work with them. We’re looking at the possibility of providing living quarters and a free volunteer position for someone who has some Spanish skills and is eager to do community work. Is anyone out there interested?
In the coming days I'll be adding previous newsletters and corresponding pictures to this site. Your comments and ideas are most welcome!
Elizabeth
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