The Volunteer Project in Pochote

Pochote, is a small fishing village in the South of the Nicoya Peninsula between Paquera and Montezuma, not at all touristy but it has many better things that I will try to explain in the following lines, but in reality you have to live it to fully understand.
At the bus stop nothing reveals this magical place; you can see a road bordered by weeds and dry trees accompanied by cows, then you arrive to the first building in the village, the public school.
The few people on the street curiously watch the foreigner with a backpack, maybe she is lost? – they answer a hello with a simple “pura vida” Here everything is “pura vida”
(“Pura Vida” translates to pure life but it is really a friendly acknowledgment meaning everything is good, life is great, all wrapped into one.)
I see some children and their parents in front of their house, they look at me with large eyes full of warmth. It seems to me that in this village nothing more than the present moment exists lest the hour or date. Asking for Hansel their faces illuminate even more, they now know that I am the new volunteer that they have been waiting for. An older gentlemen shows me the way to the Harmony Music School.

Arriving to my house for the next month it exceeds all my expectations. I am in paradise!!, 50 meters from a deserted beach and right beside the mangrove.

“Welcome to Pochote” I’m Hansel, I hear at my side. My boss is an exceptional person, full of love for life and tranquility and is “pura vida”. I see some other people that I am going to see every day, people from the village having a beer in the restaurant, people that work at the school, the boat captains and we are all immediately friends. Friends for life that I never want to forget. I feel happy and treated as a member of the community. I am at home.

Little by little Hansel shows my room with a private bathroom and direct view of the ocean. We walk through the village to get to know the people and everything that there is, it is not much but it is enough: the public school, the catholic and protestant churches, the general store and another bar restaurant on the other side of the village. Hansel tells me lots about the people and the village and its problems. I want to help with all my strengths and ability and feel that here I can .

During the next 4 weeks I will help in the painting of the school, the cabins and the restaurant, in maintenance, learning activities with the children, translations and offer classes in French, German and English to the boat captains that offer tours to tourists.

After work I can take advantage of the ocean and walk on the beach, make new freinds, compete in pool, chat with the people that are open and curious and as such better my Spanish to a point that would not be possible in a language school.

Now I am in my last days is Paradise, where the famous “pura vida” is lived with total integrity, and the tears come thinking about having to say good-by. I hope to return again very soon to help but next time, god willing, it will be forever and not only a month.

Thanks everyone for everything!!
Reason to come to Pochote and work in the Harmony Volunteer Project::

- To help where it is truly needed, to see the changes you can make and the happy and appreciative faces of the people.

- To enjoy the most delicious food ever, prepared by the passionate cook Hansel

- To have fun pool competitions

- To live in a small paradise

- To live the true “pura vida” without stress, hours and dates and with happiness

- To see it raining ants, listen to the children laughing and playing instruments, the ocean when you go to sleep and when you wake up.

- To have a great time

- To have a meal with the people and listen to their stories and jokes

- To learn lots of Spanish

- To meet people that become friends

- To admire the children’s playground tree

- To see poor people live happily with very little

And many, many more reasons!