Heredia, Costa Rica (June 2023) - Service Trip Recap
Trip: Costa Rica June 2023 Team
Dates: June 24 - July 2, 2023
Location: Heredia, Costa Rica
It was so exciting to send a second team to serve Roblealto Childcare Association, our partners in Costa Rica! This team supported the ministry through painting, construction, and playing games and sports with the children throughout the week. Read the daily recaps below!
Day 1
The team arrived safe & sound to Costa Rica! While most participants flew out of San Jose, CA together, they picked up their final participant on the way to the bible home. 🇨🇷✈️
They enjoyed a light dinner before going to bed after a long travel day. 🍽💙
Day 2
The team went to church with the kids, and then went to work with the kids in Sunday School. It was Father's Day so the kids made cards for their fathers and colored pictures. ⛪️👨👧👦🎨
Later, they went back to Roblealto and sorted donations. Before the rain hit, they went out and played soccer with some of the kids for a bit before having to head indoors. They had their first team devotional and some exercises led by their PT (Physical Therapist) Team Captain! ! ⚽️🌧🙏
Day 3
The team started the day with an orientation from the folks at Roblealto and learned about their organization. Next they headed over to the school to work on craft projects and decorations for the kids going away party to celebrate their upcoming vacation. 🇨🇷🥳
In the evening, they played some typical Costa Rican games with the boys from Hogar Bíblico. They made teams and created their own chants. 📣🙌
Afterwards, each team member went to a casa to meet and have dinner with the house parents and kids in each house. After dinner, they played games such as hot potato and Uno. The team returned late to continue work on leis for the kids when they leave for summer vacation. 🏠🌺
Day 4
The team started the day with painting Casa Bosque in a bright teal color to help create a more positive and happy environment for the kids. They ate lunch in their respective family homes and had some time to play with the kids before they returned to school. 🎨🏠
They continued painting in the afternoon and once finished were able to spend some time playing games in the gym with some of the older girls because of the rain. They played béisbol cinco (a modified baseball game) and 2v2 soccer as well as a game of voluntarios contra las chicas to end the evening. ⚾️⚽️🌧️
After dinner at the team house, they had reflection times and continued working on leis for the children. 🙏🌺
Day 5
The team continued painting with the focus on finishing up detail work. 🏠🎨
Before coffee break, they helped hand out cupcakes to the children at the school to celebrate a month-long campaign for good behavior. 🧁💯
They finished painting Casa Bosque, and since there was no rain they got to play soccer outside with the kids from Roblealto! They had their final dinner at their family houses and got to enjoy some quality time with the kids and house parents. ⚽️🍴
They finished the night with reflection time and continuing to work on homemade leis. 🙏🌺
Day 6
The team helped build a retaining wall outside new classrooms. It took a lot of patience and teamwork to get everything done but they were up to the challenge. In the afternoon, they participated in Bible club with the kids from Hogar Bíblico. They heard stories from the Bible and the kids performed skits and songs. 🛠🙏
In the evening, they made hot dogs for their goodbye party with the kids. They played a lot of games and got to enjoy final moments with their designated families. They got to say goodbye and take group photos to bring home with them as memories. They ended the night with some spike ball and finished making leis.🌭📸
Day 7
In the morning, the team traveled to one of the schools ran by our partners. They split into two teams: team one ran PE classes for the preschool & kindergarten classes & team two worked on decorations for the school’s end of year Super Mario themed party. 🏫🏃♀️🏃🕹
After lunch, team two did PE classes for the older kids & team one worked on decorations. Later that evening, the whole team went into San Jose (the capital) to explore the town and have dinner at a local restaurant to catch the Costa Rica vs El Salvador soccer match.🇨🇷⚽️🇸🇻
Day 8
On the last day, the team went to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Animal Sanctuary! They loved seeing and learning about the butterflies, seeing the various animals, and enjoying walking next to all the waterfalls. 🌊🦋
On their way back to the Bible Home, they stopped by the town's plaza to get some ice cream and visited the town's church. They did their final debrief and closure as they reflected on the wonderful experience they had. 🍦⛪️
They ended the night with a bit of pickleball and then made their way to the airport! 🇨🇷✈️
This being our final team of the season, this trip was a great way to wrap up the
2022-2023 Service Season! Read the blog recaps from all our trips this season here.
