Service Trip at Cloud Forest School, Costa Rica

Teachers Jeff Cohen, Kristin Magalhaes and Emily Parsons led our service work trip to Costa Rica from Mercersburg Academy in early March of 2024.

After coral reefs, cloud forests are some of the rarest ecosystems on the planet. Yet the systems within them provide a catalog of safety which is necessary in protecting our planet. It’s these two factors that make me so fascinated by cloud forests. They are located in a select few countries. It takes a number of rare and specific conditions for them to occur. Throughout my entire life, I had only ever visited cloud forests in Sri Lanka, so when the opportunity arose to volunteer at the non-profit Cloud Forest School in northwestern Costa Rica, I didn’t even hesitate to enroll.

First of all, I would like to say that Costa Rica is an incredible country. The variety of landscapes and biodiversity reminded me of Sri Lanka. Even the scenery and houses brought me back to my grandparents house in central Sri Lanka. The people are also for the most part very friendly. I had the opportunity to stay with a host family in an authentic local household. Though many of my peers were flabbergasted by how humble their lifestyles were, the tropical layout of the house and small rooms were just like any other Sri Lankan household. I stayed with Vita and Lorenzo, along with Kati, Naomi, Mallory and little Isabella. Though the food was at times unpredictable, as I am a very picky eater, it was usually very tasty. They had four dogs named Doki, Perla, Benji, Luna and Perla jr. Their house is situated in a small enclave atop a hill and is surrounded by a thick canopy. The Cloud Forest School is a non-profit institution which overlooks the town of Santa Elena. The private organization uses its donations to provide village kids with scholarships for them to receive a proper education. Many teachers from America work at the school where their children attend as well. There are also a handful of college students working during their gap year.

As the week progressed, we had painted buildings, carried wood and unbolted rusted nails from an old structure. One of my favorite parts of working at the cloud forest school was observing all of the intricate vegetation and abundance of exotic creatures. We saw sloths, toucans, parrots, iguanas, frogs, pizotes, agoutis, howler monkeys and insects. There were also countless plant and flower species, most noticeably mosses and orchids, which are usual residents of cloud forests. The lush epiphytes coating all the large trees, and glimpses of small birds reminded me of my visits to Sri Lankan cloud forests in its central highlands. Working at the cloud forest school was both fun and challenging. It was repetitive, and felt like a cheat when comparing our work to what the staff there must do everyday. The education and experiences the children around me were getting seemed phenomenal, and while I don’t know if my personal contributions truly helped the school, just being immersed in a contrasting cultural environment benefited me immensely. I have especially enjoyed the home stays, and being able to compare moments to my grandmothers house in Sri Lanka. Seeing how humble and kind the people are made me sad. I wonder if they are truly happy or if they just work to make ends meet. I don’t know how to feel about the western complex of having felt fulfillment by participating in volunteer work, but if it truly satisfies the community, then our mission was successful. I felt like I had received much more than I had given——moments with nature, smiles of kids and adults alike and a new culture, yet very similar to what I knew. Seeing myself and everyone else in our group complain made me feel privileged over the people who work ten times that and don’t complain because they are used to it. Experiences shape who we are. I am a tourist and not a local. Furthermore, the trip convinced me that happiness does not come in quantity, but rather quality. Luxury lies in the power of nature and ultimately has a positive effect on the people living closest to it.