Hoboken Letter: Here’s What My Costa Rica Service Trip Taught Me

HOBOKEN, NJ — The following letter to the editor comes courtesy of Hoboken resident Hannah Cavanaugh-Gouvea, a student at Loyola School, in connection with a trip co-hosted by Courts for Kids. Send local news tips, op-eds and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com

This year, a week of my summer was spent on an amazing Christian Service trip to Costa Rica. During the trip we stayed at the Cultural Center of Bribripa, which was where we slept, ate and played soccer with the community. While we were connecting with the community, we helped them to build a court. Each day began early, in order for us to work before it rained for the day. The first couple of days were spent preparing the court by connecting water to the vicinity of the court by pipeline, leveling the dirt and then adding a layer of gravel onto the dirt. The beginning was tough because of the shock of physical labor compared to what I am regularly used to. The fact that it was summertime also added to the challenge.

It was not only students and faculty from Loyola School that were building the court. Many volunteers from the community were there to help and guide us through the work. The community would help us shovel gravel and pour cement, and some of the women even brought snacks for us every day at precisely ten o’clock.

On our second afternoon of our trip everyone believed it was going to rain, because it almost always rains after lunchtime during the rainy season in Costa Rica, which was when we visited. Since it was going to rain, it was decided that we should stay close to the cultural center and not go back to work for the rest of the day. That afternoon we ventured into the Costa Rican forest and the locals showed us an amazing paradise. This heaven was made up of joyous kids, flowing blue water, and soft red cliffs to jump off of. The local kids happily showed us how to climb the cliffs in order to jump off into the water. They also showed us some nice tricks. I, along with my friends from school, followed along and jumped off the cliffs as well. This paradise was a place where we could connect with the local kids on a new level. The creek was where I felt new relationships truly forming between myself, my school friends and the locals.

The next few days were filled with difficult work where we had to move one-hundred pound bags of cement, push heavy wheelbarrows and lift hefty canisters of gravel, sand, dirt and dry cement. Not only were these days labor intensive, but because we were working all the time, our connection with the kids did not grow. I must say that being away from enjoying time with the kids for just a couple of days was definitely a tough part of the trip. The upside to that was after those couple of days we played soccer with many of them for pretty much the rest of the trip and every night too.

Toward the end of the trip we were invited to watch a traditional dance and to display something traditional from the United States. Here, the locals danced several different complicated pieces for us and they brought us up and showed us how to do the dances too. That night I got to meet new people that I hadn’t met before and truly and fully immersed myself into the culture. The next day was the penultimate, which was when we had to leave. Saying goodbye and leaving our newfound friends was the most difficult part of the trip.

On the last day, speeches, gifts and hugs were exchanged with our friends and with the whole community. Although this last day, along with some others, was challenging, I would absolutely repeat my enter experience if I could. It was just so wonderful and life-changing. I overall feel that this trip has made me more open to growth, confident and just a much better person.

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Photo courtesy of Loyola School