Green Life Volunteers wants to make a difference with the ‘Environmental Education’ project because there is no environmental education in place for many public elementary schools in Costa Rica. GLV works together with several other NGOs to bring environmental education to the schools around the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. It is important for kids to understand the value of the environment and that it is important to protect species. This will influence them for the future, and make them be more conscious about their surroundings, the animals, and nature.

The schools we’re currently helping are rural remote schools around the Osa Peninsula. We help around 4 – 5 schools and visit them 1 – 2 times a month with different activities each time.

We also do a lot of fundraising in the Education program as well, to help fund school visits, purchase materials for the activities, and other general costs to help the project. The fundraising will also be a part of your activities as a volunteer.

You will be helping to plan lessons and activities using already established curriculums and planned “topics” for every month. Ideally you would be spending a few weeks on this project, since it will take a little to get your work settled, and then to actually teach the classes and do the activities (together with other volunteers and NGO leaders). The project includes around 4 – 5 schools and visit them 1 – 2 times a month with different activities each time.  Another important aspect of the Environmental Education project is a newly established recycling project. We also do a lot of fundraising in the Education program as well, to help fund school visits, purchase materials for the activities, and other general costs to help the project. The fundraising will also be a part of your activities as a volunteer.

For the ‘Environmental Education’ project, you should be creative, pro-active, and have lots of energy. Furthermore, Also you should be highly motivated and independent individual that is happy to work alone.  The ideal volunteer on this project has a background in environmental / biology related fields OR in education. You should have a general passion for teaching and the environment/nature/animals. It would be great if you have environmental education experience, but it is not necessary.

Also it is important to speak Spanish at least on a beginner level, since the school visits and activities are held in Spanish. The other volunteers and supervisors on the project speak English.

You’ll be living with a local host family in Puerto Jimenez, closely located to the project location (walking distance). Food is Costa Rican typical food cooked for you and prepared by your host family. You’ll all eat together in a common space at certain hours. Usually breakfast will be around 6-7am, lunch around 12:00pm, and dinner around 6pm.

Puerto Jimenez View onto the Town Dock

The environmental education project is based out of Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula. During the project you’ll work with rural schools all around the Osa Peninsula. Your host family however, is based in Puerto Jimenez.

To read more about Puerto Jimenez and the Osa Peninsula – click here.

The costs for this project are:

• First week’s fee: $ 449
• Every Additional Week: $ 149 (It does not matter many weeks you choose, this fee stays the same)

FEES EXPLAINED: Our organizational fee of around $249 is included in the first week’s fee and covers the “behind the scenes costs”, such as staff salaries, office space rental, transaction and bank fees, and more. Our weekly fee for additional weeks covers the costs of your host family or project accommodation and food, the local staff on your project, and a donation to help with the daily running costs of the program you will help on.

NOT INCLUDED IN THE FEE: First and last night in San Jose in a hostel, travel to and from the international airport (airport shuttles are around 30$ each way to San Jose – We can set this up for you, just ask us during sign-up), travel to the project site (usually by public buses, which are from around 10-16$ one way), national/ International flights, travel insurance, visa costs, any additional food or snacks besides the host family meals, extra-curricular activities.

This is the GLV Handbook for the Environmental Education Project. This will give you DETAILED info on everything you would need and want to know regarding the project. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!

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Download our PDF Handbook Here