In October 2011 to December 2011, I am taking a trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua with Raleigh International. Here, I will be helping out with community and environmental projects, helping the local communites.

 

In total, I need to raise £3000 to go on this trip. In order to raise this, I am: organising a number of fund raising events through the summer (for example, a "ladies who lunch" event and various raffles); taking part in the Robin Hood half marathon in September; working in part time jobs; pestering my mum and dad for money...; and finally, this Just Giving Page.

 

I will keep the page updated with the success I am having with my fund raising events so you can follow what i'll be doing.

 

This trip is going to be a life changing experience for me and I am really looking forward to helping some of the poorer communities in these countries.

Any amount you can donate would be much appreciated.

THANK YOU!!!

 

This is a video of what I will be up to in the 10 weeks.

http://www.raleighinternational.org/videos/video/59/Overview-of-Costa-Rica-10-week-expedition

Here are some more details of what I am going to be up to..

THE EXPEDITIONS
Raleigh’s expeditions in Nicaragua and Costa Rica will be run from a base close to San José. After arriving in San José, expedition members will be transferred from the airport by bus to the field base, where local Costa Rican and Nicaraguan volunteers will join them. All volunteers will undergo a short initial period of briefing and training to learn many of the skills that will be required during the course of the expedition, including how to live and work in Costa Rica's and Nicaragua’s tropical forests. Following this training period, volunteers will disperse to project sites around the two countries.

THE PROJECTS
At Raleigh we aim to ensure that all our projects are worthwhile, appropriate and sustainable. To achieve these aims all Raleigh projects are identified, planned and implemented with local partner organisations. We work with our partners to gain an understanding of the developmental needs of the country so that our projects compliment the national development strategy.
Our partners help us to identify the communities or areas where Raleigh can make a real difference. They help us to select projects that: meet a real development or environmental need in that country, are appropriate for the location and valued by the local community, and projects that the local community or organisation will continue to benefit from after the Raleigh expedition has ended. In Costa Rica/Nicaragua we work with INRECOSMAR (the Institute for Coastal and Marine studies), SINAC (the national parks section of the Ministry for Environment) and local communities and NGO’s.

 

 

Previous Community and Environmental Projects include:

•  construction of a community hall, school hostel and seed-store   building.

•  working with rural as well as indigenous communities,  constructing a 12km aqueduct to provide clean water.

•  development of sustainable eco-tourism.

•  initiatives in one of the most famous Costa Rican national parks, La Amistad, assisting in environmental research and eco-tourism initiatives.

•  biodiversity surveys and the construction of an artificial reef in Curu Bay.