Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Monday, 6 July 2009

Project Manager Skills Training

The venturers start to arrive today and in preparation the project managers have just completed an intense two training programme. We learned how to set up a project site, role modeling, conflict resolution, water safety, food safety, how to give feedback and much more.

Here the team are doing musical feedback

We had to give each other positive and developmental feedback for one minute and then all swap seats. It was great fun and thankfully we are all still talking to one another!

Hasta Manana!

Saturday, 4 July 2009

Team Bonding Day

The Ceilidh was a great success and everyone made an effort to dress up in tartan and put on their best Scottish accent!

Becs, Rachel, Lisa and Sarah getting ready to dance

Ross demonstrating the dance with Oli

The next day we were all up bright and early for our team bonding day of white water rafting. We travelled about an hour to the river then were split into three boats. We spent the day tackling class 1-4 rapids and spotting some amazing wildlife and waterfalls in between rapids!

Chloe, Alex, Tim, Gemma, Sarah, Laura, Carl, David and Rachel - A very happy team on the bus to the river

Life jackets? check. Helmets? check. Paddles? check. Lets go rafting!

Guy taking a shower at the waterfall

Lisa and Carl enjoying the spray

Rachel and Chloe having a break and some fresh pineapple

Wendell and Gemma relaxing in a hammock

Now we have a few more day of project manager skills training before the eagerly anticipated arrival of the venturers on Monday!

Thursday, 2 July 2009

The Project Managers are back!

Today the project managers all returned safe and sound (although a little smelly!) to field base. After some much needed rest and relaxation, the PMs are now busy in the office writing up their project reports, risk assessments and CASEVAC plans. Here are some pictures of what the Alpha groups have been up to on their PPVs.

Alpha 4 Miraflor Community Centre Project - Zoe, Ben and Gemma

Zoe milking a cow!

Ben having a go!

The local transport in Miraflor

The site where Alpha 4 will be building the community centre

Gemma, Ben and Zoe with Francisco, head of the project partner Foro Miraflor

Alpha 3 Achuapa Gravity Water Feed System - Laura and Alex

Laura doing her SITREP

The local washing facilities

Where the aqua duct will be built

Alex meeting the local project partners

Alpha 2 - Maribios Trek - Lisa, Carl with drivers Guy and Tim

Tim driving Bravo 1

Guy drinking and driving, only water of course!

Lisa giving SITREP from Bravo 1

Carl and Lisa arguing over who takes the best pictures!

Lisa and Carl navigating aka getting lost!

Guy, Carl, Lisa and Tim meeting previous Raleigh project partners in Potosi

Alpha 1 - Guanacaste Trek - Chloe, David with drivers Sarah and Wendell

The road to Santa Maria cut off by flash floods!

Chloe showing us the way!

Arriving at the El Pilon ranger station in Bravo 3

Chloe and Sarah enjoying a refreshing Fanta from a plastic bag!

Tonight the girls and boys are getting their frocks on for a traditional Scottish Ceilidh! Rachel, Becs and Sarah have been buying tartan in Turrilba, yes you can get Tartan in Costa Rica! Tomorrow for our team bonding day we are going white water rafting and then having pizza and a movie.

Hasta Luego

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Raleigh Lingo

Copy that?

Sometimes our Raleigh technical terms can be a tad confusing so we've put together a glossary for you blog followers. This will appear as a quick-reference section on the right-hand column so you can translate our Tico-terms into something a bit more palatable. And for those keen to brush up their Central American Spanish, we've included some handy translations. Here's a few to get you started...

Alpha, X-Ray and Zulu groups
(Grupos Alfa, X-Ray y Zulu)
The official name for project groups during the phases of CR&N 13A. Alpha will be out on project from 3rd to 23rd February, X-Ray from 24th February to 15th March and Zulu from 17th March to 5th April. Project groups are allocated during induction

Basha
Jungle ‘bed’: consists of a tarpaulin for shelter, a hammock and mosquito net. A basha is hung up between two trees and supported by rope, bamboo and canvas straps

Bodega
A Spanish word meaning store or warehouse

Bravo
A term of endearment for our hard-working Land Rovers. The four vehicles are officially, and imaginatively named Bravo One, Two, Three and Four

C.A.T.I.E.
The agricultural and development research institute on whose campus Fieldbase is situated. Find out more at http://www.catie.ac.cr/

Changeover (Cambio de Fase)
Two day period where all staff and Venturers return from their project sites for some respite before they are all reallocated and sent off to do it all over again...

Chicas, Chicos
Spanish term meaning girls (chicas) or guys (chicos) or both (chicos aswell). As in “Vamonos chicos!” or “Let’s go guys!”

Craic
A way to gauge how people are feeling, usually measured from 0 to 90. If your ‘craic’ is high, you’re pretty happy. If you announce a low craic, people will probably fix you up with an energy bomb and a nice big hug

CR&N 13A
Costa Rica and Nicaragua expeditions 13A

Day Leader (DL) (Líder del día)
Every day on project, one of the Team is designated DL – they are in charge of the day, including organising the day’s briefing, keeping group morale up, dealing with any problems, sticking to schedule and de-briefing at the end of the day. The DL role rotates round the whole group so everyone takes a turn

Energizer (Actividad Levanta Muertos)
An activity to gather the group together and raise energy levels. Can be used at the beginning of the day, or whenever a quick pick-me-up is required

Energy bombs (Explosión de azucar)
A trekking treat – mix together oats, raisins, condensed milk and chocolate powder and roll into little balls of gooey goodness to power you through the day

Fieldbase (FB) (Campo Base)
Refers to the Raleigh ‘office residence’ which is where the Fieldbase staff eat, sleep and work, whilst organising the expedition, manning the radios round the clock, supporting the projects, planning transport and logistics, keeping tabs on the finances and much, much more

Field Base Volunteer Managers (Equipo Logístico Voluntario del Campo Base)
Volunteer support staff for the expedition. The team looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ of the expedition and ensures everything runs smoothly. This consists of three permanent staff members - the Country Director, Country Project Manager and Country Expedition Manager - plus a team of volunteer staff including the, Medic, Photographer, Administrator, Finance Officer, three Logistics (logs) team members and the Communications Officer

Gallo Pinto
A traditional Costa Rican dish of rice and beans (yum!)

Icebreaker (Rompe Hielos)
A getting-to-know-you game

Longdrop (Letrina)
The camp loo. Literally a deep hole in the ground, it is one of the first tasks to complete when setting up jungle camp for obvious reasons! Short drops are similar, normally used for overnight stops when a shallower trench will suffice

Longs (Pantalones)
From 6pm onwards, we all don long trousers and sleeves to discourage the bugs that aren’t deterred by DEET

Maxis
Short for Maxi Pali, the stock-everything shop about a kilometer from Fieldbase where you can buy all those things you forgot/ran out of/lost

Nicas
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Nicaragua

Ninja
A popular game/energizer used by venturers and Project managers alike. Everyone stands in a circle and tries to hit the team members either side of them on the hand via a single ninja movements. Sound effects welcome

POPS
Legendary milkshake and ice-cream parlour chain found all over Costa Rica – perfect for a sweet splurge

Pork and beans (Frijoles con cerdo)
Another staple foodstuff for trekkers: tinned beans with a slightly sausage twang, served cold for lunch. Usually accompanied by dry cracker dust, sprinkled liberally on to the top. If you’re in a hurry, this can be consumed without cutlery straight from the can

Project Managers (PMs) (Guías)
Project staff for the expedition. Each of the groups has at least two PMs who work with the Venturers to develop skills, lead projects and challenge themselves

PURA VIDA!
A very special Costa Rican phrase that means hello, goodbye, I’m great, it’s good, pure life, basically any positive, feel-good thing can be Pura vida!

Radio check (Chequeo de Radio)
As well as a daily SITREP, all Alpha projects are required to complete a second radio call-in each day to check in, receive messages and report any developments

Review (Revisión)
A round-up that assesses how everyone feels, what went well and what needs work. This is sometimes an ‘activity’, sometimes a chat around the campfire, or sometimes just a bit of time to reflect. It’s an important part of everyone’s personal development so we make sure it happens every day

Roadtrip (Paseo Volando Rueda)
The logistics team and some of the Field Base team drive the Bravos on a loop round to each of the accessible project sites once per phase. They deliver kit, supplies, site visitors, messages from the blog and of course the all important post

Ropa Americana
Purveyors of the finest second hand American threads. Perfect for fancy dress/obtaining that long coveted college sports jersey

SITREP (Reporte de la Situación)
Literally Situation Report. A special radio message sent from the satellite project sites back to fieldbase once a day. It follows a certain format and includes all sort of handy information like where they are, what they’ve been up to, what they need and what they’re planning to do next

Tang
A fruity powder that is used to make squash. Jolly useful for taking away the chlorine taste of purified water

Ticos
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Costa Rica

Trangia (Mini Cocina)
A portable cooking stove. Used primarily for trekking, a trangia’s compact design makes it perfect for easy transportation. Literal translation in spanish - mini kitchen. Makes sense

Turrialba
The location of Fieldbase

Venturers (Aventureros)
Participants in the Raleigh expedition. Aged 17 to 24, they come in three varieties: Host Country Venturers (from Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Partnership Venturers (positive young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK who participate in Raleigh expeditions as part of a longer term development programme) and UK and International Fundraising Participants (who work hard to raise money to contribute towards the charities work and expenses in order to take part in the expedition)

Wash up (Revisión Final)
The last few days of expedition, spent debriefing, returning equipment, performing skits, and most importantly enjoying the farewell party (tears alert)

Zero (Cero)
A radio term that identifies the radio controller at Fieldbase. Fieldbase monitors the radios 24-7, listening out on three frequencies for calls from our satellite project sites. When the radio alarm sounds, we might answer something like this: “Hello unknown call sign, hello unknown call sign, this is Zero, this is zero, do you copy, OVER?”