Report

The three months that I spent in Costa Rica with Vision Mundial as part of the World Citizenship Program at the University of Florida were perhaps the most enriching and inspiring months of my life. As part of the Communications Department at Vision Mundial Costa Rica my duties included writing articles about the community development projects that the company directed and relating the experiences of the people that lived in those communities.

World Vision Costa Rica (WVCR) is a non-profit organization that supports education, health, and other economic projects, and also assists the government of Costa Rica and other NGOs in various community projects. The main focus of WVCR is helping children in these communities. As part of my work in Costa Rica I was often sent to the community development projects, most of which were located in rural and impoverished areas in the northern part of the country. The most rewarding aspect of my work was the opportunity to interview members of these communities. I was invited to enter into their intimate lives and chronicle their many struggles as well as their triumphs.

My responsibilities were of a dual nature. First, I would travel to the communities to collect and organize the experiences of the communities, as well as to observe the progress of the particular project in the area. Then, in the main office, I used the information that I gathered to write News clips for the company and press releases. Other publicity work included photographs, company newsletters, and promotional books. I was particularly proud of two stories that I wrote. One story followed a project that helped bean farmers in their struggle to compete with larger agricultural firms in a saturated marketplace. Another article followed the development of a group of women as they sought to find economic alternatives in their community. Their training courses included baking and cooking programs as well as other trades that were not available in their small towns.

I would be remiss to forget to mention the compassion and devotion with which my coworkers approached their jobs, often in some very difficult situations. They were very kind to me personally, as were most of the people in Costa Rica in general. The beauty of the country also cannot go without mention. Experiencing the vast contrasts of mountains, oceans, plains, volcanoes, and changes in weather was also astonishing. The experience overall was wonderful and I would definitely recommend similar work to anyone that is interested.