Project Launch:

Comte de Pavón, Puntarenas is a quiet, rural community, located in southwest Costa Rica. It is characterized by the production of African palm tree plants, bananas and rice. The children of the community pass their days attending school, swimming in the local river and playing soccer. While Comte is a beautiful and unique community, it suffers from a lack of awareness about proper waste disposal. As a result, the majority of community members either burn or bury their trash. Parents of the grade school became interested in creating a recycling program in the school to educate the youth and clean up the community. Through the recycling program, supported with a grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program, community members brought their recyclables to the school grounds for recycling. Children had the opportunity to participate in many aspects of the design and implementation of the recycling program, learning the importance of environmental education and community participation. The children created a name and logo for the project, painted trash bins, participated in interactive workshops over recycling and environmental awareness, educated their friends and family and classified recyclable materials. Through these activities, the children were treated to a fun and responsible way to keep their community clean and learned valuable information they can use for the rest of their lives.