An encounter with the Bri-Bri

Dr Lawrie Kidd, Zulu 5 PM-Medic and champion hard-boiled-egg-peeler shares his thoughts on living among the Bri-Bri people in Coroma, Talamanca.


Before you arrive, the bus drops you at a riverbank. Piled high bananas and plantains are seen in transit as wooden canoes sit ready to shuttle you up-river to your new home. Clad in our life jackets and clinging to the sides of the boat, our boatman drives up rapids and around twisting meanders with the skill of someone who has done this his whole life.

As you arrive, there is no rush of villagers to greet you. Instead, they look shyly from behind buildings and homes. The Bri-Bri are naturally shy but once you have gained their trust and respect, full of smiles and kindness.

The school where we work is much the same. Smiling shy children look awkwardly as we go about our daily business.Lessons are brief but the amusement from watching us visitors, seem to last all day.

On days with heavy rain the school is quiet. Pupils and many teachers cannot cross the rivers to get here. To have a school that is vulnerable to weather patterns limits the education it can offer. This means that our project of building an accommodation block for teachers has got a real purpose for the future of this beautiful place.

Wise and wizened men talked over steaming  hot coffee and discuss their hopes and fears for the community. The influx of religion, mineral prospectors, and financial pressures outside their control are challenges enough without the problems of a poor banana harvest, a hospital a boat ride away, and community politics to contend with.

Here are a people who do not have words for the days of the week and have no need for electricity. They grow what they want to eat and come with their arms laden with fruit and yams that they do not need.

Whilst the women cook us dinner, the children lap up the English lessons and play football with more enthusiasm than skill. This place is not by any means flawless but just as we can offer help and teach a little of what we know, I think we can learn even more from these kind and warm people.

X-Ray 5 photo update

X-Ray 5, the laborious team in Coroma, Talamanca, have completed the outer structure of the school and are close to completing the floor. PM Andy reported rain this morning, on their day off. A game of rounders, rehearsing their skit and a possible walk have been scheduled for the day. We look forward to their show when they get back. Meanwhile, here's a glimpse of life at the Bribri village.

We are aware that many of our blog followers are eager for updates on X-Ray 3. Bravo 3 have arrived at their jungle camp and will be able to deliver photos and updates when they return to fieldbase, Monday. Apologies for the delay and thank you for being patient.

Making chocolate with X-Ray 5 in Talamanca

The Bravo 4 Roadtrip team (Sarah, Vanessa, Carl and Roberto) have just got back from a chocolate flavoured visit to see X-Ray 5. The group are building a new school in the community of Coroma, part of the Talamanca indiginous reserve on the Carribbean side of Costa Rica.

It's an adventure just to get to the project with a thirty minute boat trip upstream in a wooden boat. We landed on the riverbank to be met by the group - happy to see us, and the 100kg of cement we had brought with us to top up their supplies. A sweaty walk later and the Fieldbase team and cement were welcomed into the group's home - one of the other school buildings.

The school is coming along really well and the group have been working hard mixing concrete, putting up the wooden framework and laying the foundations. They enjoyed a well earned day off while we were there and showed us how to make chocolate from the raw cocoa pods in the traditional way so we enjoyed a lovely home made cup of hot chocolate! The evening ended with a party in the local community, with a cultural exchange of dancing and much fun had by all.

Adam Tickner has written more in a full update which you can find after the photos....

The boat journey into the reserve

Driver, Carl enjoying the ride

Working on the site

Charlie

The school is progressing well

Ashley roasting the beans

roasting

roasted beans ready to grind

The finished chocolate - yum!

Project Managers Andy and Alice puzzle over the crossword

Cat and Andy battle at chess

The living and eating areas

X-Ray 5 - aren't they lovely

X-Ray 5, Talamanca, by Adam Tickner

Arriving in style by canoe, it was easy to see why Raleigh may have fallen in love with Talamanca. The remoteness of our location is certainly part of the enigma of Corma village, but the beauty of it is the best part. Tucked away in a little known area of Costa Rica we work, and then every day we wash in a clean, fresh river as the sun sets, with jungle all around. No matter how hard the day has been, after this we will all be happy and our nights are spnt mainly laughing, begfore we sleep in total silence.

Meeting a few of the locals was first on the agenda when we arrived. However, the experience was far from the wariness I had expectged from them. Within a day of meeting one of our contacts, Anselmo, we had been invited to view the local chocolate making process, try ripe cocoa beans from the tree, and even start making our own.

After this idyllic start, the hard work on the construction of the new school building started on the overgrown site on Monday. Fast forward to the weekend and the change is massive - plants have been removed and the ground cleared, the foundation trench and porch have both been concreted, the central columns are up along with the main first floor beams and the area in front is now our makeshift yard for mixing concrete and storing the sand and stones we have been collecting from the nearby river.

The visit from Fieldbase has restocked us with cement and chocolate so we're keeping on building. So far the phase has been amazing, looking forward to the next update.

So with thanks from the Bri-Bri reserve, it's 'weste' from them and 'adios' from us.