Welcome Fulham!

On Saturday morning, Field Base welcomed the North Fulham New Deal For Communities Expedition to Costa Rica. This group of nineteen students from Fulham Cross and Henry Compton Secondary Schools are here for 9 days, and will have the opportunity to experience elements of a community, environmental and adventure project.

The group arrived at San Jose airport late on Friday night and were taken to Hostal Toruma in downtown San Jose, by Raleigh International Volunteer Managers Ellie Cottam (also an interpreter), Lucy Collier, Emma Bell and Vanessa Miles (also a Medic). The next day they left bright and early and arrived in Turrialba, Raleigh’s Costa Rican base. The day was spent preparing to deploy on the project, which involved some health & hygiene and radio training, a presentation from Julian Olivier (Country Director) and copious amounts of delicious local cuisine. Due to the time difference, everyone was sound asleep by nine o’clock and up ready for breakfast at half past four in the morning! Just as well, as the bus taking them to their project left at six.

Right now the group are destined for the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. They will pass Limon en route (site of Christopher Columbus’ fist landing in the region), before heading south towards Cahuita and then inland through banana plantations to Finca Vesta. At this point they will be met by Gabriel and Cyriel from the Tayní Indigenous Reserve, who will guide the group into their project and provide horses to carry the tools and equipment required.

About Tayní
The students will be living in an indigenous reserve for five nights, giving them an incredibly unique opportunity to experience a culture and way of life completely different to their own. Tayní is populated by Cabecar indigenous people. There are currently about 6,000 indigenous people in the reserve, living in the communities of Gavilan, Coén, Alto Coén, Boca Coén, Calveri, Xicalar, Jobay, Severe, Tay Tara, Suny and Cumoles. The reserve is 16,216 hectares in size and covers the foothills of the Talamanca mountain range on the Atlantic side. The Pacuare, Chirripo and Tayní rivers all flow through the reserve. Nearly all of the inhabitants speak Cabecar and most speak Spanish. The majority of the inhabitants are subsistence farmers crowing maize, yucca, cacao and beans. Some of the population work in the nearby banana industry in the Valle de la Estrella owned by Dole. The culture of the area is still strong and many traditions persist. The majority of the population are Christians – Catholic and Evangelical.

The Project
The Group will be working in two locations in Tayní – Boca Coen and Isla Coen. At present there is nowhere for the primary school teachers to live in Boca Coen, so the teachers need to either walk for three hours or stay in a very cramped room. The community are building them a house so that they can have teachers permanently based there, guaranteeing the continued education of their children. We will be constructing the floor and painting the building. In Isla Coen, the group will be helping with the construction and painting of a new school, as the previous one is in the flood plain so is gradually being destroyed, and of course is dangerous.

Other Activities
While in the community, the group will also have the chance to experience the cultures and pastimes of the local population. They will go fishing with them, visit the local hot springs, visit and teach in the local school, learn Cabecar (indigenous language) and play football (footwear is optional!) There will be an evening spent camping in the jungle, where they will sleep in a basha hammock that they have constructed themselves, and cook using a Trangia cooker. Upon leaving the reserve they will visit Cahuita National Park where they will see a variety of sloth and monkeys, swim in the Caribbean, stay in a beach hotel, and finally, explore the rainforest in an aerial tram.

The participants on this expedition are: Yasmin Ahmed, Zainab Ahmed, Andrew Ajagungbade, Joseph Butler, Taher Darwesh, Sharna Defreitas, Omar Dixon, Kem Ekundayo, Said Hashimi, Mohammed Homadi, Ryan Keane, Alfie Kelly, Bana Mesgina, Vanessa Miles, Rachel O’Brien, Temitope Oluwadipe, Hussein Omar, Juan Vela Garzon, Jordon Waller and Eric Wong. Teachers Stephen Powell and Shashie Harrie, and Youth Worker Jason Allick are accompanying the group.

It’s going to be incredibly busy, eye-opening and fun nine days. Log on next Friday for an update and to view lots of photos from the expedition.