Environmental Justice Day #4

Hey guys, it’s Theo and Sophia’s blog! Being the leaders of the day, Sophia and I were tasked with waking up at 7:30 and knocking on all of everyone else’s doors for a wake-up call. After we got everyone up, we rounded everyone together and enjoyed a strawberry pancake breakfast with eggs and sausage. After our breakfast, me and Sophia did our mental warmup for the day by playing some games we made. First, we had the group throw around a coconut and talk about ways they can improve themselves so far on the trip. Our second game was the human knot. We had everyone lock arms in a giant circle and try to untangle themselves!

Today was our environmental activism-focused day, and we were privileged to have a local, Fofo, who works with environmental management to come and speak with us. While we waited for him, we spent time buying snacks at the local corner store and chilling in our tropical pool overlooking the mountains. When he finally arrived, he gave us an informative presentation on Costa Rica’s biodiversity and how the country faces challenges balancing tourism while preserving the environment.

At the end of our speaker’s presentation, he challenged us with an interactive discussion. We split into 3 groups (the government, the locals, and the hotel) and debated on the topic of building a hypothetical resort on Costa Rica’s treasured Pacific coast. Through this discussion, we gained insight into the negative impact resorting causes on local Costa Ricans. Not only do mega-resort corporations destroy hundreds of acres of primary forests and biodiversity, but they completely alter the entire socio-economic life of the native Costa Ricans living there. The debate was quite realistic, as this issue is currently being debated in real-time.

After our guest speaker, we winded down for the day with some dinner and then some s’mores. Although we stayed at base camp all day, today was super fun as well as eye-opening into the importance of Costa Rica’s ecosystem.

Thanks for taking a look at our blog! We passed the torch to Jackie, Audrey, and MJ as the leaders for tomorrow. Stay tuned to see what they’ve got in store for us!!

Thanks ~ Theo and Sophia.