Students, Adults, and Families visit San Gabriel de Agua Buena, Costa Rica

After what felt like a never-ending bus ride from the airport to the community of San Gabriel de Agua Buena, we were instantly welcomed by a group of smiling locals offering hugs and warm plates of food. This quickly set the tone for the rest of the trip, full of laughs and connecting with many different people. 

We had a very diverse group of 20 people that came from many different places ranging from California to France and ages from 14 to 62. Every morning, all of us would wake up early to the sound of Bob Marley playing from the speakers with the locals already hard at work. We would quickly strap on our hats, lace up our boots, and head out to eat a hearty breakfast. This usually consisted of a dish called gallo pinto made of rice and beans alongside freshly squeezed juice, always prepared by local kitchen volunteers. 

On the court, we worked day after day shoveling sand and gravel, lifting these materials into the mixer, and wheelbarrowing the cement mixture to the soon-to-be court. The 75-pound buckets were very hard to transport from the shoveling site to the mixer, so the locals came up with the ingenious idea of using little metal poles, referred to by the locals as “palatitos”, to distribute the weight between two people, significantly speeding up the heavy bucket transportation process.

After lunch in the afternoons, we often went on excursions to learn more about the local culture of Costa Rica. We learned how to cook traditional tortillas and prepare café chorreado, how to process sugarcane, the traditional practices of the local indigenous Ngӧbe people, and more. Processing sugarcane was one of our favorite activities because we got to learn about the different steps of extracting juices from the sugarcane plant. First, they would break down the plant which would take up to a year to grow. They would then transfer the juice to boil it down, and lastly pour it to create a variety of different treats, with lots of sweet finger-licking in-between. We also spent a lot time playing with the locals, whether it be us teaching them something like a new card game, or them teaching us something, like new soccer skills.

In the evenings, we ate even more delicious food often consisting of more rice and lots of meat. Afterwards, the locals and us enjoyed plenty dance parties and karaoke late into the night all to do it again the next day, accumulating a lot of sleep debt by the end of the week.

But we gathered a lot more than just sleep debt on this trip, making many lifelong memories, and lots of new friends. We strengthened our understanding of the power of collaboration and community by always being there to help one another on the court no matter the person or the circumstances.  By detaching ourselves from our phones and families, we were able to make deep meaningful connections with our new found family. Choosing to go on this Courts for Kids trip was such an incredible decision because it opened us up to so many new experiences and taught us valuable new things, that might have even been outside of our comfort zones, which will stick with us even after we leave San Gabriel de Agua Buena.
~ Maya Balderrama, Gracie Flaig and Wesley Gilbert, high school students from Washington, California and Oregon

Volunteer Quotes:

My favorite memories from this trip were the moments that I stepped back to just take in the beauty of seeing a bunch of people that were strangers before the trip genuinely connecting and growing in authentic relationships. I was constantly in awe of this amazing and unique group of people who became not just a team, but family.
~ Joey King

This community was so genuinely kind and eager to meet and visit with us. They opened not just their community but their hearts too. This trip reminds me how important people and the relationships we create really are.
~ Darlene Wagar

This community taught me that there is true joy in coming together and working towards a common goal. Walking this path together breaks down barriers and forms true friendships through mutual respect and the physical challenges of hard labor.
~ Blair Loftis

I learned that family and friendships are essential components of a joyful life. Whether it’s the family you are born into or the one you create for yourself, surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals enhances the enjoyment of life.
~ Ashunaé Durant

I’ve learned how to stay in the present and how to appreciate every aspect of life because life is short, so, pura vida! I’ve grown to realize how big the world is and things that may seem so bad or important aren’t actually that big in the big picture.
~ Finley Friedericks

Although I cannot fluently speak Spanish, the conversations were full of laughter and smiles, and I still felt so connected to everybody, even if we couldn’t necessarily understand each other at first.
~ Sophia Genova

This communal aspect of this community is something that I think is often missing in my life, as I think in the US we often get too absorbed in our work and don’t pause to build relationships with others.
~ Dominic Medina

Giving back to a community by being involved in a service project was so much more rewarding than just vacations in a country.
~ Kathie Welch

I would recommend Courts for Kids because it allows you to be part of something bigger. You can feel more like a team and you get to discover the realities that others have to go through.
~ Abby Cooper

Community Quotes:

A very nice experience full of culture and humanitarian aid.
~ Xinia Fajardo

The volunteers are amazing people. I loved the joy they have and the effort they put into the work. I loved spending time with them. God bless their work always.
~ Ana Yancy

The volunteers were a fabulous team of wonderful, happy and friendly people who all wanted the same - to love.
~ Sonia

A Courts for Kids project is a marvelous experience.
~ Dimas Zúñiga