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Volunteer in Costa Rica Paul Milburn was looking for something different from his gap year between school and university. Having just finished studying for his A-Level in Spanish Paul was looking to build his Spanish language skills, but he also had a passion for sports and in particular soccer, for which he held a number of coaching qualifications. Costa Rica is considered to be the jewel of Central America. A safe and stable country it has an incredible richness of landscape and variety of wildlife. BUNAC’s Volunteer Costa Rica programme places participants within local community projects for three to six months. Accommodation is provided with local families and after an initial orientation participants are expected to be able to live in a Spanish-speaking environment. Paul was nervous about travelling to Costa Rica, however as he says ‘One thing I would definitely make a note of is how easily it was all organised. I was never really convinced about whether I should go or not, but next thing I knew I was out there. It was all so easy; BUNAC sorted it all out for me. I found the whole trip a massive confidence booster. I was treated like a superstar, everyone made the effort to get to know me, and I loved the attention.’ Paul was placed at a school where he coached soccer and also taught English ‘...which was awesome. One class was full of young lads, so I taught them how to chat up a girl in English. It was all good fun, and I think the lads actually paid me more attention!’ He also joined a local village soccer team called ‘The Veterans’, who were known for being older than most of the other players in the league. Paul became their youngest player by quite a long way! One of Paul’s concerns prior to travel had been the food. ‘As far as food goes, nobody should worry about this issue, because I can guarantee you that nobody is a more fussy eater than I. The family I stayed with couldn’t do enough for me. They treated me like a prince to the point where I started to feel guilty watching them slave away whilst I just sat there chilling out. I really can’t speak highly enough of the way I was treated by my adopted family out there, and I will be eternally grateful for the time they dedicated to me and allowing me to spend three months in their house.’  Paul was only 18 when he travelled to Costa Rica for three months; however he found that he ‘...got to know all of the villagers... and went on a few excursions with various families who would just invite me to visit a beach, a volcano, or whatever. I think this is an important point because due to my age, and my lack of experience with travelling, I was reluctant to go off on my own and see other parts of the beautiful country that is Costa Rica. Fortunately, the villagers helped me get around by inviting me on many trips. Like I said before, they couldn’t do enough for me. As I would walk down the street people would invite me in for a coffee or something to eat; everybody had time for a chat.’ Paul had studied Spanish up to A-Level standard, so could communicate, but even when he couldn’t understand he found it fun trying to communicate through mime. Language problem weren’t an issue, as the people were so friendly it just added to the experience. Time went so fast; Paul didn’t get too homesick mainly because ‘...I had new family and friends out there in effect, so there wasn’t much to miss!’ Paul says ‘To anyone considering doing Volunteer Costa Rica, I would therefore give one simple bit of advice: you only live once, so bite the bullet and go for it! You won’t regret it!’  Click here >> to find out more about BUNAC’s Volunteer Costa Rica programme Click here >> to email BUNAC |
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