Delta 2: Jokbata community project

Graham Snyder, Valentina Toledo, Jess Rivas-Furlong, Glyn Worthington, Ellie Williamson, Daniel Alpizar, Henry Lonsdale, Nicola Gale, Susannah Sconce, Seona Stalker, Emily Rigby, Owen Nicholson, Kara Forsyth, Ariadna Venegas, Natalie Smith, Rahul Ghelani.

Delta 2 will be working in the Chirripo Indigenous Reserve to build a primary school in the community of Jokbata. The reserve is one of the remotest areas in Costa Rica and there are very few roads that enter - the project site is about 2 hours walk from the nearest roadhead. There are about 4,000 Cabecar indigenous people who live here spread out along the mountains.

The existing school in Jokbata is too small for the current number of children and some of the classrooms are falling down, so Delta 2 has plans to build 2 new classrooms. Many people in the reserve don’t have a basic education, so these improved teaching facilities will provide major benefits to the whole area into the future.

Delta 2 will also have a unique experience where they can learn about the lives of the Cabecar people and understand the challenges that face this indigenous community at the beginning of the 21st century. The culture of the area is still strong and many traditions persist.

The Delta 2 PMs gave us some thoughts on the project before heading out to Jokbata:

Owen - "I'm excited about the challenge of building a school with a group of young people who've never built anything before. The community have given us a really wicked house to live in and we'll be working in some of the most stunning scenery you'll ever see. I'm also looking forward to finding some local people who play instruments and having a jam."(Ed. Owen takes his guitar everywhere.)

Natalie: "I can't wait to see the faces of the children when we finish building their new school."

Ellie: "The walk into the project site is a challenge but I'm looking forward to getting to the top of hill and enjoying the awesome view with the Venturers. We have an awesome group of young people and I really think they're going to come of age. It will also be great to be part of the community and enjoy some real home-cooked food. And there's going to be some sweet firefly action - it's like being able to see the stars even when it's cloudy."

Julian's fascinating fact: Some school children have a 5 hour walk to and from school each day and to leave Jokbata you have to climb 500 meters over 2 kilometres, not an easy task.