Getting Started in Coopa Buena

2007-07-04T08:18:00.001-07:00

Well, here we go! Finca Blog Summer 2007 is now underway. I guess I should introduce myself; my name is Elisa and I am one of nine interns currently working at Finca Project (that's me in the orange shirt). I’m an upcoming junior at Claremont McKenna College and am majoring in Environment, Economics, and Politics (EEP) which as it turns out applies perfectly to the dynamic I’m experiencing here in Coopa Buena, Costa Rica.

As of last week all of the interns have arrived, so now the fun really begins! We’re split up into three groups: Community Outreach, Environmental Education, and Film Crew. I am one-third of the Education group and already we’ve already been working up a storm…

My group’s big project for the summer, which now takes up the majority of my time, is to develop an experiential environmental education curriculum for schools in the Aguabuena school district. Many of the schools in the area have expressed an interest to include environmental education in their curricula because either none exists or what does exist is minimal, so my group’s job is to create, propose, and run the curricula at the schools as part of a three-week Environment and Conservation unit. The Costa Rican school year follows the calendar year, so right now students are just finishing their first semester. So far I have already started working with administrators at the elementary school and high school in Coopa Buena and will begin working with students after a two-week vacation that ends the week of July 16^th.

Until next time,

¡Pura Vida!

Elisa