Kailey McCarthy

Peace Corps Volunteer

Community Economic Development
San Francisco de Peñas Blancas
San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica
CELL: (816) 382-9189
EMAIL: kaileymccarthy@gmail.com

My name is Kailey McCarthy and I am a 24-year-old women from Loomis, California. From a young age, I have
committed myself to service. Whether it was spending time at the local humane society, or raising a Guide Dog for the
Blind, I constantly found myself involved in the community. Throughout high school and college, I dreamed of a job
where I could pursue my passion and give back. Fortunately, during my last year at the University of Missouri, I heard
about the Peace Corps program, and it quickly became a dream of mine to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer. Today I can
proudly say that I am living my dream, and am serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the beautiful country of Costa Rica.

My community is San Francisco de Peñas Blancas and it is part of the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. My town is
located about ten kilometers from the larger tourist destination known as La Fortuna. The community is very small and
rural, with only 300 inhabitants. It lies on the main road of Route 702, but is so small that if you blink you would miss it.
Although the technical name of the community is San Francisco de Peñas Blancas, it is known by everyone as El Burrito,
which translates to the little donkey in Spanish. The river El Burro runs through the community, and this is where the
nickname El Burrito originates from. The landscape ranges from pure rainforest to farm land, with rivers running in
between. The climate is hot and with lots of rainfall, and people often say that it in El Burrito it rains thirteen months per
year. On a clear day, you can see the beautiful Volcano Arenal with its perfectly shaped cone ahead in the distance of
Fortuna. The community has a strong history of agriculture. The original residents arrived 100 years ago, and
encountered a virgin mountain. People made a living off of dairy farms, planting agriculture, and raising cattle. However,
prices became unstable and people looked for other forms of income. Although the culture of agriculture is not as strong
in the community as before, it is still evident. Currently, there are two packing plants in the community that export
yucca, yampi and other root vegetables to Europe and United States. The majority of the workers at the plant are
immigrants from Nicaragua. The Costa Ricans from the community find work in the farms, work at the school, or are
unemployed. Although there are many employment opportunities in Fortuna, many people are not qualified for the job
as they do not speak English.

As mentioned before, a major part of community members are immigrants from Nicaragua, nearly forty percent.
Many of them do not have insurance, as they are not legal citizens. They must travel to Nicaragua for healthcare
coverage, or pay a private clinic, which is expensive. For Costa Ricans that are covered, the process is extremely slow and
often the only people seen are those in dire emergencies. Both Nicaraguans and Costa Ricans have gaps in healthcare
coverage they receive, and a major one is eye care. Many community members have never had eye exams, and live
without eyeglasses, because they cannot afford the cost. The people it effects the most are the elderly. Not being able
see well affects the activities they can do, and makes them more dependent on their families. After mentioning the
possibility of having an eye clinic in the community, people were enthusiastic. This opportunity would significantly
improve the quality of life for members in the community.

The major strength of the community is the elementary school. The elementary school is known throughout
Costa Rica as a role model for sustainable education. At the school, there is a farm with a greenhouse, a biodigester,
tilapia ponds, and many different types of plants and animals. The farm has two functions. One is to produce organically
and sustainable food to aliment the school and to sell to the community. The other is to teach students the basics of
working on a farm. Each student goes every week to work on the farm. Kindergarten students collect eggs from the
chickens, while the 6th grade students go to pick weeds and harvest crops. The farm is very important to the community,
as it keeps the community’s roots of agriculture instilled within the culture.

Though the school is a leader in sustainable education it needs further development in two important parts of
education. The first is the teaching of English as a foreign language. Costa Rica’s main economic income is tourism;
therefore, the citizens need to be fluent in English to have career opportunities. English is taught at public schools
starting at the kindergarten level. However, due to lack of resources and large classroom sizes few students learn English
in the classroom. The second is the lack of reading culture. Costa Rica schools do not spend much time emphasizing the
importance of reading. Students do not learn to read until they enter first grade, and studies have shown that the more
children read at a younger age, the more successful they are in their studies later. Therefore, it is essential to promote a
reading culture at a young age, where students learn to love reading. To accomplish this, the school has decided to build
an outdoor library, where students can read in harmony with nature. Building an outdoor library will combat the two
problems previously mentioned. First, students will be able to improve their English, as reading foreign language books
expands vocabulary and sentence structure. Secondly, a reading culture will start as students can use the outdoor space
to read without distractions. Since it is important to continue learning outside of the classroom, the school has decided
to make the library available to the community. Students will be able to check out books, and members of the
community will be able to use the library during school hours. To engage students and kick start a reading culture, the
school has decided to hold events at the library every month, where students can come together and have fun reading
books.

With the partnership of Give A Book, the Rotary Club, and myself as a Peace Corps Volunteer, we can advance
education, and overall enhance the community’s quality of life. On behalf of the residents of San Francisco de Peñas
Blancas, I sincerely thank you for the consideration of our community as a potential project partner. I look forward to
your response.

Pura Vida,