Project Launch:

A Court Full of Smiles has helped the entire San Joaquin de Nicoya community, a small community of 1,000+ people on the Nicoyan Peninsula of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, an area that has developed rather quickly because of government construction of homes. The community has very few resources for the youth, which poses a problem for them considering that over 30% of the population is between the ages of 5 and 17. With support from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program in 2010, the group constructed a multi-use court for basketball, volleyball and other sports so that youth can play in a safe and healthy environment. Kids from the community helped to remove all of the garbage and then helped to clean the area where the materials were kept and through the project developed many lifelong skills such as self-discipline, a strong work ethic, responsibility, accountability, teamwork, leadership and self-confidence. Today the kids look out for the court, making sure that the new court is not damaged by anyone. According to the Peace Corps Volunteer who worked on this project, “The kids who were in the street now spend much less time in the street, thus exposing the children less and less to unhealthy life choices”. She also noted that the members of the community are amazed by the difference the project has made so far. This project has taught the children of the community to work together for a common goal and they saw the great outcome.