Environmental Volunteering in Costa Rica - High School

My 15 year old daughter went to Costa Rica with the Amigos program and came back an improved version of herself! Her eyes were open to more of the world, the kindness of strangers, and learned what she can do emotionally and physically that she didn't know she could. In addition, her Spanish is improved, she learned to cook some new dishes, she offers to clean up things around the house (she NEVER did that before), and she (shockingly) loved not having her phone pinging at her for 3 weeks. She didn't miss her phone at all and in fact prefered the calm, quiet life she had in La Brunca. As a result, she has turned off Notifications on her phone so she is a little less addicted to it. As a parent, I felt like she was well prepared for the trip by Amigos. And she really enjoyed her host family. My brother did an Amigos program over 30 years ago when he was in high school. I was hopeful that it was still the same great program that it was for him. I'm happy to report that it was even better! Highly recommend even for kids who don't think they can do it. They will find out quickly that they can do an Amigos trip and much more. Let your kid find their wings with Amigos!

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We spent an incredible time in Costa Rica, it was spent on four different places making it easier for us to get to know Costa Rica. Close to the international park La Amistad, the pacific in park Marino Ballena, and also national park of Chirripo. Such great sights, fresh air and great people. The attention by the staff and community members was memorable, it is what made the trip unforgettable. Nonetheless, the exchange of culture and volunteering that we did made us grow and learn about different situations on the world. I loved my trip to La Brunca!!

This unbelievable experience is one I will never forget! AMIGOS's La Brunca program allowed me to fully immerse myself into Costa Rican culture and feel truly at home, even in a foreign country. Yet it still pushed me out of my comfort zone and gave me various opportunities to grow at a person and as a leader.

This was a unique growth experience for my daughter. As a parent, I appreciated all of the pre-departure training, details about the upcoming adventure, and the instagram photos while my daughter was abroad. I always knew she was safe and I was excited to hear about all of her adventures broad upon her return.

Mi experiencia en la zona de La Brunca francamente me cambió la vida, el compartir por 22 días con personas de otra lengua, país y cultura me hizo aprender muchas cosas, entre ellas el idioma; al estar durante este tiempo con ellos tuve la oportunidad de desenvolverme en mi idioma no nativo, esto tuvo como consecuencia un mejoramiento masivo de mi lengua secundaria. Además de esto en La Brunca viví experiencias irrepetibles y enriquecedoras, con las comunidades, los paisajes y los procesos de producción sostenible, sin duda estoy muy agradecido de poder haber sido parte de esta experiencia, que sin duda la repetiría!!

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