Monthly achievement report January 2016

Incredible Turn Out at Educational Holiday Camp in Quepos!

Objective
One of GVI Quepos hub, long term objectives is to improve access to education and wellness to El Cocal, a small community outside of Quepos. As this is an isolated community
where school attendance is unstable and often deprioritized, this month, the volunteers held
a holiday camp for the children, in which we aimed to achieve the following:

Construct a safe environment for expression

Encourage school attendance through fun, experiential education
Begin to establish a communal expectation of mutual respect
Create bonds between the children and their new volunteer teachers

Summary
Through a wide variety of activities, the children and volunteers worked together to play and
learn! Each day consisted of up to six different events that revolved around teamwork, meaningful arts and crafts, and other forms of fun education. Through these light-hearted channels,
the volunteers were able to bond with the kids in Cocal, establishing a necessary sense of
trust and mutual respect that we hope will pave the way for deeper impact and continued
expression.

Report
The community of El Cocal exists just outside of Quepos Center on a semi-isolated peninsula,
only accessible to Quepos Center by boat. As a result, the community experiences a disproportional marginalization from Quepos in terms of accessibility to materials, health services,
and protection. These circumstances, along with other special conditions, have created a micro-culture in El Cocal that often evokes a difficult learning environment for the children involved
in
our
project.
GVI Quepos program objectives are designed specifically to the micro-culture that is El Cocal.
Through dedication and positive relationships with working partners in the community, GVI
seeks to support and contribute to long term sustainable community development in the area,
support and improve education, create a safer learning environment for children, and expose
the kids in the area to different styles of teaching. Every step that our passionate team takes
into
Cocal
is
a
step
toward
achieving
these
objectives.

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In alignment with our general program goals, GVI opened the 2016 Quepos school year with
flying colors (literally-- there was paint everywhere!). Our exceptional volunteers planned a
week-long camp of educational, multi-intention activities as a transition into the new school
year. The camp specific objectives were focused on creating an environment for safe expression, laying the foundation for mutual respect and trust, and provoking an association between
fun and learning. With so much laughter and running around during the week, an outsider
would
never
have
guessed
how
much
these
kids
were
learning!
The week began with a name tag craft activity. It was in this short window that we learned
two things about our new students:
1) that they LOVE to create and color.
2) That they did not all know each other well, despite being very close neighbors and always
attending the same school.
It was incredible to watch such a seemingly simple task blossom into an event of glitter
clouds and giggles among familiar little strangers.
Throughout the week, their name tags began to be covered in gold stars, which were awarded
to a student by a volunteer whenever it was noticed that the student was treating someone
else with exceptional respect. The stars would later be traded in for little prizes at the end of
the week as a camp souvenir! The kids loved rocking their name tag style, and they began to
actively consider what it meant to be nice to other students in order to gain a gold star. This
form of positive behavioral reinforcement was particularly successful through the course of
camp, and directly represented our camp-specific and general objectives for the Quepos project.
In addition to creating nametags, we utilized expression
through arts and crafts as a
channel for multiple other forms
of environmental, social, and
traditional education. For example, as a means of enhancing
team work skills, the children
played a game called Balloon
Rescue. The idea was to design a contraption in groups that
would protect a water balloon
from breaking when dropped
from a second story. The materials used to create their contraptions consisted of plastic
wrappers, card board, straws,
bottles, and other litter that they
collected off the beach in their
community! During this activity,
the children openly discussed
the litter problem in their community, used their imaginations
to create a form of art, and effectively worked together to create a multitude of contraptions.
After dropping each balloon off

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the second story, their teamwork skills passed the test, as 20/22 balloons were successfully
rescued!
Over all, our opening to the 2016 school year was a great achievement for the Quepos project.
The kids never stopped laughing, and the volunteers eyes were opened to the magic of El
Cocal. As the weeks following camp continue to unfold, the GVI Quepos team continues to
follow our objective path surrounding safe expression and more easily accessible learning for
the children of El Cocal, Quepos.

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