What would the world be like if we all pulled together?

What would the future look like if all of our cities and towns used the global pandemic as a chance to pull together? How would the world change if we truly understood that we’ll all succeed, or we’ll all fail?

The community of Bijagua, Costa Rica, is showing us part of the answer. Its families have spent decades building an ecotourism industry that protects rainforest and wildlife in a critical biological corridor. Their latest effort, a new fundraising campaign, seeks to help those families keep food on their tables during the worst crisis Costa Rica’s tourism industry has ever faced. And it’s pursuing that goal with a relentless fairness, making sure each community member has a chance to chip in with whatever skills or resources they’ve got.

“The thing is, this crisis is like a river,” rural tourism entrepreneur Donald Varela told me a few months back. “Everyone in this town is standing on one side of it. And if we’re going to get to the other side, we’re going to have to cross that river together.”

As an old friend of Donald’s and his family’s, and in my role as an impromptu emergency fundraiser during the pandemic, I’d been proposing that Donald get some support for his extraordinary rainforest conservation project, Tapir Valley. His response, in effect, was: “Not without my whole community.” As president of the Río Celeste Chamber of Tourism (CATURI), he wanted to make sure that any emergency fundraising in Bijagua was shared equally, across the board.

This was, of course, the right approach. But given the intense strain every single rural entrepreneur has been under in Costa Rica since the total suspension of its tourism industry in March, I find that kind of solidarity rather breathtaking. “Solidario” is an essential adjective in Costa Rica, and one without an exact English translation; maybe there’s a reason for that. At any rate, it’s the adjective that describes every aspect of the campaign that the community launched this past week through the U.S. nonprofit Amigos of Costa Rica: Río Celeste Forest Stewards.

CATURI’s board and affiliates worked carefully for months to come up with a campaign that would benefit as many community members as possible. You might be familiar with the concept of payments for environmental services, where, for example, landowners who protect forest are paid by the acre. CATURI sought to do something similar in terms of rewarding local families for forest conservation, but without excluding anyone – without leaving anyone behind on the side of that river.

Large landowners receive the same amount as a family protecting a few acres of forest. That family receives the same support as a naturalist guide who’s helping monitor species (and essential activity to help sound early alarms on poaching or logging). If you don’t own any forest, and can’t do species monitoring, you can receive support for working to create a tribute to conservation at the heart of town. They’ve made sure there’s something for everyone.

To provide all this urgently needed support, they’re asking for U.S. tax-deductible donations on the Amigos of Costa Rica site. This support will keep a town afloat. It will send them a message that their hard work and sacrifices – their choice to protect their forests rather than turning a profit through logging, hunting or development – have been worth it. And it will help them continue to protect their ecosystems until the rest of us can visit them in person to enjoy them once more.

Throughout this terrible year, we’ve witnessed terrible acts of selfishness, recklessness, hatred, and divison. If we’re lucky, we have witnessed extraordinary acts of selflessness and teamwork. To me, the Río Celeste community’s approach to emergency fundraising is right at the top of that list. Despite each family’s individual suffering, they’ve kept their eye on the big picture. They’ve remembered that they must all cross this river together. That’s not just smart, and right, and realistic. It’s also the foundation for a whole new world, don’t you think?

I hope you’ll check out what they’re up to, here. Not just because they need and deserve our help – but also because the rest of us need and deserve this kind of inspiration.

What would the future look like if we all pulled together like Bijagua?

Let’s find out.

I run the virtual volunteer community Costa Rica Corps and am the co-founder of the new, bilingual media organization El Colectivo 506. I also work as a freelance grantwriter, fundraiser, and communications coach, and write essays, articles and books. I live in San José with my husband and daughter. Sign up at top right to receive an essay in your inbox each Sunday morning: a chance to dominguear together (a lovely word that literally means, “to Sunday,” and describes a leisurely trip or ramble). We’ll explore a project, changemaker, community, or idea I’ve come across, or just watch the world go by. See you next Sunday!

A Friday celebration: friendship, generosity, and the power of travel

I told you last week that I would have a terrific story for you come Friday. Then Friday came and the growing grief and fear in my home country made it seem impossible to talk about anything else.

One week later, it’s still hard to talk about anything else, but I can’t resist sharing this immensely inspiring story with you any longer. I hope it create a bright spot in your day the way it has for me.

When Ann Becker visited Costa Rica and its incredible Osa Peninsula in 2005, she fell in love with the country, like so many others. In fact, she chose to build a whole new enterprise around her new passion: Travel with Ann Costa Rica, which for years has organized hands-on, experiential trips that place travelers, particularly women, in contact with not only Costa Rica’s incredible natural settings, but also its people.

Community champions, nonprofit pioneers, social entrepreneurs, indigenous leaders, rural and urban families have welcomed Ann’s groups with open arms and built, in many cases, lasting friendships. She is now starting to focus on sharing her knowledge and networks with others who want to build meaningful travel experiences, and I can’t wait to see how that unfolds.

The reason I’m telling you about Ann tonight is that over the past few weeks she has invested incredible amounts of time and energy in spearheading an emergency fundraising campaign for one of the Costa Rican communities she knows and loves particularly well: Osa’s Drake Bay. The community was, and is, suffering from a hunger crisis because of the hundreds of families that have dedicated their lives and livelihoods to sustainable tourism, and lost all their income with the suspension of tourism due to COVID-19. Ann worked with the Drake Bay Nature Guides’ Association (AGUINADRA) and U.S. nonprofit Amigos of Costa Rica to put together the Drake Bay Emergency Fund and start raising money to help AGUINADRA respond to the crisis and put food on families’ tables.

She surpassed her initial goal and set a new one. On Thursday, her birthday, she surpassed that goal, too. That means that Ann and her networks in Costa Rica and far from Costa Rica have come together to help put more than $12,000 towards buying and distributing the food that is so badly needed in Drake Bay right now. It’s an astonishing feat, especially when you consider the tremendous demands on everyone’s time and money these days. And it will never be forgotten by many, many people on the Osa Peninsula, or by those of us who have cheered her on.

The best way to read about this effort is in Ann’s own words, so I encourage you to follow her on Facebook or check out her website. And watch this space for how her effort is inspiring others to set off on their own fundraising journeys.

Happy birthday, Ann.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or FacebookIf you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

Breakfast in Costa Rica, part II: Links and recipes

Yesterday’s live chat focused on breakfast, and I heard (during and afterwards) so many comments, ideas and tips that I decided to do a whole separate post about them all.

As I said in the video, I’ve recently realized that Global Crisis 2020 is – for those of us lucky to be at home – the perfect time to have some comforting Costa Rican breakfasts. They are cheap as hell, hearty and nutritious (depending on how you prepare them), and they’re a great way to reconnect with Costa Rica if you’re out of the country and feeling nostalgic. Talking about food was also a great excuse to discuss some of the amazing food security efforts happening in Costa Rica to enfront the massive threat of hunger right now. Here are some of the things we discussed, with links:

  • Gallo pinto: There are as many recipes for the Costa Rican breakfast staple as there are Costa Ricans, but I like this one because it also includes a recipe for “Almost Salsa Lizano,” if you don’t have any. What’s your favorite?
  • Tortillas: I was taught to make corn tortillas by Green Communities host mothers in Los Santos in Februar, after more than 15 years living in Costa Rica! Gulp. I feel virtuous if I have any part of making tortillas from instant masa harina, but I’ve recently been reading about the joys of grinding your own masa. (Maybe someday.) This site is one of many that walks you through the process. All you need is masa harina and water; you can also add a little cheese to the masa for absolutely delicious results.
  • Ripe plantains in a sweet cinnamon sauce: Alejandro Zúñiga mentioned this and I was instantly obsessed. I request that he provide more information ASAP.
  • Chilera: Putting some spicy pickled veggies on your Costa Rican classics or any savory breakfast dish will make your day better. Throwing together a chilera is also a go-to task for me when I want to feel like a domestic goddess without actually doing anything difficult. Here’s a piece I once edited with a detailed recipe, and a pic of my own chilera.
  • Favorite breakfast spots: Costa Rica Daily Boost readers shared their favorite Costa Rican breakfast spots including Soda Garabito in Jacó, El Fogón in Atenas, Casitas Tenorio B&B in Bijagua, Sibú Chocolate in San Isidro de Heredia, and Franco in Barrio Escalante. I can’t wait to get back to these spots in the future.
  • Hunger relief in Drake Bay: With tourism suspended in Costa Rica, a lot of families have seen their incomes drop to zero, and hunger is one of the biggest problems the country is facing. I shouted out two places where I, coincidentally, love to eat breakfast, and that are doing good things to help people have a meal. One is La Paloma Lodge in Drake Bay, on the Osa Peninsula, which is asking its former guests to contribute to the Drake Bay Emergency Fund. This fund has been set up by Ann Becker of Travel with Ann and Amigos of Costa Rica, working with AGUINADRA, the Drake Bay Guides’ Association. Donations to the fund will feed families that have spent decades building up sustainable tourism as their sole source of support. Learn more and contribute here.
  • Hunger relief for the homeless: FInally, I thanked De la Mano con la Calle and the Soda Tapia, a San José breakfast go-to that is working with De la Mano to provide hot meals to the homeless. You can also contribute to this effort through Amigos. Learn more here.

I am sending my best wishes for good meals and health, to you and yours.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or FacebookIf you want to learn more about how to support Costa Rica during the crisis, visit my COVID-19 section, updated regularly – or for ways to enjoy Costa Rica from afar, visit Virtual Costa Rica.

Day 39: Godspeed, little babies

In the places where I grew up, fall is the time when leaves leave their trees after blazing out in a gorgeous way. In Costa Rica, these same months are when thousands of baby turtles leave the beaches and set out into a vast new life.

I celebrate them on Travel Thursday not because so many of us travel to visit them, but because they themselves are taking such an incredible trip, unimaginable from land. We are lucky to be there at the start. We are also lucky that people like Susan Jackson, who took this photo and is a part of Tambor Bay Turtles, are around to protect these babies from warming sand and other threats.

Here’s to Susan, to turtle champions everywhere, and to you, babies! May the waves be always at your back.

Read more about Tambor Bay Turtles here: https://www.amigosofcostarica.org/affiliates/tambor-bay-turtles.

I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! You can also find me churning out small, square poems on any topic under the sun (here on the site, on Instagram or Twitter).