Making a difference

by Terry Renfer

The Community at the End of the Road, 2019

Very early (5:00 a.m.) Friday, November 29, 2019, ARCR members and volunteer friends gathered at the ARCR office for the annual visit to the Cabécar indigenous community, located in the mountains above Turrialba. We had previously gathered gifts for the children and food for a lunch, and everyone helped load the items aboard a minibus to Turrialba where we would switch to 4x4 vehicles for the remainder of the trip. This was the culmination of much effort on the part of many who had donated money and time to purchase the items. Special thanks goes to those who wrapped the gifts in wonderful decorations. I mention the wrapping specifically, as an incident worth noting comes later. For more than ten years, each year ARCR has visited the Cabécar school situated on the banks of the Rio Pacuare. On this morning we encountered a not-so-scenic trip through the low hanging, rainy clouds out of Cartago, but spent the time visiting with old friends from previous visits and new first-time friends. In Turrialba, we stopped at Hotel Wagelia and checked in for our overnight stay on the return trip. We then loaded all the items from the bus into the waiting 4x4s, had breakfast, and headed up into the mountains, fording streams, climbing rocky roads, and hoping the rain would stop. Finally, after a few hours, we arrived at Escuela Paso Marcos. Waiting for us were school officials and a couple of hundred Cabécar families and children, some of whom had walked for hours in the rain to get to the school. There was lots of help unloading the food into the school kitchen, and the gifts into a couple of school rooms, after which Gama, one of the volunteers, started games for the children on the wet soccer field. Unfortunately the games lasted only about 20 minutes; “Games canceled on account of rain.” A production line was set up in the kitchen with many volunteers preparing lunch for all. After everyone had

transited the long lines for lunch, we started more lines; this time for giving the children the gifts we had brought for them. Luckily, the rain held off and the gifts were distributed by gender and age. (It should be noted that

some children also received additional gifts for their friends and siblings who could not attend; sometimes, when a child returns home with a treasured gift, but there is nothing for those who could not make the trip, it can create a problem.) During this time the new school director, Heiner Acosta, proudly showed me the new construction being done by volunteers; it will allow school personnel to stay overnight, rather than make the long, two-way trip every day. As the clouds lowered and the rain began again, so as to not to be unable to return to the hotel in Turrialba due to rising rivers and streams along the way, we departed the school in the late afternoon. We spent the night at the hotel and returned to San José the next day, a tired but happy group. Regarding the beautiful gift wrapping mentioned earlier: A small Cabécar girl received a wrapped gift and simply stared at it – she thought the gift was just the pretty paper and ribbon. She had to be told to open it. A big thank you to Martha Rollins, who was unable to make the trip this year, for all the time and hard work she spent making preparations for those of us who were able to go, as well as to all those who supported and participated in this effort and made it possible.