Asoprola Overview

Asoprola

We arrived in Altamira late at night on March 24^th after a bittersweet bus ride from Kekoldi.  During the first week, we received a tour of the grounds, including organic permaculture farms, jelly and cosmetic making facilities, and a sapling greenhouse; Latin dancing and cooking classes; and a tour of local artist’s house and studio.  We got to visit yet another refreshing river and the Pacific coast, play soccer and lots of camp games with the school kids; and we worked on filling 2,000 small bags of compost dirt in order to grow fragile baby trees, a ceramics project, a small souvenir shop, and a raised bed garden at the elementary school. 

                                      An introduction to a local farm.

Our stay was both relaxing and energizing. The relaxation came in the form of tedious tasks. I’ve felt purposeless at various points throughout the trip due to the nature of the work we were doing, but I’ve gained a greater ability to see the bigger picture than I had before this trip, so feeling like a tiny piece of an immeasurable puzzle was alright with me. I’ve come to terms with the fact that no matter how great my accomplishments turn out to be, they’ll always be pretty tiny relative to all of the accomplishments humanity has made throughout history, but because I’m working along side well-intentioned individuals, we can accomplish real feats together. For now I may be just transporting rocks to build of a wall of the new souvenir store or filling small bags of dirt, but that’s helping the limited staff of Asoprola make more of their time, and the association is part of a network of millions of organizations working interdependently and in harmony to face the greatest challenge humanity has ever seen. The opportunity to stay there also gave me an example of how sustainability works through community, and part of the way communities function is that everyone shares in the more tedious work so that it gets done.

At the same time, I’ve never simultaneously felt so present and so exited to return home. Interactions with and observations of the community told me that these were good people who really care and work hard all day, every day.  Efforts like theirs are those that change the hearts and minds of the people they come into contact with and create a positive impact on the world, in this case benefitting the natural environment here in Costa Rica. There was also mosaic art everywhere we went. Naturally, I was excited to be there. Adding to the experience for me were the surprising similarities between Altamira and Kentucky in terms of  the weather, landscapes, and even the scents in the air, making me feel at home and also excited that I would soon be home for real.

                                Mosaic floor and counters in the restaurant.

Finally, my host family was nothing short of amazing. Tommy and I stayed with the Valdez family for the two weeks we were at Asaprola, and they made us feel so welcome. It seemed like they really wanted to hang out with us and share their home, so instead of feeling stressed about what I could possibly say to them, I actually looked forward to come home at night. That made any challenge I might be presented with during the day infinitely easier to face. So for me it was an ideal site for our last couple of weeks, helping me to feel happy with the trip as a whole and prepared to leave.

Sammy Meador