Upskill a Community to Fight Poverty in Costa Rica

Dear Our Global Family,

El Cocal is located close to the tourism hub of Manuel Antonio. This drives the cost of living right up and has a huge impact on already marginalised communities. High levels of immigration result in huge cultural differences and high unemployment, substance abuse and general despondency. This is a hard place to live, most often especially for children. Limited funding for schools means schools are only open for half days, and there are very few safe spaces for both children and adults to gather, play and learn.

Government funding is limited and doesn't help our community, so we focus on empowering and supporting our community of El Cocal to tackle social and economic challenges and help implement solutions, designed by them. Solutions include infrastructure, minority inclusion, alternative income generation, education, healthy habits and conservation, all of which protect lives.

And you have been an absolute lifeline for us! Thanks to your beautiful support, we recently celebrated having 83 children enrolled in our education and aftercare programs, 22 women completing skills training workshops, and 36 families receiving regular support through food packages. Because of you, 100% of our programs are led by community members who are trained and empowered to drive lasting change from within.

Lately, we have just been keeping alive! We have been working hard behind the scenes, and we are so happy to say we have successfully stocked the shelves and have enough food to keep things running until the 13th of July.

Right now, our wonderful women are taking a well-deserved break while we focus on raising some more vital funds. We would absolutely love to kick-start this incredible project at full power again this July and August, but we can't do it without our amazing community of supporters.

Without your donations and our support, many of these families would be homeless, unemployed and hungry. Education and support are the ultimate keys to breaking the cycle of poverty, and we want to keep providing that framework to allow the local community to grow and become self-sustainable.

Every little bit makes a massive difference to a child's life here in Costa Rica. A donation of $20 provides one child with a healthy breakfast for a whole month, and $25 feeds a child for a month!

Let's take action and change these lives together. Thank you so much for walking this journey with us and for choosing to care. Every single step forward is because of you!

With so much love and gratitude,